Daniel "Dan" Baker is a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away.He was portrayed by Tim Campbell and was a regular in the show from late 2004 until the end of 2007.It was been reported that the character will be killed off-screen during 2008, thus precluding a return appearance.

Character history

Prior to his arrival in Summer Bay, Dan had been married to Amanda Vale and had a son with her, Ryan.The marriage had ended in divorce, partly because Dan had developed a gambling addiction, partly because Amanda had slept with his brother Peter.

Dan did not see Peter for years after this but came to Summer Bay in 2004 when he heard Peter was badly injured and in a coma.One of the first people he met on his arrival was Leah Patterson, who he soon became close to.He did his best to dissuade her for searching for her husband, Vinnie, who she had just discovered was alive and in witness protection, fearing she would be placing herself in danger.Although he hadn't intended to stay in the Bay for long, Dan ended up taking the post of student counsellor at the local school.(The previous incumbent, Noah Lawson, had been killed in the same incident where Peter was injured.)

By the time Peter recovered, Dan was already involved with Leah and pretty much settled in the Bay.He and Peter quickly settled their differences and he also became good friends with Flynn Saunders and Scott Hunter.There was a great deal of tension between Dan and Leah's ex-boyfriend, Jesse McGregor, which though it abated somewhat never entirely went away.

Dan eventually asked Leah to marry him, after she had given up the opportunity to be reunited with Vinnie.The service was disrupted by the intervention of Amanda, who did her best to ruin all the arrangements, but went ahead nevertheless.Soon after, Amanda moved to the Bay and took a job at the school.Dan was less than pleased to see her, even though it meant spending time with Ryan, but, at least initially, they managed to come to an understanding and he even allowed her to stay at the house while Leah was away.

Dan and Leah were among several Summer Bay residents who were involved in a plane crash in one of the first acts of the "Summer Bay Stalker".They and all the other passengers survived the incident and were soon rescued.

Shortly after they got married, Leah thought she was pregnant.When she found out she wasn't, she and Dan were surprised to find themselves disappointed and decided to try for a baby.After their initial attempts were unsuccessful, they sought medical advice and learned that as a result of an operation Leah had had the previous year she had suffered an infection that left her unable to conceive naturally.The only way they would be able to have a child of their own was via IVF.

When Dan, along with several other residents, spent a day at the horse racing, his old gambling addiction resurfaced.He hid his habit from Leah while raking up massive debts.Around the same time, angry at Amanda's manipulation of the Hunter family, he threatened to apply for full custody of Ryan but when she found out what he was doing she blackmailed him into withdrawing the application.He then tried to get round Leah by suggesting they instead use the money for the IVF treatment.In the end, Dan ended up owing a lot of money to a very unsavoury bookmaker named Jimmy Knox, who first kidnapped Ryan, then took Leah and her friend Rachel prisoner in the house. Fortunately, Peter arrived in time to rescue them but it was the final straw for Leah and she ordered Dan out of the house.He moved in with Scott and Kim Hyde.

When Leah discovered she was pregnant, she took a long time to tell Dan.They briefly reconciled when the news broke but when Leah suffered a miscarriage she felt the only thing holding their marriage together was gone and asked Dan to leave again.Things were better between him and Amanda by then and he moved in with her and Ryan.Dan and Amanda ended up sleeping together, which she saw as the start of something big but he saw as a huge mistake.When she found this out, she left town again, taking Ryan with her.Dan went to pieces, especially when Leah filed for divorce, making a half-hearted pass at Sally before crashing his car.It was briefly believed he had tried to commit suicide because of the speed he had been driving at.The incident caused Leah to realise how much he meant to her and they got back together for good.

When Peter was apparently killed in the explosion at Jack and Martha's wedding, Dan was deeply upset, feeling guilty about all the years they had spent estranged.After a chat with Tony Holden, he gave consent for Peter's liver to be used to save Jack's life.While going through Peter's papers, Dan was shocked to learn Peter had a son, Drew Curtis, that he had never told him about.Since there was now no longer anyone around to pay Drew's boarding school fees, Dan invited Drew to come and live with him and Leah.

It took a long time for Drew to warm to Dan since he had not had any real relationship with his father.When Drew started seeing Belle Taylor, Dan was concerned with the amount of trouble they were getting into together, frequently skipping school, and ended up banning them from seeing each other.He didn't have a hope of enforcing it and Leah and Amanda effectively ended up reversing the decision.

Soon after everyone in Summer Bay was shocked to discover that in fact Peter was still alive:his death had been faked because a gangster, Dennis Gillen, had been released from prison and threatened to kill him.With Gillen dead, Peter was free to return to the Bay.Ironically, despite his guilt about their previous estrangement, Dan was initially angry that Peter had let them believe he was dead(when in fact Peter had been removed from the scene of the explosion against his will).No sooner had they got over that than Dan was hit with a further shock when he discovered Peter and Amanda were seeing each other again.

When Kelli Vale began her campaign to turn the town against Amanda, Dan was angry that she had frequently placed Ryan in danger, nearly letting him be electrocuted by leaving him at home alone and driving to pick him up while drunk.As a result, he virtually forced her to grant him sole custody.(It is unclear whether Dan has retained that privilege since Kelli's actions were exposed although Ryan still spends at least some of his time with Dan and Leah.)Despite this, Dan, like Drew, persuaded Peter to go after Amanda when she left town.

When Drew's mother Jazz arrived in town, Dan reluctantly let her stay with them(even though Drew didn't want her there).She tried to get him onside as part of her plan to take Drew's inheritance but he found her constant flirting more uncomfortable than anything else and asked her to leave.

Dan became good friends with Brad Armstrong and was best man at his abortive marriage to Sally.He was also involved with the disastrous school trip which resulted in Annie Campbell and Rory Tolhurst accidentally being left behind(although he was absolved of all blame since Don Fisher was supposed to have read the register).He had less excuse when he refused to excuse Aden Jefferies from an exam when he claimed to be ill, resulting in Aden collapsing in class.