2007–2010
Dan returns to Erinsborough and becomes the school counsellor. On the advice of departing colleague, Pepper Steiger (Nicky Whelan), he helps Ringo Brown (Sam Clark) with his eating disorder. Dan begins a relationship with Libby Kennedy and he tells her about his wife, Samantha (Simone Buchanan). Sam became pregnant, but she miscarried the baby and that triggered her bipolar disorder. Dan became more her carer than her husband and their marriage fell apart. Dan begins to look for Sam, so he can divorce her. Sam arrives in town and she asks him to give their marriage another go. Sam suffers a relapse of her bipolar disorder after failing to take her medication. This leads to her acting inappropriately and she lies to Dan. She claims she is pregnant and the lie quickly spins out of control. Dan agrees to move to New Zealand with her to start a new life, but Sam leaves him alone at the airport, knowing he still had feelings for Libby. Sam leaves Dan the divorce papers, but Libby refuses to get involved with him again.
Dan's brother, Lucas (Scott Major) arrives in town and starts dating Libby. Dan and Lucas fight, but they eventually make up. Libby finds out that Lucas is Dan's brother and cuts both men out of her life. Dan and Libby both apply to for the Acting Head of Senior School. Libby forgets her notes during her interview because she was helping Zeke Kinski (Matthew Werkmeister) with his essay. Dan gets the job, but turns it down after learning that Libby forgot her notes. When Libby finds out, she goes to see him and Dan tells her that he loves her. Libby and Ben (Blake O'Leary) move in with Dan and he later proposes to her.
A pregnant Sam returns to town on the night of Libby and Dan's engagement party. She reveals that she is carrying Dan's child. Dan is excited when he finds Sam is expecting a girl and they decide to name her Emma. Steph overhears an argument between Cassandra Freedman (Tottie Goldsmith) and Sam, and she discovers that Sam's baby is not Dan's. Dan confronts Sam and she willingly offers to take a paternity test hoping that he would not let her go through with it. However, Sam admits that the baby is not his and she leaves Erinsborough.
On the day of the wedding, Libby begins to feel unwell. She collapses at the end of the ceremony and is rushed to hospital. Libby and Dan discover that Libby is pregnant. Libby believes that she is carrying a girl and she and Dan ask Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) if they could name her Grace, after Susan's mother. However, the same day Libby collapses and she loses the baby. Dan then has to give the doctors permission to perform a hysterectomy.
Libby and Dan agree to try surrogacy. Steph offers to carry their baby, but is told by Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) that it could bring her breast cancer back. Susan then offers and Dan and Libby accept. After being told they could go ahead with the surrogacy by the hospital, the family face abuse from the public when Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) prints the story in the paper. This causes the hospital board to cease their support for the surrogacy. The family challenge the ruling and the board change their minds. After learning that Susan has fallen pregnant, Dan finds it difficult to relate to her. This causes arguments and tension between Libby, Dan, Karl and Susan. When the situation gets worse, Karl books a holiday home for them all. Dan and Susan have an argument about where the baby should be brought up and Dan announces that he should not have agreed to the surrogacy. Dan decides to go for a walk and Susan joins him. She tries to talk to him, but he walks off. Susan tries to run after him, but trips and falls. She calls out to him, but he cannot hear her as he is wearing headphones. Susan miscarries the baby.
Libby and Dan's relationship begins to fall apart. Libby blames Dan for the miscarriage and Susan's MS relapse. Dan agrees to try counselling, but he walks out on the session, claiming that he does not need to be there. Libby and Dan have dinner together and they decide to end their marriage. Dan goes to Charlie's and he and Steph begin to reminisce about the past. They share a kiss and later sleep together. Feeling guilty, Dan decides to leave Erinsborough. Just before leaving, Libby catches him leaving a bicycle for Ben without saying goodbye and she tells him to go. Dan then gets in his car and leaves the town for good.
Steph falls pregnant with Dan's child. A few months later, Dan calls Lucas to tell him that he has been in an accident. Lucas then reveals that the accident has left Dan unable to father children. Steph calls Dan to tell him about the baby and he tells her that he wants to be a part of the baby's life. Steph gives birth to a boy and she decides to give Dan sole custody of the child. Dan asks what his son's name is, but Steph tells him that it is for him to choose. As Steph leaves, Dan tells her that he is calling the baby Adam.
