Daniel Wayne "Dan" Spencer is the father of Sean Spencer and the father-figure of Amelia Spencer, who he raised as his daughter in the belief that she was his, when he was actually her uncle, due to Dan's brother Daz Spencer being Amelia's biological father. Dan was previously married to Ali Spencer, Chas Dingle and bigamously to Kerry Wyatt.
Biography[]
2011-2012: Arrival and marriage to Chas Dingle[]
Dan comes to Emmerdale to see his children. Ali and her partner, Ruby, are not pleased by his presence, but Amelia and Sean enjoy having their father visit. Dan decides to stay around for a while and he believes he can win Ali back. After a couple of weeks, Dan announced he is leaving to return to work. Sean asks to go with him, but Dan tells him he has no flat yet.
Dan returns to the village a few months later, still refusing to give up on his marriage, even though Ali wants a divorce. He moves in with Bob Hope and gets a packing job at the Sharma and Sharma sweet factory. Sean tells him to leave Ali and Ruby alone and that he likes living with them. Dan takes Amelia and Sean to his house after Sean claims that Ruby kissed him. Dan allows the children to return home when Sean confesses to lying about the kiss. When Ali and Ruby fall out, Dan helps them repair their relationship. Dan develops feelings for Chas Dingle and she reciprocates. After dating for a few weeks, Chas proposes to Dan, but he turns her down. He later changes his mind and proposes to her instead. Chas accepts and they begin planning their wedding. With the wedding taking place on 17th October 2012, Dan is disappointed when Chas disappears on their wedding night. He later discovers that she had been having an affair with Cameron Murray and had been responsible for Carl King's death. Their marriage did not last as Chas engaged in a full relationship with Cameron, now the news had become public and their marriage was annulled in June 2013.
2013-2014: Relationship with Kerry Wyatt[]
In 2013, Dan becomes romantically involved with Amy Wyatt's mother, Kerry, even going as far as to have a tattoo on his foot stating he loved her.
Kerry and Dan get engaged. Dan's brother Daz arrives in town, pushing Dan's buttons and sharing a kiss with a drunk Kerry. In spite of this, Dan and Kerry wed, but her first husband, Kev, shows up at the reception, asking for a divorce so he could marry his new partner. Punches are thrown and Dan and various others are arrested. Dan and Kerry split, with Dan's emotional state worsened by news of Sean joining the army. Dan and Ali seek comfort in each other, leading to sex. A pregnancy scare leads to the truth being revealed, but Dan and Kerry still reconcile.
2015-2016: Helicopter crash and Mill Cottage explosion[]
Dan and a reluctant Kerry begin taking college courses to improve their lives. Sean suffers severe burns in an accident, leading Ali and Ruby to spend much of their time close to him in Liverpool while he recovers. Dan initially plans to join them, but stays behind with Kerry and Amelia. Ruby returns to help earn more money, but is soon significantly injured after a helicopter explosion causes a ceiling to collapse on her. Dan and Kerry stay with her as she dies, with Dan left guilt-ridden over not being able to help her. He decides to become a paramedic, later helping save Robert Sugden's life after his shooting. Ali leaves town with her sister Rachel, with Amelia choosing to stay with Kerry and Dan.
Dan continues his courses, finding quiet time to revise while "babysitting" for an unaware Ashley Thomas. Dan, Ashley, Jimmy King and various other men eventually begin having poker parties, with Dan even turning down sex with Kerry to spend time with the lads. This turns into water gun fights with the kids, including Amelia, who blackmail Dan and the other men into complying. Kerry and the partners of the other men are less than pleased when they learn the truth. Dan's paramedic training comes in handy after Rakesh Kotecha starts a fire at Mill Cottage which causes an explosion. Dan is the first to see the explosion and calls the fire brigade. Nicola King, who is trapped inside, screams for help, so Ronnie Hale and Dan go in and get her out. Ronnie goes back into the burning house while Dan stays with an injured Nicola.
2017: Joanie and Ashley's deaths[]
Dan looks forward to seeing Joanie once again when she is released from prison - she was jailed for a month after accidentally assaulting a police officer. However, Dan and company are left stunned when Joanie suddenly dies from a heart attack while Lisa is driving her home. Questions about little Kyle's future loom, as Zak tells social services that he and Lisa are too old to look after a child, and when Kerry's behaviour turns erratic and she suffers a diabetic fit due to excessive drinking, Kyle is taken into care. Thankfully, he is returned to the Dingles' care. Further mortality awaits Dan as Ashley succumbs to pneumonia and fails to respond to treatment, subsequently leading to Ashley passing away in April 2017.
In August 2017, Kerry finds a homeless Daz on the streets of Hotten in a desperate situation and offers him a place to stay until he gets sorted. However, upon arrival of his brother, Dan, still reeling from the events a few years back, gives Daz the cold shoulder. However, after being convinced by Kerry that Daz has changed and by Amelia that he should forgive, Dan reluctantly allows Daz to stay and slowly begins to reconcile with him.
