Dan Sullivan (EastEnders)
Dan Sullivan is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Craig Fairbrass. He was first introduced to the series as a regular character from 7 June 1999 to 10 July 2000 before returning as one of the show's primary antagonists from 26 February to 16 August 2001.
| Dan Sullivan | |
|---|---|
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| EastEnders character | |
| Portrayed by | Craig Fairbrass |
| Duration | 1999–2001 |
| First appearance | Episode 1788 7 June 1999 |
| Last appearance | Episode 2150 16 August 2001 |
| Introduced by | Matthew Robinson |
| Classification | Former, regular |
| Profile | |
| Occupation |
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The character originally appeared in Albert Square as the new boyfriend of local resident Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson), but it quickly transpired that Dan had previously had a relationship with her daughter Bianca (Patsy Palmer); he soon embarked on an affair with Bianca until her mother eventually found out about it and Carol thereupon exposed this to Bianca's husband Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) — which later resulted in the latter being written out of the programme alongside both Bianca and Carol. Soon afterwards, Dan established an intense feud with Ricky's stepbrother Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden); they started out as best-friends when Phil's brother Grant (Ross Kemp) left the square and even went into business partnership at The Queen Victoria public house, but ended up becoming archenemies after Phil conned Dan's ownership of the pub in retribution for Dan reporting Phil to the police about his motor scam with both Ricky's father Frank (Mike Reid) and his longtime companion Roy Evans (Tony Caunter). Their escalating hostility towards one another continued to develop in the events of the Who Shot Phil? storyline, wherein Dan becomes a prime suspect after Phil gets shot on the night their ex-lover Mel Healy (Tamzin Outhwaite) married the duo's fellow nemesis Steve Owen (Martin Kemp).
By then, Dan's established rivalries with Phil and Steve were respectively steamed from each of their own romances with Mel — whom Dan had formerly dated after his relationship with one of the pub's customers, Teresa di Marco (Leila Birch), ended with the character sparking a conflict with her overprotective brother Gianni (Marc Bannerman). He also ends up clashing with the Mitchell family amid the "Who Shot Phil" scenario by quarreling against Phil's mother Peggy (Barbara Windsor); extorting money from his godson Jamie (Jack Ryder); and antagonizing the latter's estranged uncle Billy (Perry Fenwick). Although it was ultimately revealed on 5 April 2001 that Phil's ex-girlfriend Lisa Shaw (Lucy Benjamin) was in fact the shooter, Phil ends up framing Dan for the crime by colluding with his former crime boss Ritchie Stringer (Gareth Hunt) against him; Dan is consequently arrested and wrongfully imprisoned prior to his trial in mid-summer 2001. While Phil and Steve — though sworn enemies — worked together to rid themselves of their common adversary, the trial culminated with Dan being found not guilty by the jury. The character then exited the show in 16 August 2001 after representing a episodic week that featured Dan kidnapping Mel and holding her ransom to get revenge on Phil and Steve for conspiring to get him sent down — by blackmailing the pair into giving him £100,000 each before fleeing the square with his ransom money.
Storylines
Dan Sullivan arrives in Walford — a fictionalized borough in East London — on 7 June 1999, appearing as the latest boyfriend of local café manager Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson). They soon move to Walford's local community, Albert Square, where the couple plan to get married after Dan learns that Carol is expecting his child. Their wedding plans surprise Carol's daughter Bianca (Patsy Palmer), as she and Dan had had a fling when she was a teenager on holiday many years before. After the pair find themselves secretly reacquainted with each other, Dan and Bianca start an affair — even though she is married to local resident Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen), who ends up befriending Dan. Eventually, Carol discovers the affair and publicly exposes it in front of Ricky and their neighbors. She then disowns Bianca, breaks-up with Dan by chucking him out of her house, and later aborts their child before leaving Walford. Bianca subsequently departs the square after she and Dan are unable to resume their relationship. Shortly afterwards, Dan and Ricky begin to clash after Ricky blames Dan for ruining his life and marriage with Bianca. The hostility between them escalates when Dan begins to flirt with Ricky's sister Janine (Charlie Brooks), which promptly sparks a conflict between the siblings' father Frank (Mike Reid) and Dan himself. One such incident between them involves Frank punching Dan for making remarks on how he brought up his children. This eventually becomes too much for Ricky, who ends up leaving the square in April 2000.
