and its Audience, has discussed the writers use of Pete, specifically to show masculinity in an innovative way - as a problem. He suggested that with Pete, the programme questioned the traditional definition of masculinity: "Pete clearly regards himself as a 'real man' and as 'the boss' of his family [...] He also feels he is an expert on women [but] on the other hand, however, Pete's masculine self-image has been repeatedly undermined. The arrival of his ex-wife Pat Wicks [in 1986], for example, provided a view of Pete which had not hitherto been heard in the serial: she told Pauline that Pete was 'boring, selfish and terrible in bed', and went on to torment him by revealing that he was not in fact the father of his son Simon - 'you're not man enough to make Simon'." Buckingham also suggests that Pete was also publicly humiliated on a number of occasions, with the most "remarkable example" being shown in 1987, after he was victim to a practical joke and attended an alleged cross-dressing party at The Queen Victoria public house as the only person in full drag. The episode ended with a close-up of Pete's "tear-stained, luridly made-up face". Buckingham suggested that Pete's definition of his own masculinity regularly came into question in the serial, and the connection between masculinity and violence - shown occasionally with Pete - "far from being celebrated, has been seen as a problem". Pete's catchphrase was "alright treacle?" pronounced "awight treacle", often used when addressing female characters. Peter Dean has discussed why the catchphrase came into existence: "I had this saying - treacle. There was this long scene with Den and his mistress and I had to ask her for a drink, but I completely forgot her name, so said 'Give us a drink, treacle'. And after the episode came out, the actress said her children kept calling her treacle! A couple of scriptwriters wanted to stop it - they didn't want any catchphrases. But one lovely writer put it in so I could say it was in the script! And it stuck. Poor people couldn't afford sugar so put treacle in their tea. And it just means someone sweet and nice. I always said it and my granddad said it. Even now people come up to me and ask if I'll say 'awight treacle' down their mobile phone to someone." A Prop regularly