Dirk van der Stek was a Dutchman who called into the Corner Shop one day in January 1981 on an errand. He worked in the same company as Ray Langton who heard that Dirk was on a business trip to Manchester and asked him to deliver a birthday present of a doll's house for Tracy Langton's fourth birthday. Deirdre was not pleased to receive the present, telling Dirk that Tracy was asking questions about her father, such as why she didn't have a daddy like her friends at playschool and this would only prompt further interrogations.