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Guest Character Profiles > Danni Ferguson Laura McIntosh

Danni Ferguson 2013, 2014, 2015
Lived: 24 Ramsay Street
Occupation: Manager of Fitzgerald Motors

When Lucas Fitzgerald sold his garage and left town, Danni Ferguson was appointed as the manager by her mum, the owner of the chain that had bought the business. She then paid the garage a visit, pretending to be a customer, and was given poor, and short-tempered, service by mechanic Chris Pappas. She told Chris that she'd go elsewhere, so he was surprised when he went down to the garage later that evening and found her there, explaining that she'd done the work herself. She went on to explain that she was his new boss, and she wasn't very impressed with the service she'd received so far. When Chris then arrived late for work the next day, and accidentally poured coolant into the engine, Danni was forced to give him a formal warning. She later learnt from Chris's housemate Kyle that he was currently going through a difficult time after being dumped by his boyfriend Hudson and although Danni was sympathetic, she told Chris that he couldn't keep bringing his personal problems to work, and gave him the afternoon off to sort himself out.

Things then settled down a little bit as Chris managed to keep his head down at work, but the following month, Danni was forced to call the police, when Chris arrived one morning to find the cars on the forecourt had been keyed. Chris also found some flowers that had been dumped by one of the cars, and he knew that the culprit had been Miguel, a guy he'd hooked up with, who wanted them to go out on a proper date. Chris had rejected him when he'd come to the garage to talk, but when Danni asked Chris if he had any information, he said nothing. Later, Danni noticed that the guy on CCTV who'd been spotted keying the cars had been in an earlier video, talking to Chris. She eventually got the truth out of him, and was forced to give him another formal warning, telling him that he was now on his final chance.

Fortunately for Chris, things improved in the months that followed, both in terms of his relationship with Danni and for the business. With plenty of work to go around, Danni was impressed when Chris's friend Mark Brennan was helping out one day, and asked him if he'd like a job. Brennan, previously a detective who'd then gone into witness protection, had spent some of his time in hiding working at a garage, but was unwilling to stick around in Erinsborough at first. However, when he realised that his ex-girlfriend Kate Ramsay was going through a hard time and might need some support, he decided to stay and accepted Danni's job offer. As he began work at the garage, Brennan noticed the strange positioning of the CCTV cameras, and was confused when he found out that they were only switched on during opening hours. When Danni then behaved strangely when a man with the surname Montague brought his car in for a service, Brennan finally found out the truth - she was afraid that her abusive ex, Stephen Montague was going to track her down. She explained how she'd convinced her mum, who owned the chain of garages, to keep the name Fitzgerald Motors, to put Stephen off the scent, but she was still very paranoid that he was going to track her down.

When Chris and Brennan then found a sleeping bag, and Danni admitted that she'd been sleeping in the garage since the lease on her flat had run out, Brennan suggested that she come at stay with him at 24 Ramsay Street, the house that he'd started renting. Danni agreed, little realising what she was getting herself into with neat freak Brennan, and her presence also caused Kate to turn up at the house one day, jealous that he'd got himself a female housemate, and unexpectedly kiss him. Kate quickly backed off and made it clear that she didn't want to be with Brennan again, so he focussed on work and friends - and on a strange car that he'd seen parked outside the garage a few times. Convinced that it belonged to Stephen, he went to the police and asked Matt Turner to find out who it was registered to. When Matt confirmed that it didn't belong to Stephen, Brennan remained concerned, and when Danni went to the garage to get changed for a footy game with the guys and didn't return - having told Kyle through the window that she'd decided to stay back and do some work - Brennan was immediately concerned. He arrived at the garage to find Stephen attempting to bundle Danni into his car, but stopped him just in time. Relieving as the police took Stephen away, and sure that he'd get prison time for breaking his AVO and attempting to kidnap her, she thanked Brennan for his help, but was embarrassed when she misread the situation and tried to kiss him, only for him to reject her. The following week, after they'd spent days avoiding each other, Danni apologised to Brennan and checked whether her actions had made things awkward between them. Brennan insisted that it wasn't a problem, and was touched when Danni even bought him a gift to say sorry.

The following week, Danni was alarmed when her lawyer got in touch to say that Stephen had been given bail. Danni started to panic and continued to check the CCTV cameras at the garage for any sign of him, but Brennan told her that she had the whole street looking out for her, and that Stephen was 40km away and was unlikely to risk coming back to Erinsborough to look for her again. However, after destroying his ankle monitor, he was soon back in Erinsborough, asking if anyone knew Danni. When Chris spotted him, then later saw some old photos that had been in Danni's car, he realised that Stephen was nearby, and Brennan tried to track down Danni to warn her, sending Chris to number 24, where Stephen had already broken in. Chris attempted to stop Stephen from leaving, but he managed to get away, and a worried Danni decided to get out of the area for a while, going to stay with an old friend in Adelaide.

Only days later, Stephen appeared back in Erinsborough shortly before Kate was shot and killed. Stephen immediately became prime suspect and Brennan was determined to find him and make him pay, though even the police struggled to track him down. Needing Stephen to come out of hiding, Brennan persuaded Danni to return to town, claiming that she was safe now. However, when Danni returned, she was alarmed to find out that that Kate's uncle, Paul Robinson was blaming Brennan for his niece's death, convinced that the bullet had been intended for him. Wanting to run Brennan out of town, Paul was attempting to buy the garage from Danni's mum and, after convincing her mum to turn down Paul's offer, Danni was in for another shock when Brennan tried to convince her to use her social network pages to make Stephen see she was back in Erinsborough and lure him out of hiding. Danni turned to Sonya for advice and support, and Sonya helped her to realise that she shouldn't be putting herself in danger. When Danni then went to the police and said that she couldn't help them, she was shocked to learn that Brennan hadn't even informed the police of his plan and was going it alone in his attempts to catch Stephen. Furious at what Brennan had done, Danni decided that it would be safest if she left town again, and Sonya drove her to the airport.

