David arrives in the village in late 2006, immediately turning the ladies' heads. He came to the village, looking for his biological father, Eric. Eric had left David's mother, Lydia Holloway, before David was born and stole £20,000 from her. He gets a job at the sweet factory so that he can find out more about his father, striking up a flirty friendship with fun-loving Del Dingle (Hayley Tamaddon) and hoped some romance would come of it, but was disappointed when Del mistakenly thought her uncle Zak Dingle (Steve Halliwell) was his father and distanced herself. The truth came out and Eric was stunned to discover that David was claiming to be his son. For some time after, Eric and David's relationship was difficult. David told Eric how Lydia had struggled financially before marrying his adoptive father, Mr. Metcalfe, who treated David like dirt. However, Eric made it clear that he didn't care and implied that Lydia had loose morals, so David hit him, making Eric determined to prove that David is lying. He conducted a secret DNA test which showed David wasn't his son - but Eric hadn't sent David's cup. A second test, however, confirmed that Eric was David's biological father.