David Reece is a friend of Penny Golightly. He arrived in Beckindale with Gwen Russell following an invite from Penny to stay at the Millhouse with her. David had an interest in art and had drawn several paintings. Nicholas Phelps, a local businessman was interested in David's paintings. Phelps paid David's travel expenses to Wales so he could pick up more of his paintings. Phelps told David he could make him a household name, so he contacted Angus Seddon, an art critic, who came to Beckindale to see David's paintings, thinking David was talented. Upon arrival, Angus looked at the paintings and was highly critical of David's work, saying a sixth former could do better. Angus regarded David as talentless, and should try another hobby. David is devastated. Angus felt he had a wasted journey to Beckindale so quickly returned to London. This meant David's big break in the art world was in tatters. It turned out that even if David had made it rich, Phelps wrote the contract up in such a way that he alone had the rights to all the money that David would have made from his paintings, so Jack Sugden felt that Phelps had used David to meet his own ends. Due to this disappointment, David considered moving on from Beckindale. Henry Wilks bought one of David's paintings. In June, David celebrated his birthday at the mill before him and Gwen decided to return to Wales. David said they will be leaving first thing in the morning. The next morning, David and Gwen moved back to Wales, never to return to Beckindale.
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