| Dan Sullivan | |||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||
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| Portrayed by | Craig Fairbrass | ||||
| Duration | 1999–2001 | ||||
| First appearance | Episode 1788 7 June 1999 | ||||
| Last appearance | Episode 2150 16 August 2001 | ||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||
| Introduced by | Matthew Robinson | ||||
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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.
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, which results in Bianca and Carol leaving the soap. Soon afterwards, Dan established an intense feud with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden). The ensuing rivalry between Dan and Phil continued to escalate in one of the show's greatest and most memorable storylines in soap history, Who Shot Phil?, 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 growing conflicts with both 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 quarrel with her overprotective brother Gianni (Marc Bannerman). He also ends up squaring up against the Mitchell family amid the "Who Shot Phil" scenario by clashing with Phil's mother Peggy (Barbara Windsor), extorting money from his godson Jamie (Jack Ryder), and tormenting Billy (Perry Fenwick). Dan is then imprisoned after Phil and Steve frame him for the shooting, but Dan is later found not guilty in his trial. Afterwards, Dan seeks to get revenge on both Phil and Steve by kidnapping Mel and then blackmailing his two alpha male rivals into giving him £100,000 each in exchange for her safety. The storyline of Mel's kidnapping, which occurred in August 2001 and simultaneously commenced the stage where the show would start presenting four episodes a week, led to a climactic showdown between Dan and Phil on 16 August 2001 when the former forced the latter to make the exchange of the ransom money for Mel. The confrontation between them saw Phil disarm Dan and preparing to kill him, but Dan ultimately overpowered Phil with Mel's help after she gradually realized that Dan was indeed framed for Phil's shooting. In the end, Dan got his revenge and left the country with his £200,000 ransom.