david collins, played by dan milne, is the first husband of jane collins (laurie brett) who suffers from huntington's disease and lives in a hospice. jane keeps david a secret from her new boss ian beale (adam woodyatt), but one day ian demands to know why she is infrequent with her work, and jane takes him to meet david. ian regularly visits him until david dies on new year's eve 2004, leaving jane heartbroken, as she had had sex with ian prior to his death.