Question: Did the writers of Frasier always intend for Niles and Daphne to get together?
No, they didn’t.
In fact, Niles Crane became the breakout character of the series as the actor who portrayed him, David Hyde Pierce, became extremely popular with the viewers. Prior to that, he was supposed to be minor character who fleshed out the family aspect of Frasier’s character. The romance idea was background noise that probably would have faded away had Bulldog remained a regular on the series and Niles been replaced as the breakout character by him, or by Roz (Peri Gilpin).
The romance in fact didn’t come until the later seasons, and the series’ longevity (11 seasons) allowed the writers the time and the necessity (264 episodes is a lot of airtime that needs to be filled) to flesh out their courtship. Frankly, a little too much time was put into the pairing, as it became a major plot point in at least 10 individual episodes.
Niles and Daphne getting together was the result of Niles becoming the breakout character, several characters (including Bulldog) either leaving or becoming recurring only, and the overall length of series. Had none of those occurred, their pairing never would have.
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