The character arrived to the show in a high-profile storyline that saw Daniel revealed as his "sister" Sarah's (Amanda Billing) illegitimate son.

Daniel departed in 2005 to live with his newly discovered father Tim Coombes (Millen Baird) before returning briefly in 2007 to attend Sarah's wedding.

Renowned for his intellect and computing skills, Daniel storylines went on to feature internet entrepreneurism, government introduced bootcamps, abortion, homelessness and brain trauma.

"[7] When reading Daniel's final scripts, Drent was brought to tears at the conclusion of his hard work and how the storyline resembled his own life.

Daniel returned to live with Sarah in 2009 and after falling in with a bad crowd, began to date Sophie McKay (Kimberley Crossman).

His illegal business of selling stolen goods saw his friend die in a car crash and Daniel was sent to bootcamp and later took up boxing, something that nearly saw him beaten to death by a gang.

In December Daniel was assaulted over the head whilst stopping Hunter (Lee Donoghue) from robbing a pharmacy and he developed serious brain damage.

"[3] Drent explained that Daniel "holds a lot of resentment" towards his mother and "He's willing to go to pretty dramatic lengths to win a crowd and I think that surprises people.

"[3] In a September 2011 interview with 20/20, Drent expressed concern at the new-found protagonistic characteristics of his character, stating; "you can't be too good in a drama, otherwise there's no room for you!

"[9] The casting of Drent in the role came as a surprise to many fans of the show due to his muscular physique contrasting Blakiston's petite shape.