A couple of weeks later, after Montague had fallen into Brennan's trap and turned up on Ramsay Street, he was caught by the police. Though they managed to charge him with breaking his bail, he had an alibi for the time of Kate's shooting, and Brennan was forced to accept that they'd been going after the wrong man. Danni returned to town, but she quickly realised that she couldn't stick around in Erinsborough. After a difficult goodbye to Brennan, and having arranged for her mum to appoint a new manager at the garage, Danni left Erinsborough for good.

After spending a few months travelling overseas, Danni made a brief return to Erinsborough to check in on the garage, as her mum had received a few complaints from unhappy customers. With Chris recovering from a brain injury, Brennan had been trying to run the place, with the help of a few casual workers, but it was clear that he was struggling. Though he was having problems using one of his arms and suffering from mood swings, Chris was desperate to prove that he was still useful, fearing that Danni might sack him. He spent a few hours helping out, answering the phones and tidying up, but it soon became apparent that he couldn't cope with much and Danni told him to go home and rest, later making it clear that, although he could continue his apprenticeship, right now she didn't feel that he was ready to return to work.

The following year, Danni's life was changed forever when, whilst driving and answering a text from Toadie, she took her eyes off the road for a brief moment and ended up running down Matt, who later died in hospital. Danni failed to stop at the scene, taking her car to the garage and covering it up. When new employee, and Brennan's younger brother, Tyler found the car, along with Matt's stepdaughter Paige, she immediately suspected a shifty Tyler of being the one who'd run down Matt. Paige headed to the police station with Tyler close behind, denying everything, but just as they arrived at the station, Danni appeared and confessed everything. She explained that she'd panicked but had realised that she had to turn herself in, and would take full responsibility for her actions. She was later bailed and released into her mother's care. The following week, Danni went to see Brennan and asked if he could help her to meet with the Turner family, on the day of Matt's funeral. She then went to the house and told them how sorry she was, and how her moment of poor judgement had changed their lives forever. Lauren then thanked Danni for coming, aware that it couldn't have been easy for her.

Danni then went to Toadie and asked if he could represent her, and after checking that Lauren was happy for him to do so, he agreed. Danni was aware that she was guilty, but was hoping that there might be a way to reduce her sentence, which Toadie believed would be around ten years. He suggested that she should get character statements from any friends who were in positions of responsibility, but when Sonya then mentioned that Chris had given a positive statement about Josh, who'd been responsible for his brain injury, Danni began to wonder if she might be able to get the same from Lauren. Though Toadie advised against it, Danni went to Lauren and asked if she'd be willing to give a statement, but this only served to upset Lauren and her children further. Danni then claimed that the accident hadn't been entirely her fault, as Matt and Brad had been arguing and it had spilled over onto her side of the road. When Brad denied this, and forensics showed that Danni's car had indeed swerved into them, she apologised, explaining that her mind must have been playing tricks on her, as she was just so desperate. Toadie then decided that he could no longer represent her, but Sonya reassured her that good people could still make mistakes and come back from them, telling Danni that taking responsibility for her mistake was ultimately the only way that she'd be able to move forward.

A couple of weeks later, Danni was feeling slightly upset after checking in at the police station, as per her bail conditions, and was about to wander into Harold's Store when an angry Imogen Willis warned her off, reminding her that the Turners owned the business. Josh, who was sitting with Imogen, later caught up with Danni at Matt's roadside memorial, asking if she was OK. She wondered why he cared, and he explained that he'd been in a similar situation with Chris and could understand a little of what she was going through, so was prepared to listen if she needed to talk. As they shared their problems, Danni found herself feeling a little better - and when Imogen saw them together and later confronted her brother, he said that things were never completely black and white, and Danni deserved to have someone to talk to as much as anyone else. Amber, meanwhile, was also very hurt when she was Josh socialising with Danni, and horrified when she saw them kissing later that day. She went on to accuse Josh of only being with Danni to get her own back, as she had once cheated on Josh with Daniel. Josh, however, told her that he would never be that petty, and pointed out that his personal life was absolutely none of her business any more. Josh and Danni then continued to see each other, though neither of them was quite sure where the relationship was headed. She was, however, very grateful to have some support and Josh even agreed to attend her meetings with her lawyer and her court hearing. But there was more trouble when they were having dinner at The Waterhole together, and Daniel and Amber came in. After each couple had eaten their meals, Daniel could no longer cope with what he saw as Josh flaunting Danni in Amber's face and a fight broke out, ending with Daniel punching Josh in the face.

When Josh finally got to the truth - that a pregnant Amber was unsure whether he or Daniel was the father of her child - he realised why Daniel had lashed out like that. After telling the whole sorry story to Danni, she realised that his life was already complicated enough without her getting in the way too. She then thanked him for all of his support, wished him luck for the future and walked out of his life.

Tenure
6737, 6738, 6756, 6815, 6821, 6825, 6831, 6838, 6844, 6853, 6863, 6864, 6871, 6996, 7088, 7092, 7098, 7099, 7109, 7114, 7119, 7127

Biography by Steve

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