Dawn Daniel-Spears (Frances Ruffelle) 2001-2002

First Regular Appearance: 5.1 (#229) Passports Out  Sunday 16th September 2001

Last Regular Appearance: 5.20 (#248) Broken Dreams  Sunday 10th February 2002

Duration: EP: 229 - 248  |  SE: 5.1 – 5.20

Last Seen: Handing her house keys to Lynda at the club, and running away after attacking Claudia.

At her peak in the early 90's, Dawn Daniels was a woman who had it all; youth, a moderately successful career in acting, and married to an in-demand professional footballer in David Spears. All which brought with it fame and attention before the term ‘WAG’ was ever in use.

Fast forward ten years and Dawn is still an attractive woman, but facing a career battle as she is persistently overlooked for younger women in work. David on the other hand, has always had a next stage plan being in football, and the man to guide him through in Alan Rothman. This has put distance between Dawn and her husband, but seeing how Alan has moulded David has given Dawn the hope that he will be her safety net too. So much so Dawn and Alan are in a secret affair before he is appointed manager of Harchester United, the two getting the perfect opportunity alone together when Karl Fletcher is arrested for murder and David takes charge of the team in Mallorca.

When David discovers the less-than-professional relationship between his mentor and wife, he oversees a plan to remove Alan in disgrace from his position as manager. With Alan gone, Dawn puts all into reviving her marriage, and goes even further by undergoing cosmetic surgery. But it all seems to be too little too late as David cannot forgive Dawn, and has set his sights on the care-free Claudia Irving. The relationship is revealed at the club’s Christmas party, after Dawn and Sam Irving catch an eyeful of David and Claudia in a compromising position. David resigns, and not wanting Dawn anymore leaves her behind in Harchester, alone.

Now desperate to hang onto anything she can at United, Dawn latches onto Fletch, who himself only wanted fun and soon sees her as an inconvenience. When Claudia begins to be hassled by an unknown troublemaker, it really freaks her out, especially when the person gains access to the house she shares with Nikki and leaves sinister warnings. Claudia is being full-on stalked, and when she goes to sort out Linton Alexander’s new home at The Barrons, formerly the home of David and Dawn, Claudia comes face to face with the person behind it all - Mrs Spears.

When Claudia mocks Dawn for thinking she’d be scared of her, Dawn slaps her and locks herself in the bathroom, leaving Claudia in fear she is about to take her life. Instead, Dawn comes out and wallops Claudia with a stool, knocking her unconscious. She then bounds and gags her husband’s mistress and leaves Claudia to be gassed from the fire. Luckily, Lynda and Nikki find her in time, and we later hear from Sam that the police caught up with Dawn and she admitted everything.