It is at this point where Dan has become closely acquainted with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) — the square's local hardman who is also partly related to the Butcher family as he is Ricky's former brother-in-law and Frank's eldest stepson. Dan quickly establishes himself as Phil's best-friend as the two continue to bond over their relationship problems and business interests, with Phil even confining to Dan about how Ricky previously married his sister Sam (Danniella Westbrook) before his marriage with Bianca emerged years afterwards. Towards the Millennium celebrations, Dan finds Phil spending his Christmas alone at The Queen Victoria public house and comforts him over his wife Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and their son Ben leaving the county without him months ago. They soon proceed to form a business partnership when Phil sells his ownership of The Queen Vic to Dan for £5; with Phil having done so to spite his mother Peggy (Barbara Windsor) in retribution for supposedly favoring his brother Grant (Ross Kemp), who recently left the square following a botched criminal job between the brothers, more than him. Phil slowly regrets this decision after his girlfriend Lisa Shaw (Lucy Benjamin) confronts him for upsetting Peggy. However, Dan refuses to relinquish his ownership of the pub back to Peggy and later discovers that Phil is running a car lot scam with both Frank and their colleague Roy Evans (Tony Caunter). When Lisa is rushed to hospital one night, Dan offers Phil a lift to the hospital and the two begin arguing over his ownership of the pub — which Dan once again refuses to relinquish back to Peggy for £10,000. Phil lashes out in response to this, but Dan overpowers Phil and threatens to report him to the police. Phil backs down and leaves Dan outside of the hospital, where inside he finds out out that Lisa has suffered a miscarriage and that their unborn baby has died. The next day, Dan learns that Phil plans to kick him out of the house and responds by reporting his motor scam to the police; Phil later changes his mind after he makes amends with Dan, and the two plan on further establishing their partnership whilst Dan hopes to cover-up his betrayal from Phil.
By then, Dan has romantically bonded with Phil's barmaid and Lisa's best-friend: Mel Healy (Tamzin Outhwaite). Their growing relationship is initially contracted when Dan befriends and later dates one of the pub's regular customers, Teresa di Marco (Leila Birch), which causes her overprotective brother Gianni (Marc Bannerman) to become suspicious over his intentions. When Gianni witnesses Dan further wooing Teresa and her friends, he confronts them and warns Dan to stay away from his sister. They nearly brawl after Gianni chucks a drink at Dan for dismissing him, but Mel separates them and Teresa later ends her crush on Dan at her family's urging. Dan then continues to develop his relationship with Mel, who soon learns about him reporting Phil and his motor scam to the police. Mel subsequently confines this secrecy to Lisa, who ends up telling Phil about Dan tipping off the police about his motor scam. This causes Phil to end his friendship with Dan, and he later plots to win back his share of the pub as payback. Phil arranges a card game between him and Dan, who ends up losing after the former tricks him into refunding his £5. Outraged, Dan swears revenge on Phil. He soon learns that Mel told Phil about his tip-off and, suspecting that she conspired with Phil against him, begins stalking her — up to the point where he even threatens Mel with phone calls. This continues until Dan, while corning Mel just as she finishes one of her with her night shifts at the pub, finds himself confronted by her boyfriend Steve Owen (Martin Kemp) — who threatens to kill Dan unless he leaves the square. At first Dan ignores Steve and plans to further harass Mel, but is forced to change his mind when Steve visits him with a gun — thus making his threat clear; Dan seemingly complies to his demands and leaves the square on 7 July 2000.
Six months later, Dan returns to the square in 26 February 2001 — still determined to get revenge on Phil. He plans to confirm this to Steve and, after learning that he and Mel are set to get married at the start of March 2001, sets out to visit him at his nightclub; the E20. There, he finds Phil's cousin Billy (Perry Fenwick) working as Steve's secretary and orders him to summon Steve himself. Billy initially refuses and attempts to threaten Dan by brandishing Steve's gun out of his safe, but Dan is unfazed and — after taunting Billy over how he would really feel about killing a man — easily disarms Billy, forcing him to drop his gun and discuss like "big boys". Moments later, Steve arrives and orders Billy to get out of his office. Dan then proceeds to sarcastically offer Steve his congratulations, and the two begin exchanging threats to each other when Steve reminds Dan of the last warning he gave him about leaving the square for good. Although Dan tells Steve that he is back in the square to deal with Phil and not Mel, he is dismissed at the expense of warning Steve to not be fooled by Mel as she previously did to her ex-husband Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). Their conversation ends with Dan offering Steve a handshake, to which Steve threateningly rejects by telling Dan to get out of his office — which prompts Dan to tell Steve that he'll regret crossing him. On the day Steve and Mel get married, Dan approaches Billy at Steve's wedding reception and demands that he bring Phil for him when the latter arrives. Billy complies and tells Phil that Dan is waiting for him in Steve's office, much to Steve's frustration. Upon confronting each other, Dan tells Phil that he plans to settle his score with him and begins to taunt him just as Phil gives Dan five seconds to get out of his sight. When Phil ends up chucking wine from his glass into Dan's face, Dan threatens Phil by promising him that he'll regret it. Later on that night, Phil is shot by an unknown assailant — though not before Dan resorts to harassing him with phone calls. Following Phil's shooting, Dan becomes a prime suspect. He soon begins to target Phil's godson Jamie (Jack Ryder), threatening to inflict violence on the youngster unless he agrees to repay him the money Phil owes him. Jamie makes his effort to avoid succumbing to Dan's threats, even when Phil learns about Dan's comeback. Dan also continues to torment Mel once more, and begins clashing with Steve over their similar issues with Phil.
