Despite the turbulence between father and son, Chris was close to his younger sister Zoe. When Frank admitted he had helped Jean die when she was terminally ill, Chris initially accused Frank and Kim of plotting his mother's death. Chris was also unimpressed when Kim persuaded Frank to have an operation to reverse his vasectomy. Chris and Kathy eventually began dating and Chris wrote a song for Kathy to sing at a village concert, 'Just This Side of Love' (which was released as a single sung by Malandra Burrows). They briefly split up over Chris's gambling habits after he lost his motorbike in a poker match to Alan Turner (Richard Thorp), but reunite and marry on 5 November 1991. The marriage began to break down a year later when Chris found out Kathy knew that Kim was having an affair with village toff Rt. Hon. Neil Kincaid (Brian Deacon). In the row that follows, Chris nearly hit Kathy and later confides in Zoe that he is worried that he has inherited their father's temper. Chris also admitted that although he wanted children, Kathy didn't. When Frank relapses into his old alcoholism to the point where he starts drinking again, Chris sees an opportunity to gain control of the business by buying Kim's shares. His plan to do so involves mortgaging his and Kathy's cottage to do so. Kathy soon finds out about this when Frank discovers what his son has done and accuses Kathy of conspiring with Chris against him. To Chris' surprise, however, Zoe joined forces with Frank to vote down Chris. Kathy, unhappy with his actions, begins an affair with American wine merchant Josh Lewis (Peter Warnock), and plans to leave Chris by the end on 1993. On 30 December 1993, Chris spent the evening in Skipdale with a friend – unaware Kathy was planning to leave him that night. He was supposed to pick up Kathy and meet Zoe in the Woolpack, but went straight to the pub and was there when a plane crashed into the village. Chris was trapped in the wreckage of the wine bar, with his family thinking he was still in Skipdale. He was eventually discovered by Josh, and was dug out overnight. He had spinal injuries and was left paraplegic. Chris was very bitter about being disabled and realized that Kathy was only with him out of duty. He formed a