was a "dirty dog to her". Gambling addiction Darren begins gambling in 2008 and later his addiction causes him a great deal of trouble, leading him to steal from his family and ultimately losing everything. On his character's addiction, Dawson commented that Darren is initially on a "winning streak" but quickly begins to "lose everything, including Zoe Carpenter (Zoë Lister)". He felt that Darren is torn about his addiction because although he is aware of his problem he believes "his next big win is just around the corner". When talking to What's on TV about Darren's addiction, Dawson said it began slowly but spiralled out of control, thinking that gambling is easy after a few big wins. Eventually, Darren was willing to bet on everything, even "who's going to have toast for breakfast". Darren finally realises he has a problem when in spite of the fun, he loses everything as his debts increase. Darren begins counselling for his addiction but later plays a game of poker with Warren in which he loses his share of The Dog in the Pond. Dawson said this "devastated" Darren who can't convince Warren the poker game was "just a joke". Darren begins a "Bonnie and Clyde partnership" with Jessica Harris (Jennifer Biddall) which producer Bryan Kirkwood described as "very funny". Jessica then leaves the village in a "dramatic twist", leaving Darren in more debt in the process. Dawson said that Darren's gambling addiction had been one of his highlights in the show and described the storyline as "fantastic". Fake death scam This storyline, which was announced June 2008, was initially billed as Darren's father, Jack Osborne (Jimmy McKenna), being "at an all-time low" before finding a dead body which is "too good an opportunity for him and Darren to pass up". They swap Eamon Fisher's (Derek Halligan) identity with Jack's, before Jack is forced to "slope off into the night". The storyline was compared to John Darwin faking his own death with the Daily Record commenting, "Clearly, the news stories about John Darwin and his canoe haven't reached Chester" while the Sunday Mercury commented that Darren's guilt was deserved "in shades of the current John 'dead canoeist' Darwin court case". After these comparisons Dawson confirmed that the storyline was planned ahead of the media coverage of the case, adding that he thought the storyline was "far fetched", adding that due to the storyline being