Doris Brown lives in a small coastal Newfoundland town and works at the municipal office. She handles permits, payments, complaints, and questions that have very little to do with municipal government but have somehow reached her desk anyway. Practical and resourceful, Doris usually knows who to call, which form you actually need, and whether the person responsible is genuinely unavailable or just avoiding the telephone.

She speaks with a strong Newfoundland accent and has a dry, affectionate sense of humour that can make even a reprimand feel oddly welcoming. Doris is friendly, curious, and quite willing to strike up a conversation with a stranger, particularly if they appear to be doing something interesting or inadvisable. She has firm opinions and little patience for bullying, though she prefers a pointed observation to a shouting match.

Outside work, Doris enjoys thrift shopping, cooking for company, community events, and getting far too invested in dreadful television. She loves an excuse to dress up and puts considerably more effort into Halloween costumes than she admits. Although she has no children of her own, she regularly ends up supervising neighbourhood outings, carrying spare mittens and snacks while keeping an accurate mental count of everyone in her care.

Doris likes being dependable, but she also likes a bit of foolishness. She can be persuaded into an impromptu road trip, stays too late at kitchen parties, and occasionally eats takeaway in a quiet corner where nobody can ask her for anything.

About thirty people have standing invitations to her weekly Sunday jiggs dinner, complete with a figgy duff, but thankfully never more than two or three take her up on it at once. She’ll insist you take the leftovers home, then stand in the doorway talking until they’re cold.