Doug Morrison (character)

Doug Morrison is a fictional character on the New Zealand Soap Opera Shortland Street. He is portrayed by Richard Knowles and has appeared since late March 2010. Doug was introduced as the policeman older brother of former undercover cop turned nurse Tracey Morrison, who Doug refers to as Shadow.

Before Shortland Street and Arrival to Shortland Street
Not much is known about Doug before he arrived in Ferndale, but it is common knowledge he had a wife, a daughter and was very good at saving money. Doug arrived in Ferndale in late March 2010. He was there as he was giving evidence in a big court case in Auckland where he and his team were putting away some of the biggest meth dealers in New Zealand. Tracey lets Doug stay with her at Scottys house while he is away. Doug makes fun of Traceys change of career which eventually leads Tracey to be very hurt. After the first day of the trial, Doug arrives home with an injured hand. Tracey insists he goes to Shortland Street Hospital. It turns out the hand is broken. Doug continues to insult Traceys career in front of other nurses which once again offends Tracey. The next day, Tracey finds out Doug ate out at an expensive restaurant and tells him that he used to save his money.

Assault of Reuben Fitzpatrick and dating Tania Jeffries
The next day, Doug asks Tracey out for lunch and as they are leaving the hospital, Doug sees Reuben Fitzpatrick attack Libby Jeffries mistaking her for someone else. Doug leaps forward and smacks Reuben in the face. Appalled Tracey wonders what has happened to her brother. Reuben is later diagnosed with a brain tumour. Tracey asks Doug what is up and he reveals to her he is under alot of stress and is questioning the polices role in society. Tracey takes Doug out for dinner with hot nurse Tania Jeffries. The two hit it off and Doug tells Tracey he is going to pursue her. Tracey tells him not to and Doug backs off. But Tania asks for Dougs number and Tracey has no choice and gives it to her. Tania and Doug start dating and they both agree to not complicate things and have a little bit of fun.

Scotty and Tania gather evidence
In April, Scotty returns home to find Doug and Tania having sexual intercourse on his sofa. Doug refuses another date with Tania which makes Tracey happy and Doug continues to avoid her. Tania notices that Doug is meeting with an Asian man. Tania asks Kieran Mitchell who tells her it is Eddie Ho and that he is a very evil criminal. Tania confronts Doug about this, who refuses to tell her. Tania gathers a series of newspaper articles on Eddie and presents Doug with this evidence. Doug hesitantly tells her that Eddie is a undercover cop. Tania apologizes. Later, Eddie appears at Scotty's house and takes the evidence Tania had collected. Eddie then threatens Tania and Tracey's lives, before leaving Doug shocked and scared. Doug then rings Eddie and tells him to back off. Tania walks in on the end of the conversation to which, Doug yells at her. The next day, Doug breaks it off with Tania. That day, an injured man is bought into ED at Shortland Street. Doug reveals it is a key witness in the court case and he has jumped from a two story building. Doug once again calls Eddie, Tania eavesdrops on this and is confused when she sees Doug dispose of his SIM card and put a new one in. That day, Eddie Ho goes into ED pretending to be an elderly man suffering stomach pains. He causes a fuss which gives time for a women pretending to be a nurse inject something on the key witness' dressing. Unwittingly, Tracey puts the poison covered dressing on the man. The needle gets knocked to the ground without anyone knowing and the nurse and Eddie Ho escaped. Scotty manages to get a look at the nurse though and doesn't recognize her. The patient goes into respiratory arrest. Doug later meets with Eddie who tells him that the syringe may have DNA on it so Doug will have to go pick it up. The syringe has a toxin on it, that when touched by human skin the person will die. Doug realizes this and thinking the coast is clear, picks up the syringe with a tissue. Scotty sees though and asks him what he is doing. Doug tells him that the syringe may be evidence and has to be tested. Tania tells Scotty her suspicions on mysterious Doug and Scotty tries to find out more about the imposter nurse. The next day, after Tracey and Scotty go to work, Eddie Ho arrives at Scottys house through Scotty and Shantis bedroom window. Doug tells him that the syringe has no DNA on it. Suddenly Scotty arrives back home looking for his wallet. Eddie quickly goes back into Scottys room. Scotty attempts to go into his room to look for his wallet when Doug grabs his arm and tells him he cant. Scotty goes in anyway and questions Doug why the window is open. Doug claims the room smelt, then walks off leaving Scotty very suspicious. Tania then informs Scotty about the SIM cards. Scotty arrives home after work and picks up Dougs jacket, out falls an envelope with hundreds of dollars in it. Doug comes in and questions why Scotty is looking at his stuff. Scotty accuses Doug of hiding something, which results in Doug pushing Scotty. This results in a fall on brawl, Tracey walks in and yells at the two to stop. Scotty tells Tracey his accusations then leaves. Doug refuses to explain himself to Tracey then tells her he is going to move out. An upset Tracey complains to Scotty who insists to Doug that he should stay.

The stakes get serious
Tania and Scotty review security footage and notice Eddie Ho leaving ED when the man nearly got murdered. They tell Tracey who asks Doug. Doug tells her Eddie is an informant but it has gone too far and he thinks Eddie has betrayed him. He says no ones life's are safe and he leaves Scottys house for a motel. The next morning, asian thugs show up asking where Doug is. They smash the phone, threaten Tracey with a baseball bat, search the house then leave. A very shaken Tracey goes to work. A few hours into work, Doug is wheeled in on a stretcher, he has been shot in the leg, but survives when Issac removes the bullet. Scotty suggests to Tracey that maybe Doug shot himself as he saw a gun in Dougs bag. Tracey yells at him and questions Doug, she steals his cell phone and contacts Eddie Ho, she organises a meeting with him where he tells her that Doug is providing Eddie with information on the case such as where the safe house is and that Doug is a bent cop. Tracey tells Doug this who insists Eddie is lieing and that in truth, Doug planted evidence in a child molester case and was caught by Eddie Ho. Eddie and his gang threatened to tell the police unless Doug did a few jobs for them. Doug also blamed he and Traceys father for pressuring him. He also admitted to shooting himself.

Tracey and Dougs father
Doug gets on well with his father but feels that he pressured him too much and blames him for turning him corrupt.

Tracey Morrison
Tracey is Doug's younger sister and is featured prominently in Doug's storyline. Tracey believes everything that Doug says and she will not back stab her brother as she grew up with Doug and respects him.

Tania Jeffries
Doug and Tania had a very brief romance where Tania truly felt for Doug, Doug did not feel much for her though, but to keep her safe from Eddie Ho he broke up with her.

James Scott
Doug and Scotty originally got on, until Scotty noticed that Doug was very tense and was hiding something. The two now thoroughly dislike each other. Scotty was the one to realizes that Doug had a big secret.

Eddie Ho
Doug and Eddie Ho have a tainted relationship in that Eddie is blackmailing Doug and has his job on his fingertips. Eddie gets Doug to do his work and cover up his crimes.

Trivia

 * Richard Knowles first auditioned for the role of Isaac Worthington but lost to Matt Minto.