2018 to 2022: Ali's death, Amelia's paternity and becoming a grandad[]
In April 2018, Dan is rung several times by Sean, but ignored his calls as Dan thought it was Sean asking for something. However, Sean rings Daz instead and gives him the bad news - Ali has been killed in a car accident. When Dan returns home to discover the news, and that Daz has broken it to Amelia, he sees red and throws Daz out. Kerry attempts to bring the brothers together but Dan can't see himself forgiving Daz. Daz, feeling sorry for himself, gets drunk in The Woolpack and lets slip to Kerry that he and Ali slept together before Amelia was born. Kerry agreed to keep it secret for Dan's sake until they find out the results of the DNA test.
Dan later finds out that Amelia isn’t his and is devastated. Amelia finds out and then runs away leaving Dan worried for her. She is later found to be living with a young woman called Beth, the daughter of Daz’s friend from the Army. Dan is relieved to have his daughter back and does his best to make up with Amelia. He tries to get her back to normal but she is unhappy and withdrawn. Dan later breaks up with Kerry.
In 2022, Dan slept with his boss, Cain Dingle’s mother, Faith Dingle. Cain is disgusted with both of them and threatens Dan. Dan and Amelia are later evicted from their home by Gabby Thomas after Amelia dropped Gabby’s son while babysitting him. They briefly move into Woodbine Cottage with police officer, Harriet Finch while Dan tries to find a permanent place. In August, it is revealed that Amelia is pregnant and Dan is shocked. He initially suspects Noah Dingle and grabs him, but then finds out that it was Samson. Gabby then allows them to move back home after she hears that Amelia is pregnant.
When Amelia starts dating Noah, Dan is angry as Noah had just got out of jail for stalking Chloe Harris. This leads to Amelia moving in with Noah’s family for a bit which upsets Dan. He later hurts his back after falling while suffering an allergic reaction and is left with an injured back meaning he can’t work. Dan worries he won’t be able to provide for Amelia and the baby, so he sues Brenda Walker who served him the food he was allergic to. Brenda gives him £10,000 but this barely helps with all the bills. Dan hurries to get back to work and almost hurts himself worse.
In October 2022, Amelia gave birth to a baby girl and Dan immediately adores his granddaughter. The baby is later named Esther by Amelia. Dan is annoyed that Samson does nothing to help with his child and becomes enraged when it emerges that he tried to put Esther up for adoption.
2023: Exit[]
In 2023, Amelia is stalked by a man called Lloyd and Dan feels awful about it. He tries to cut her off from social media but Amelia keeps using it. In July, he sees Lloyd harassing Amelia and charges over. Lloyd winds Dan up, saying he will never leave Amelia alone, so Dan punches him and Lloyd falls, hitting his head on a rock. Cain drags Dan away as Jacob Gallagher attempts to bring Lloyd around. Cain tries to talk Dan down but he ends up going to the police as confessing to hitting Lloyd. After he is charged with GBH, Dan asks Cain for advice on how to survive prison.
In August 2023, Dan pleads guilty to GBH, not knowing that Lloyd passed away while he was in court so he technically plead guilty to murder. Dan couldn’t handle the thought of missing out on his daughter and granddaughter’s lives and begged Cain to help him flee the country. Amelia agreed to go with him and Cain arranged for them to go live with his cousin, Mystic Dingle, in Ireland. After talking with Cain, Dan realised if he did this then he would ruining Amelia and Esther’s lives, so he told Cain to scrap the plan. He was later sentenced to a minimum of eight years imprisonment for manslaughter and asked Amelia not visit him with Esther as he didn’t think prison was a good place for a baby.
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Residences[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| California Mansions, Hotten Park Estate | Until 2nd May 2012 |
| Campervan in Main Street (temporary) | 9th November to 11th November 2011 |
| The Grange (temporary) | 11th November 2011 to 25th November 2011 |
| Dale Head | 2nd May to 3rd October 2012 |
| The Woolpack | 3rd October to 17th October 2012 |
| Dale Head | 17th October 2012 to 25th July 2022 |
| Woodbine Cottage | 25th July to 19th September 2022 |
| Dale Head | 19th September 2022 to 17th August 2023 |
| HMP Hotten | 17th August to 15th December 2023 |
| Prison in Birmingham | 15th December 2023 to present |
Additional information[]
- Dan is allergic to almonds.
Background information[]
- Liam Fox was originally contracted for eight episodes, however, producer Stuart Blackburn made the decision to bring him in full-time.
Quotes[]
"Sean!" - First line, to Sean Spencer
"Everyone out! Clear the room, move now!" - before the helicopter crash.
"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no" - before Mill Cottage explodes.
"I heard a bloke over there who said about me before, and I couldn't just sit here and have people think that the bloke he described was me. I'm not a violent person. I punched him once but I didn't think about what was going to happen. I didn't do it because I wanted to injure anyone. I did it because I couldn't stand the thought of him carrying on, harassing my little girl. I wish I hadn't and I feel sorry for his Mrs. and his parents and everyone, I do. But there isn't a dad in here who wouldn't... What I'm saying is, I'm just normal. I'm no different and this could happen to any of you. I'll say it's my fault, nobody else's. I'm not making excuses but I'll regret this for the whole of my life. No matter what happens today. Anyway, that's it. Thank you." - Final line, before being sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter on a one-punch attack on Lloyd Sawyer