First Appearance: Episode 734 (1986)

Last Appearance: Episode 971 (1987)

Known Family: Wife - Caroline Morrell

Key Relationships:
Fling with Billie Fletcher.

Key Storylines:
Businessman, Doug Fletcher, is an entrepreneur, forever looking for the next opportunity that will make him money. He's running a shopping complex when he first meets Caroline Morrell - and it isn't long before he's smitten and romance ensues. However, the relationship is complicated by Doug's determination to take chances in business wherever he can - an approach which causes conflict with Caroline, who'd prefer a quieter, safer life.

When Doug is offered a business deal which would involve working in the US, he decides to take it - despite the way his relationship with Caroline has been progressing. He only flies back to Australia a few months later, after learning that Caroline has suffered a number of problems and appears to have developed a mental illness. With the help of Craig Maxwell, Doug tracks Caroline down to a care home where she's being held against her will. He rescues her after she and the care home manager, Mrs. Doyle, fight for survival on a rooftop and Mrs. Doyle falls to her death.

Doug decides to set up a new business venture: 'Talking T-shirts'. The idea is a success, but Doug drives Caroline mad by running the business from the home that he buys from her, meaning there are boxes of T-shirts piled up everywhere!

Doug asks Caroline to marry him - and she says 'yes'! However, problems ensue when an American woman called Billie Fletcher turns up and claims that she and Doug married following a drunken fling in the States! A shocked Doug has to accept the situation - but Billie reveals eventually that she was stringing him along and that they aren't really married after all. Breathing a sigh of relief, Doug again asks Caroline to marry him - and this time they actually tie the knot!

Doug becomes involved in airline company Sanders Air Charter. Unfortunately, various problems mean the business swallows a lot of money and Doug is left struggling to make ends meet. At the same time, he rails against Caroline for writing two novels based on the lives of the Hamiltons and Palmers. Several arguments ensue and he and Caroline separate. However, Doug realises what he's missing, and he pursues Caroline to take him back. He learns to his surprise that she's pregnant - and even though she then tells him that there's a danger that the baby could be born handicapped, Doug insists that he wants them to be together as a family. Caroline takes him back. Deciding to put his days of risky business deals behind him, Doug buys a fish shop for him and Caroline to run and bring them a steady income.