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"He is also very smart, though, and is an ex-footballer who could have done well but didn't and got involved in the clubbing scene in Manchester. He feels frustrated because he feels he has failed in what he could have done very well at." [14]
—Michie on Karl (2011)
Karl is described as a "ne'er-do-well". [16] Michie told Digital Spy that Karl could have had a career as a professional footballer, but opined that he is too keen on "the wine, women and song". [16] Karl "clings" onto Stella because she is "very reliable and very organised". [16] Stella had a cancer scare and Michie explained that this made Karl "think like a man for the first time in his life". [16] He said "It's made him be responsible and it's made him fall in love with a woman for the first time, rather than just having brief affairs." [16] Karl is attracted to Stella "quite a lot" and Michie opined that Karl does love her. [16] Karl previously worked part-time in Stella's public house in Rochdale and played for the pub's football team. [16] Karl does not have a good relationship with Eva and Michie said that she "kind of ruins everything for Karl". [16] The actor opined that Karl and Eva dislike one another because Karl can see his traits in her. [16] Michie told Digital Spy that "Eva is selfish, spoiled and she wants her own way" and Karl is the same. [16] The Daily Record called Karl "tense but charming". [14] Michie told the newspaper that it is "really nice to get into a new character" and Karl is a "really fascinating guy". [14] Karl has a "real suppression of aggression deep down inside" after failing to become a footballer. [14] Michie is from Scotland, but because Coronation Street is set in Manchester, he uses a Mancunian accent for the role. [14] To prepare for the role, Michie visited bars in Manchester to pick up the dialect. [14]
In November 2011, Michie revealed that Karl would become a gambling addict in an upcoming storyline. [15] [17] The actor told the Daily Record that Karl would be gambling for "a while" and descend into debt after "a few big losses". [15] He told the newspaper "You know what gamblers are like, he has to lie, drinks a little bit more than he should and it is going to cause tension in his relationships." [15] Michie also said that Karl's storyline would help viewers "get inside his mind a bit". [15] Munro researched gambling addictions with help from Coronation Street and support from Gamblers Anonymous. Collins responded positively to the storyline as she felt gambling addiction is a "big problem". [18] She opined that people would relate to Karl's addiction and how Stella copes with it. [18] Coronation Street producer, Phil Collinson, revealed that Karl and Stella's relationship would face problems because of this. [19] Collinson teased that Karl may turn to someone else as he "sets off on a dark journey". [19] Remarking on tensions that arise between Karl and Stella, Michie states that "she doesn't know that Karl has a problem, so she can't understand why Karl is behaving the way he is." [20]
In January 2012, it was revealed that Karl would begin an affair with Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati). [21] Michie had previously revealed his hopes that Karl would feature in an infidelity storyline, saying "I think [his dream storyline] would involve having an affair with someone behind Stella's back, so there would be a lot of dramatic tension, which is what you want in a drama." [22] Discussing Karl's attraction to Sunita, Michie calls his character a "serial flirt" but notes that with Sunita "there's also a shyness about her that he's quite attracted to." Karl is partly attracted to Sunita because of the differences in their characters and finds her "sexy in a demure way." [20] Golati conjectures that Sunita is attracted to Karl because "he's naughty" and "he's cute, and above all, he's noticed her". She feels the attraction between the pair is able to develop because Sunita's husband Dev "has taken his eye off the ball". [23] Michie remarked that Karl's developing friendship with Sunita brought out his "kind" and "caring" side. He is shocked at the fact Sunita's husband refuses to collect her from the police station after Sunita makes an exhibition of herself whilst drunk. At this point, he states that Karl "is just genuinely helping out - he's not chasing her." [20]
In June 2011, Karl came second in an Inside Soap poll to find out which member of the new family readers were most looking forward to seeing on-screen. He received 17% of the vote. [24] The character of Karl arrived on-screen on 17 June 2011, drawing 7.94 million viewers and 37.6% of the total TV viewing audience. [25] In November 2011 Steve Hendry of the Daily Record noted that Michie "hit it lucky in review terms – in comparison to screen girlfriend, Stella" as he escaped the "fierce criticism" she received regarding her Mancunian accent. [17]
Steve McDonald is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Simon Gregson. The character first appeared on-screen during the episode airing on 6 December 1989. He arrived as part of the McDonald family introduced by producer Mervyn Watson along with his twin brother Andy and parents Liz and Jim McDonald. For the first year on the Street, the character was credited by the actor's real surname Gregory, before changing to Gregson from early 1991 onwards. Steve is Coronation Street's most married character, having been married seven times to five women Vicky Arden, Karen Phillips (twice), Becky Granger, Michelle Connor, and Tracy Barlow (twice). In September 2015, Gregson announced a break for personal reasons and Steve was off-screen from November 2015 to 22 April 2016.
Jason Grimshaw is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Portrayed by Ryan Thomas, the character first appeared on screen on 25 December 2000. It was announced in October 2015 that Thomas had quit the role of Jason, and the character departed on 29 June 2016.
Dev Alahan is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Portrayed by Jimmi Harkishin, the character's first appearance was broadcast on 10 November 1999. He is the widower of Sunita and father to Amber Kalirai, Aadi Alahan and Asha Alahan. Dev departed on 13 February 2015, after Harkishin asked for an extended break from the show, and returned on 1 June 2015. On 6 April 2019, it was announced that Harkishin would take a two-month break.
Sunita Alahan was a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Shobna Gulati. She made her first screen appearance on 23 March 2001 and remained in the show until 2006, when the character was axed from the serial by producer Tony Wood. In 2009, Sunita returned to Coronation Street as a full-time character, reintroduced by producer Kim Crowther. In November 2012, Gulati announced that she had quit the soap once more, this time permanently. Sunita died on 3 April 2013 as she succumbed to the injuries she sustained during the Rovers Return fire, caused by her illicit ex-lover Karl Munro.
