Characterisation and introduction Shortly after joining the cast, Beck was told by the producers that Dylan should not smile; Dylan often employs sarcasm, especially when he gets frustrated. Dylan lives on a houseboat, which he shares with his dog Dervla. Beck joked that they were both very important to Dylan, but filming with them could occasionally be difficult. Dylan makes a good diagnosis while he is in the ED, which both "impresses and annoys" Jordan. Dylan was initially hesitant when he is placed in charge of her care, but began to enjoy being around Lucy as he treated her. She explained, "In one way, it's great that they're not playing it that way. But we really enjoy their banter, and there's definitely more to happen between them. Whether they'll get together remains to be seen..." When Dylan returned to Holby, Beck thought it would be strange if he and Zoe did not continue their friendship, since she had played a role in bringing him back. Beck said that Dylan sees Zoe's presence as one of the reasons to stay at Holby. Sarker was pleased when Dylan was reintroduced to the show. She thought Dylan was more of a brother or best friend to Zoe, and said they had a professional attraction instead of a romantic one. She also referred to them as "a bit of an odd couple" living together on a houseboat with Dylan's dog. Dylan also developed a friendship with nurse
Lofty Chiltern (
Lee Mead). Mead enjoyed acting with Beck, as they got on well. He also liked the contrast between Lofty's awkwardness and sincerity, and Dylan's dry and direct personality. The show's executive producer Oliver Kent was a fan of Lofty and Dylan's friendship, describing it a "completely fabulous
bromance". Lofty wanted to please Dylan when he received a promotion and Dylan encouraged him to go outside of his
comfort zone. The incident occurred in a lift, where Lofty, Dylan, and Diane were attempting to resuscitate a patient. Diane was electrocuted when she failed to remove her hand from the patient in time. Durr thought it was something that could happen, as David and Dylan were similar. When Keith later accused Sam of assault, Zoe asked her to meet with Keith and apologise. When she refused, Zoe asked Dylan to try and make Sam see sense. Dylan was "reluctant" to get involved in the matter, but was worried that Sam would suffer for defending him. Salt told Sarah Ellis of
Inside Soap, "Dylan is very hurt that she never told him what happened while they were together. He finds it hard to hide his real feelings for her when he's being questioned They lose all sense of professionalism, and end up bickering in the middle of the hearing room!" Salt explained that when Sam receives the call to rescue a pair of trapped dog walkers, she needs someone else's help and the only doctor who could abseil was Dylan. As they climbed into the hole to treat Amanda Franks (
Connie Fisher) and David Hooper (Daymon Britton), all of Dylan and Sam's issues about their marriage came to a head. Relations between the couple deteriorated during the divorce proceedings. Dylan refused to have anything to do with Sam and began belittling her.
Nick Jordan (
Michael French) notices their behaviour and tells Sam to find a way to work with Dylan, but she decides to return to the Army. Dylan initially refuses to sign the divorce papers, as he knew that is what Sam wanted. Salt also thought that Dylan held hopes of a reconciliation, but Sam knew that getting divorced was the right thing to do.
