He was introduced by executive producer Phil Redmond as part of the Osborne family, making his first screen appearance on 18 November 1996, portrayed by Adam Booth.

One of his most notable storylines included his battle with a gambling addiction, which led him losing his share in The Dog in the Pond public house, resulting in him being disowned by his family.

Darren later helped his father, Jack (Jimmy McKenna), to fake his own death as part of a scam, which drew comparisons to the John Darwin disappearance case.

He was created along with his father Jack Osborne and step-mother Celia; they arrived from America to join Darren's older sister Ruth, who was already living in the village.

Other actors that auditioned while in the stages of recasting included fellow cast member Alex Carter who went on to secure the part of Lee Hunter two years later.

[4] In 2010 speaking of his ten-year tenure on the serial Dawson said he felt he like he was "turning a bit into Ken Barlow" and added that he enjoyed playing Darren more each year.

[7] One of Darren's earliest storylines saw him and friend Luke Morgan (Gary Lucy) stand up to bully Mark Gibbs (Colin Parry).

Darren takes advantage of the situation and begins a relationship with Luke's girlfriend Mandy Richardson (Sarah Jayne Dunn).

Darren resents Jack's lodger, Norman Sankofa (Jamie Luke), who he feels is stopping him from gaining his father's attention.

Dawson told Joanne Tebbutt All About Soap that Darren continues to cause trouble and "emotionally blackmails" Jack, which results in a confrontation.

Jack worries when Darren fails to return home, unaware that he is having casual sex with Mel Burton (Cassie Powney).

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)".

[22] 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.

[27] Dawson explained that Darren initially thought faking Jack's death was a "brilliant idea" but put this down to lack of sleep and stress.

About the beginning of the storyline, "Hannah has gone off the rails of late, but even she manages to outdo herself when she and Darren tie the knot after a particularly boozy night in Denmark".

[55] Dawson said that Darren feels like the wedding is "going to be the most perfect day possible and he just can't wait to see the look on Nancy's face when she realises what he's been up to".

[44] Explaining why Darren went ahead with planning the surprise wedding Dawson said: "he's got the pub back, he feels like he's learned all his lessons, and he's come full circle.

[67] Darren and Debbie Dean (Jodi Albert) have a brief relationship, but it ends when her boyfriend Dan Hunter (Andrew McNair) returns from prison.

[72][73][74] Darren steals Frankie Osborne's (Helen Pearson) jewellery to settle a debt with a loan shark,[75] and blames Barry "Newt" Newton (Nico Mirallegro), who is sent back to care.

[77] Darren begins counselling for his gambling addiction, but later plays poker with Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas) and loses his half of The Dog to him.

[86] Warren bribes Darren with £100,000 to help frame Jake Dean (Kevin Sacre) for the murder of Sean Kennedy (Matthew Jay Lewis).

[96] Frankie and Jack discover that Darren took a £100,000 bribe from Warren to get Jake to confess to Sean's murder, and then gambled the money away despite the family being in debt.

On New Year's Eve, after bringing Esther and her girlfriend Kim Butterfield (Daisy Wood-Davis) to a club he is mistaken for a taxi-man giving him the idea to start up his own taxi company 'Daz Cabs'.

However they came to blows over the name and design of the company, but resolved their differences with Darren moving into the boarding house, Tony working as a taxi driver and Maxine Minniver (Nikki Sanderson) takes over as receptionist.

Trevor Royle (Greg Wood) orders Darren to get rid of the gun but Patrick records him burying it and blackmails him into saying Maxine is an alcoholic and she loses custody of Minnie.

[150] The Press and Journal described Darren's time on the soap, saying: "He languished in prison for helping his father fake his own death, has battled a crippling gambling addiction and has been known to steal people's girlfriends and break up relationships".

[124] Virgin Media criticised the character's original dress sense stating "he might be male, but that doesn't mean Darren can escape the fashion police.

He may have gone to prison once already, but with his chunky gold jewellery and sinister string vests, it won't be long before he is carted away in cuffs for his crimes against style".

[158] Producer Bryan Kirkwood said that he thought Dawson was a "brilliant actor",[23] and added, "Ashley's one of those people that can do comedy and pathos within the blink of an eye".