Lloyd Mullaney is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Craig Charles. He made his first on screen appearance on 20 June 2005. The character departed on 23 July 2006, while Charles was suspended from work. He returned on 12 February 2007. Charles took a temporary break from the show in autumn 2011 to film new episodes of Red Dwarf, with Lloyd departing on 15 December 2011. After a seven-month absence, Lloyd returned on 2 July 2012. Charles announced his departure from the show in May 2015. Charles' final scenes aired on 25 September 2015 after Lloyd departed for good after 10 years alongside his pregnant fiancée, Andrea Beckett when they left the street together to move to Jersey.
Catherine Mary Ann Tyldesley is an English actress, known for her roles as Iris Moss in the BBC drama Lilies (2007), Eva Price on the ITV soap opera Coronation Street from (2011–2018) and Karen Norris in the BBC sitcom Scarborough (2019). She also appeared as a contestant on the seventeenth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2019.
Julie Carp is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Katy Cavanagh. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 25 April 2008 and was originally introduced as a new girlfriend of established character Kirk Sutherland and in a later storyline she was revealed to be Eileen Grimshaw's half-sister. On 4 February 2015, it was announced that Cavanagh had decided not to renew her contract with the show in order to go and pursue other projects. She departed on 3 July 2015.
Mary Taylor is a fictional character from the British television ITV soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by actress Patti Clare. The character first appeared on screen during the episode airing on 26 November 2008. Mary's storylines have included: trying to seduce Norris Cole and kidnapping him when he refuses to give her attention, yet later becoming close friends; falling in love with Dev Alahan ; an affair with Brendan Finch ; and revealing that she gave birth to a son after being raped when she was fourteen years old. Producers later introduced a new family for Mary consisting of son Jude Appleton, his wife Angie Appleton and a grandson. Mary is often used in comedic stories and Clare has won three comedy related awards for her portrayal of Mary.
Cheryl Gray is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Holly Quin-Ankrah. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing 9 April 2010. Originally introduced as a love interest for an existing character, Cheryl has been involved in storylines involving lapdancing and domestic abuse since her inception. Cheryl's age was tweaked to accommodate the much younger Quin-Ankrah's real age. In May 2011, it was announced the producers had decided not to renew Quin-Ankrah's contract. She departed on-screen on 18 November 2011.
Frank Foster is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Andrew Lancel. He made his debut appearance on 20 January 2011. Frank was introduced as a business associate of Carla Connor. In December 2011, it was announced Frank would be leaving Coronation Street at the end of his storyline. Two months later, it was confirmed Frank would be murdered as part of a "whodunit" storyline. Five regular characters became suspects during the investigation, but his mother, Anne Foster eventually confessed to killing him. Frank made his last on-screen appearance on 8 March 2012.
Stella Price is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Michelle Collins. Collins' casting was announced in April 2011 and she began filming her scenes in May. The actress commuted from north London to Manchester for filming. Collins joined the show in order to have the financial security to ensure that her daughter could go to university. Collins, who is from Southern England and was previously well known for her role as Londoner, Cindy Beale on BBC's EastEnders, used a Northern accent for the role of Stella as Coronation Street is set in Manchester. She made her first on-screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 16 June 2011. Stella was introduced along with her boyfriend, Karl Munro, and her daughter, Eva. The following year, Stella’s mother, Gloria was also introduced. In August 2013, it was announced that Collins would be leaving the soap and she filmed her final scenes on 19 February 2014. Stella departed on 2 April 2014.
Kirsty Soames is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Natalie Gumede. She made her first on-screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 7 September 2011.
Ciaran McCarthy is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by Keith Duffy. He made his first on-screen appearance on 7 August 2002, before departing in 2005. He returned in 2010 until Duffy temporary departed in January 2011 to go on Boyzone Tour, and returned on 3 November 2011. Duffy departed the role again on 25 November 2011 due to family commitments. In his duration on the show the character has been at the centre of several romances including relationships with Sunita Alahan, Tracy Barlow and Michelle Connor. Ciaran has been characterised as a ladies' man and a charmer. The character is also known for his "sex symbol" status. Duffy has received nominations at various soap award ceremonies for his portrayal of Ciaran.
Eva Price is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Catherine Tyldesley, her character and casting was announced in May 2011 and she made her first appearance on screen on 17 June 2011. Eva was introduced as Stella Price's daughter. On 24 August 2014, Tyldesley announced that she was expecting her first child. Eva left the show on 23 February 2015. Tyldesley returned to filming on 13 July 2015, and Eva's return scenes aired on 16 September 2015. It was announced on 1 December 2017 that Tyldesley had decided to leave the show to pursue other acting roles after seven years. Tyldesley filmed her final scenes on 20 June 2018 which were broadcast on 3 August 2018.
Beth Sutherland is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Lisa George. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 5 August 2011. In 2023, it was announced that George had quit the role and would be departing in 2024 making her final appearance on 30 August.
Anne Foster is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Gwen Taylor. Anne is the mother of Frank Foster and wife of Sam Foster. The character and casting was announced on 4 August 2011. Taylor revealed she had found her first day on set "terrifying", but she quickly settled in. A reporter for the Western Mail branded Anne a "pompous matriarch". Taylor said that after being revealed as Frank's killer, she fears that she will be hated in real life. She also admitted that she only knew the identity of Frank's killer when Lancel revealed it to her during filming and added that she loved filming her scenes as Anne. Taylor made her first appearance as Anne on 4 September 2011. She made her last appearance on 19 March 2012.