Dr. Daniel Granger is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Matthew Chambers. Daniel was introduced as a general practitioner at The Mill on 9 July 2007. His storylines in the programme have included his relationship with Zara Carmichael, becoming a father, briefly going to prison, and becoming a partner at The Mill.
Storylines
Daniel arrives hiding dangerous secrets, following the theft of a large sum of money from his former practice partner in London. He uses the money to clear part of a £200,000 debt he had run up as a result of an ongoing gambling addiction. With no intention of facing up to his problem, his addiction continues to spiral out of control, resulting in a confrontation with his criminal debtors. The criminals' actions worsen when they take Melody Bell and Joe Fenton hostage to force Daniel to repay them. Following the ordeal, Daniel comes to terms with his addiction and turns himself in to the police. He is faced with a tribunal. Daniel goes through further turmoil as his mentally ill colleague Ruth Pearce holds him captive in the medical centre's sick bay. Daniel makes an escape attempt and injures his leg, cutting it on the glass from a window. When a new nurse, Cherry Malone, begins working at the practice, Daniel finds himself growing attracted to her, and the pair later have sex, despite Cherry's husband Jimmi being a colleague of Daniel's. It was during this time that Daniel discovers that one of his patients, Cybil, has died, leaving him a large amount of money in her will. Daniel spends this money on a high-end sports car and a luxury apartment. Zara Carmichael comes over to his flat, but she ends the relationship within the same day, stating that they needed to get it out of the way before they could work together. A story is sold to the Letherbridge newspaper about Daniel conning Cybil. Julia Parsons sees it and calls a meeting with Lily Hassan and Heston Carter ; Daniel claims that he shouldn't have to apologise because the money was a gift; however, Lily insists that he should. With the backing of the partners, Daniel opened the Granger Clinic, a botox clinic which is run within The Mill. Daniel is enrolled on a team building course with Zara by Julia, after she is fed up with constantly seeing Daniel and Zara arguing at the surgery. At the session, he tries his best to comfort Zara when the whole class was assigned to tell each other about their personal lives. She talks emotionally about her father and his imprisonment, and that she is helping him battle to prove his innocence of manslaughter. They got very close and nearly kissed. Zara sleeps with Daniel numerous times, and she pretends to be his girlfriend so Daniel could have access to his daughter. Afterwards, Daniel takes Zara bowling and they become a couple. In October 2010, Zara starts having hot flushes and menopausal symptoms. At first, he asks if she is pregnant, but she lies and said it was probably just premenstrual syndrome. Zara later comes clean about the menopause, thinkingg Daniel wants to end their relationship. Misreading the situation, she ended it first. Daniel trapped Zara in her office and they got back together. They were seen leaving The Mill holding hands. Daniel later dumps Zara for Lisa Torres, leaving Zara devastated. Daniel does not appear happy with Lisa, and in April 2011, Daniel and Zara get back together. Later that month, Lisa leaves Letherbridge, meaning that Daniel only sees his daughter Izzie Torres every other weekend. In 2011, Daniel and Zara try in vitro fertilisation. They are left devastated when they discover it did not work, and Zara is not pregnant. However, she later discovers that she is pregnant. On 13 February 2012, Zara went into early labour at The Mill. Daniel was unaware of this as he had gone to town with Jimmi. Daniel was driven back to The Mill and held his newborn baby boyfor the first time. Daniel, his baby and Zara were taken to hospital. Following a phone call from Joe, the couple decided to name their son Joe Granger Carmichael. In 2018, Daniel finds Zara having sex withSid Vere. Daniel attempts to get over it and continue his marriage with Zara, but when Zara slaps Izzie, he ends their relationship. In 2019, he begins a relationship with Practice ManagerBecky Clarke. However, while attending a medical conference at a hotel alongside Zara, the pair sleep together. Becky later reveals to Daniel that she is pregnant, and he is the father. When she miscarries the baby and expresses an interest in trying again for a child, Daniel tells her that he does not want to have another child. He later tells Becky that he is not over Zara, and confesses that he slept with her at the conference. Becky ends the relationship with Daniel, and finds a new job in order to escape the tension. As a result of the breakup, Jimmi suggests that Daniel should attend therapy, to which he begins attending. One of the issues that is brought up in therapy is that Daniel is worried about the environment for the sake of his children. As a result, he talks new Business Manager Bear Sylvester into buying an electric car for The Mill. When Izzie visits, she sees netting placed over the trees, placed to stop birds from roosting in them. Upset, she convinces Daniel and Valerie Pitman to cut down the nets at night. However, a resident calls the police, and Daniel is arrested. The charge is dropped as the owner of the car park does not want bad publicity.
Development
In September 2010, Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh who plays Zara Carmichael revealed details of a storyline involving Zara and Daniel. Speaking at the Inside Soap Awards, she said: "There's a fantastic five-part story coming up in the next few weeks involving my character and Daniel. I don't want to give everything away, but something terrible happens to Daniel's baby daughter and Zara steps in to help. It's all very dramatic!" She added: "It's nice to be the good guy for a change. Normally Zara plays the baddie and for once she gets to play the heroine, which makes a nice change for me!"