It is soon revealed that Lisa is the culprit who shot Phil. After confronting Lisa over the shooting, Phil forgives her and decides to frame Dan — knowing that Dan is a much bigger threat to him than Lisa. He first contacts Dan's former crime boss, Ritchie Stringer (Gareth Hunt), and together the pair hatch a plan where Dan would be given the same gun that Lisa used to shoot Phil. Once the weapon is in his position, Dan later confronts Phil at the garage to extort money from him — threatening to shoot him otherwise. When Jamie ends up walking to see Phil being held at gunpoint, he attempts to disarm Dan — who fights off Jamie and ends up shooting the garage's clock from the resulting impact. Moments later, the police arrive thanks to Phil's tip-off and Dan is consequently arrested; he is later charged with attempted murder and will be trialed for the crime in July 2001.
As Dan's trial commences, Phil convinces Steve to work together in getting Dan imprisoned — under the guise that the pair, though archenemies, would be well-ridden of their fellow nemesis and Mel's tormentor once and for all. Despite their efforts, however, Dan is found not guilty. Deducing that Phil had framed him for the shooting and that Steve had been conspiring with their shared enemy against him, Dan plans to get revenge on his two rivals — up to the point where he wrongfully asserts that Steve is the one who shot Phil. He first blackmails Billy to gain leverage over the pair, and later kidnaps Mel as part of his plan to get £200,000 ransom. He alerts Phil and Steve of Mel's kidnapping to blackmail the pair in delivering him the money in exchange for Mel's safety; with Phil being forced to deliver Steve's £200,000 from his nightclub. Phil plans to take down Dan with a gun, but Dan discovers this and orders Phil to extract Mel on his own. Phil appears to oblige and first, but then surprises Dan and disarms him. Phil prepares to kill Dan, admitting that his habit of never really intentionally killing a man has changed in his case; Dan gets to be the first on Phil's list. However, Mel surprisingly helps Dan by turning off the lights — allowing Dan to overpower Phil and leave him behind. Mel reluctantly helps Dan after he tells her about what Steve and Phil have been up to, without her knowing about it. After dropping off Mel at a rendezvous point, Dan leaves Walford in August 2001 — considerably richer than when he first arrived.
Though he is not seen again on the square again, Dan leaves flowers on Steve's grave following the latter's death in March 2002 — at the epic climax of his feud with Phil — bearing the message "Gotcha!". In 2003, Billy is led to believe that Dan is back in the square to settle a few scores after hearing rumors of his supposed comeback — although this is off-screen. This is later revealed to be a hoax by the police to connect Phil to the alleged murder of Lisa. It soon transpires that Dan is last heard to be living in Spain, but having many brushes with the law — just like he did in the square.
Consequently, Dan is one of the few soap opera villains to not get killed off nor receive any comeuppance for his crimes.
Development
In 2001, it was reported by The Mirror, that Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) would be shot in a whodunnit style storyline.[1] The possible suspects were Lisa Shaw (Lucy Benjamin), Melanie Healy (Tamzin Outhwaite), Steve Owen (Martin Kemp), Mark Fowler (Todd Carty), Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and Dan.[1] Some bookmakers refused to take bets as they were convinced that Dan would commit the crime.[2] The bookies' favourite for Phil's shooter was Dan, with the odds 3–1.[1]
References
- Wilkes, Neil (15 January 2001). "EastEnders Plotline Revealed 2". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- Wilkes, Neil (19 January 2001). "Dan shoots Phil?". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved 23 March 2012.