Amanda Franks Fisher later reprised her role as Amanda from the cave rescue storyline and found employment in the hospital shop. In an interview with
Digital Spy's Daniel Kilkelly, show producer Nikki Wilson told him that Amanda's appearance would trigger "an interesting" storyline arc for Dylan. As Dylan saved Amanda's life, she had developed "a hero worship of him", which Wilson said would test Dylan. An
Inside Soap columnist wondered if Amanda had engineered Dervla's disappearance in an effort to get closer to Dylan. At the ED Christmas party, he eventually "snapped" and accused her of stalking him. Sam then informed Dylan that she gave Amanda the photograph, as Amanda had been making everyone in the ED a personalised mug as a goodbye present. When Dylan saw Tom punch locum consultant Dominic Carter (
Gary Cady), he quickly reported Tom to Zoe, earning the doctor a suspension. However, Dylan was not satisfied and later told Tom what he did, resulting in them squaring up to each other. Beck told David Brown of the
Radio Times that returning to the show felt "strange but yet very similar" and he relished the chance to play Dylan again, as he enjoyed the role. Dylan returned to an understaffed ED as a
locum. Zoe and
Caleb Knight (
Richard Winsor) were struggling to cope with an influx of football fans who were injured during a fight, so Dylan got straight to work. He told
Charlie Fairhead (
Derek Thompson) of his intentions to stay for one shift before he moved on, but he was persuaded to stay. Beck told Elaine Reilly of ''What's on TV'' that Dylan feels emotionally blackmailed by Zoe, after she says there will be benefits to the job, such as hiring and firing staff. Beck said Dylan would be challenged by the job's demands and the amount of paperwork involved. He also told Reilly that Dylan would learn "a lot about himself" during his time as acting clinical lead. Beck jokingly called Dylan's brief tenure as acting clinical lead "a spectacular success!" Brian was admitted to the ED, along with his girlfriend Hazel Leyton (
Vicky Hall), following a lorry crash. Beck told Laura Heffernan of
Inside Soap that Dylan had not been in touch with his father for a long time, so when he was reunited with him he felt "paralysed by the situation". Stuart Cheetham, the show's story producer, wanted to challenge Dylan by giving him OCD, as he is deemed to be a very logical and rational person. The team wanted to see how far they could take Dylan with the storyline. While Dylan was meeting his sister for the first time, Brian collapsed and he was diagnosed with
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Accusation of sexual harassment In late October 2016, new
F1 doctor Sebastian Grayling (
Rik Makarem) joins the ED staff and immediately makes a bad impression when he hits Dylan's dog Dervla with his bike, causing her to run off. Seb then learns that Dylan has volunteered to be his mentor. As his first day goes on, Seb ignores the wishes of a dying patient, managing to "spark the wrath" of both Dylan and clinical lead
Elle Gardner (
Jaye Griffiths). Dylan realises that Seb is afraid of disappointing his father, and they later join forces to support Seb's patient, who refuses surgery. During their next shift together, Dylan warns Seb to make more of an effort with his work or he will fail his placement. Seb then goes to Elle and accuses Dylan of making an unwanted advance towards him. The fallout from Seb's sexual harassment accusation was explored during the episode broadcast on 7 January 2017. With Dylan facing suspension from the hospital, Max and
Jez Andrews (
Lloyd Everitt) try to record Seb admitting to making a false allegation, but their plan fails.
Sanosi and alcoholism At the start of
series 32, Dylan is one of four characters, along with David,
Louise Tyler (Azuka Oforka) and
Alicia Munroe (
Chelsea Halfpenny), who travel to Northern France to offer assistance at a refugee camp. There, Dylan bonds with a young boy called Sanosi Jemal (Tut Nyout) and his sister, Mariam (Adelaide Obeng). Raffety stated, "It's the start of a dark, downward spiral for Dylan and this Sanosi story taps into a deep chasm in his soul, one of desperate loneliness – and one he will probably never admit. I think that is a wound that is opened up through this story and we will face some very difficult times ahead." However, Kamal is later arrested for drug trafficking and Dylan is forced to care for Sanosi once more. Sanosi overhears Dylan and David arguing about what will happen if Dylan is caught, and he runs off. After falling off a ladder and injuring his leg, Dylan and David are forced to take Sanosi to the hospital for treatment. Dylan eventually drives Sanosi to a police station, so he can hand himself in. Dylan is "stricken with guilt" for putting his career before Sanosi, and turns to alcohol in a bid to cope with his actions. When Connie take a leave of absence to seek treatment for cancer, Dylan is promoted to acting clinical lead once more. He struggles with the paperwork and various IT issues, which lead him to drink whiskey from a bottle stored in his desk. Dylan later allows
Ethan Hardy's (
George Rainsford) patient to discharge herself, even though she is obviously hiding her symptoms. When she is readmitted to the ED, Ethan gives Dylan "a piece of his mind". At the end of the day, Dylan contacts the hospital's CEO to resign from acting clinical lead. ==Reception==