Dorothy Burke - Development

Development

"Many of the neighbours found Dorothy, the Erinsborough High School principal rather prickly. She had severe looks and sharp features and usually wore black, giving her a witch-like appearance. But in truth Dorothy was just a little eccentric. She was well travelled, could speak many languages and clearly had a past that would shock most of her students." —The official Neighbours website on Dorothy

Dence stated that viewers initially expected Dorothy to be a Mrs Mangel type character, which was inevitable. She explained "I think it's one of those things when you go on a very established show, the writers need a period to see what your best bits are and then they pick it up and go with that." Dence commented that she was happy with Dorothy's storylines being a mixture of comedy and drama and revealed that she shared some great moments with Sue Jones (Pam Willis), Anne Charleston (Madge Bishop) and Anne Haddy (Helen Daniels). Dence added she had loved working with the younger cast members, when Dorothy took care of their characters. Dence told Ian Morrison, author of the official 1992 Neighbours annual, that while she played Dorothy with a "school-marmly authority", she was nothing like her in real life.

In 1993, Dorothy meets Tom Merrick (Robert Essex), a school inspector who comes to evaluate Erinsborough High. Dorothy expects Tom to be old and "stuffy" and he expects her to be a "dope-smoking hippy", but they are both surprised by each other. Dorothy learns Tom is an honest and imaginative man, who uses his free time to have adventures. A writer for Inside Soap said "Like Dorothy, Tom was also a bit of a radical in his student days and it's clear to all the neighbours that these two are soulmates." Dorothy and Tom become good friends and their relationship later turns romantic. Tom announces he is moving to Erinsborough, which causes Dorothy to back off. She tells Helen Daniels that she is scared of a physical relationship with Tom after her mastectomy. Helen encourages Dorothy to tell Tom how she feels and they couple move in together. However, Tom's department transfers him to a rural town and Inside Soap said Dorothy faced a choice of a lifetime. She eventually decides to leave Erinsborough to be with Tom.