Dan soon followed Madge to Erinsborough after Edna threw him out for flirting with Rosie Jacobs at the local bowling club. Dan quickly made his presence felt around Ramsay Street, reminding the residents of his family's claim on the street, and clashing with the family's historic rivals, the Robinsons, at every opportunity. He also took an instant disliking to Madge's eccentric next door neighbour Clive Gibbons, who was the first person Dan encountered upon his arrival. Having come under attack from a stray dog as he walked up Ramsay Street, Dan had set his suitcase down on the pavement while he fought the dog off. But Clive almost drove over it as he reversed out of his driveway, prompting Dan to lose the rag with Clive and label him a 'red headed idiot' before faking a heart scare after Clive challenged him to give him his best shot. When Clive went to his aid and mentioned he was a doctor, Dan quickly recovered and Clive astutely told him it was a pleasure to meet another Ramsay!

Madge, meanwhile, was less than impressed to see her father on her doorstep, particularly given the fact that he was alone and would want to be waited upon by her for the duration of his stay. And while Madge's teenage daughter Charlene, who Dan affectionately called 'Sunshine', was thrilled to see her grandfather, Madge was instantly suspicous of the reason behind his visit, particularly since Edna wasn't with him. Dan ignored repeated requests by Madge to tell him what was going on and instead, had Charlene's boyfriend Scott get him some brandy to aid his 'heart complaint'. Tom was not impressed when he arrived home to discover Dan was in town as they hadn't spoken in 10 years and he refused to let Dan stay at No.24. Dan insisted he be given a room given the street was named after his father and when Madge pointed out there was no space, Dan's eldest grandson Shane – son of Max - interjected with the news that he was heading up to Brisbane for a while so Dan could have his bedroom. After a nap, a grumpy Dan again refused to tell Madge anything about her mother, and when she tried to call Brisbane, she couldn't get in contact with Edna. Dan, meanwhile, made a further nuisance of himself by showing up at The Waterhole Pub on Madge's first day as the new barmaid and harrassed her for free beer.

Tom finally got to the bottom of what had brought his old man down to Erinsborough when he discovered Edna was staying with Max and his wife Maria. Desperate to reconcile her parents, Madge took the advice of Clive and invited Edna down to Erinsborough to stay with her for a while, with the assurance that Dan had returned to Brisbane. Edna agreed but was disgusted when she arrived on Ramsay Street to find that Dan was still staying with Madge. Unimpressed with Madge's subterfuge, Edna ordered her to decide who she wanted to stay and who she wanted to go.

Madge refused to choose between her parents and so, they were forced to agree to tolerate each other around the house. Dan tried to wind Edna up by gloating about a dinner date he had arranged with family friend Helen Daniels, while Edna ignored him as best she could to concentrate on catching up with Tom, Madge and the grandchildren. Tom was chuffed when Edna announced his estranged daughter Moira had given birth to a baby girl, Holly, but it served to put a further strain on his relationship with Dan on account of the fact that he hadn't bothered to tell Tom the news about his new granddaughter when he had first arrived. However, father and son showed signs of working towards healing their rift when they shook hands, albeit awkwardly, as Tom left for Moira's the next day.

Dan, meanwhile, excitedly prepared for his dinner with Helen, but unbeknownst to him, Madge and Clive had hathced a plan with Helen with the intention of sending him straight back into the arms of Edna. Throughout the meal, Helen was to be rude and disagreeable and prompt Dan to abhor her as a woman with her own mind. But the plan backfired and Dan began to find Helen even more appealing. After dinner, Dan insisted on bringing her home to the Ramsay house to have a glass of port as a nightcap. Edna had just gone to take a bath but when she heard Dan and Helen talking to Madge, she rushed out in a state, calling Helen a jezebel and telling Dan that she could no longer tolerate his eye for the ladies and wanted a divorce.

Edna made a big show of demonstrating how happy she was with life after Dan, taking up aerobics and telling Madge and Charlene how she was going to enjoy her golden era. But Madge knew she was secretly devastated at the prospect of her marriage ending, and again enlisted the services of Clive to help out. This time, Clive suggested Edna make Dan jealous by taking a man out for dinner. But when he said the man should be over 60, Edna dismissed the notion of the gentleman having to be older and instead suggested Clive himself. Although slightly uncomfortable with the notion, Clive later wound Dan up in the Waterhole by announcing age differences were merely outdated social conventions and he would be going on a date with Edna – secretly infuriating Dan. When Clive called over to the Ramsay house to pick Edna up for their date, Dan was furious with the roses he presented for her and accused him of knicking them from Jim Robinson's garden.

Relations became even sourer between the couple when Edna followed through on her threat of a divorce only to discover that the marriage had never been legal in the first place because Dan had enlisted the services of a cheap minister, who had actually been a con artist and had conned a number of couples into parting with their money around that time. Dan was shocked by the revelation just as much as Edna was but refused to accept any blame, even when Edna insisted it was his determination to get hitched on the cheap that had landed them in the mess they now found themselves in. Edna angrily accused Dan of causing her to live in sin for fifty years but when she had calmed later, she broached the subject of what they should do next. Dan, however, was unable to admit his true feelings and insisted he was glad to be free and headed off to the pub. When he returned later that evening, he and Edna chatted about old times but just as Edna suggested they make another go of things, a stubborn Dan dismissed the notion, claiming it was too late for them to start all over again.

Luckily for the Ramsays, Clive could see that they were still smitten with each other and concocted one final plan to reunite the couple, calling upon Shane, Charlene, Scott and their mate Mike Young to aid him in his attempts. While Charlene chatted to Edna about old times and how she had first met Dan, down at the Waterhole, Shane and Clive got Dan talking about the depression and meeting Edna for the first time. That evening at dinner, Madge cooked Dan rabbit which reminded him of the Depression and he and Edna were then summoned into the living room by Clive, dressed in 1930s garb, along with Scott, Charlene, Shane and Mike. Clive announced he was holding a farewell party for Dan and Edna to mark their separation and began by showing slides of life in the 1930s. Charlene and Scott, dressed as a young Dan and Edna, danced in the background to Mike playing some old music while Clive told the tale of how the couple met for the first time at a dance. Dan and Edna became nostalgic for the old days and began to dance while Charlene serenaded them with a song they used to dance to called 'Wanting You, Wanting Me.' Realising that they were too well matched to give up, Dan delighted Edna by asking her to marry him, to which she said yes.

They quickly made plans for their wedding and Clive thrilled them when he found out they could get an extra quick marriage licence on accunt of their unusual circumstances. When Madge mentioned getting Max and Tom down for the wedding, Dan told her he'd rather keep it low key and felt it wasn't neccessary to let the boys know he and their mother hadn't been married all these years. Charlene found some boxes of Dan and Edna's old clothes under the house and asked Edna if she could wear one of her 1930s dresses to the wedding. Edna was delighted by the idea and started dusting off an old gown herself for the ceremony – although Dan's allergies started to get in the way and she hoped he would be ok by the big day. There was also a last minute hiccup when Dan started grumbling about the cost of the wedding flowers and Edna became upset at Dan once again trying to take shortcuts with their wedding. He halted his complaining when she warned him that if he didn't do things properly this time around, there wouldn't be a wedding.