List of Shameless characters

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The following is a list of characters for the British drama Shameless, created by Paul Abbott and shown on Channel 4. The programme is set on the fictional Chatsworth Estate in suburban Manchester, and follows the lives of the Gallagher and Maguire families, and their friends and neighbours.

Contents

[edit] Frank Gallagher

Frank Gallagher
Shameless character
Portrayed by David Threlfall
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004—
First appearance 13 January 2004
Profile
Date of birth 26 January 1960 (1960-01-26) (age 50)
Home 2 Windsor Gardens
Occupation Unemployed

Vernon Francis "Frank" Gallagher (born 26 January 1960), the head of the Gallagher family.

Frank's hallmarks are drunken rants on a wide variety of literary, historical and philosophical subjects, usually returning to how decent, hard-working people, among whom he erroneously seems to count himself, are discriminated against. Frank frequently quotes Shakespeare, The Bible, references international current events and uses poetry and soliloquy to express his feelings or view, as he does at the start of each episode. Thus, in spite of his drunken ramblings, sometimes he does come across as being well-educated owing to the issues he raises during his interactions with others.

Frank is an unemployed alcoholic, and the son of Neville and Sarah Elizabeth Gallagher (1935–1972). He was married to Monica, with whom he has six children (Fiona, Phillip, Carl, Debbie, Liam, Stella), and one, Ian, to whom he is de jure father. He also has two children with Sheila Jackson, Nigel and Delia, and is the father of Monica's half-sister, whom he fathered with Monica's mother at Monica's birthday party. He has two grandchildren, Katie and an unnamed child of Fiona's when she left in Series 2.

Frank has apparently been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment several times in his youth. He claimed to have been incarcerated in Strangeways Prison. It has not been mentioned what exactly were the reasons for his string of past convictions.

Frank became an alcoholic shortly after his first wife Monica left him for Norma Starkey. He then left the younger children in the care of Fiona, and moved in with agoraphobic Sheila Jackson. Often known to make a fool out of himself and shirk all responsibility, Frank nonetheless shows signs of loving his children. He can offer good advice, for example saving Liam from being taken into care when a parent was needed. When he is rendered completely sober by a new drug, Frank appears reflective and even quite intelligent, wondering why Sheila would add to her problems by marrying a mess like him. We also understand his character a bit better when Frank's father pays a visit and treats his son in a condescending and abrasive manner. Frank's father shows extreme sympathy towards Sheila and even takes care of the twins. It is also stated that the father did not always treat Frank kindly when Frank was growing up.

In early series Frank comes across as a drunken bully, even headbutting his son Ian on one occasion. Most of his children initially hate Frank for his drunken bullying ways. Lip and Ian are never scared to show their feelings towards him, and even physically attack him on a few occasions. However, his middle daughter Debbie shows sympathy throughout the series when her father is either in serious trouble or presumed dead, something which has happened three times to date. The family have generally warmed towards him more as the series has progressed, mostly due to the fact that he isn't bothering them hugely on a daily basis. However, Debbie finally grew sick of taking care of the family, and cleaning up after Frank in particular, and left to join the army after series 6. Frank and Liam came into serious conflict in series 7, when Liam was forced by circumstances to take over Debbie's former burden as the de facto head of the family. At one point, Frank headbutted Liam, and a furious Carl had to be restrained from beating Frank to a pulp. Frank finally softened towards Liam when Liam threatened to commit suicide.

In series 7, Frank falls for a librarian named Libby Croker. Libby believes Frank is a man of the arts and he encourages her to rise up against her library closing, which leads to a violent protest and her imprisonment. When Libby is released from prison, she tries to find him, but her upscale appearance causes various characters to warn Frank that DSS is after him. Finally, they meet again, and although Libby is initially put off by his poor character and the frosty reception from Liam, she and her mother move into the Gallagher home. Frank and her mother soon set up a mutual loathing society, with Frank painting her bedroom a bright yellow just to keep her awake.

[edit] Carl Gallagher

Carl Gallagher
Shameless character
Portrayed by Elliott Tittensor (Series 1 – present)
Luke Tittensor (Series 1)
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004—
First appearance 13 January 2004
Profile
Date of birth 1991 (age 18–19)
Home 2 Windsor Gardens

Carl Gallagher (born 1991) is the fourth oldest Gallagher sibling. The son of Frank and Monica, his brothers are Phillip and Liam; his sisters are Fiona, Debbie, and Stella; his half-brothers are Ian and Nigel; and his half-sister is Delia. Initially he played only a minor role in the show, but since series two has been featured just as much as the other Gallagher children.

In the first series, Carl was jointly played by Tittensor's twin brother Luke Tittensor, but since the second series he has played the role alone.

In series 3, Carl briefly worked for the Maguires by growing marijuana for them in his loft, until the police found out about the production. Carl was briefly taken into custody, and gave a statement that the marijuana was grown for the household's own personal use. But after a tip was given to the police about Mandy Maguire selling weed, her mother Mimi suspected that Carl betrayed them and sent her sons Donny and Shane after him. Later, Carl's siblings Lip, Ian and Debbie, figured out that the only person with the motive for informing the police about Mandy's dealings was in fact her brother Shane, who was angry that his mother chose his sister over him to oversee that area of the family business. After Lip confronted Shane over the matter, Shane agreed to call off the family hunt for Carl.

Carl develops a long tally of sexual conquests in the later series, one notable example being the mother of one girl whom he was dating during his last year of secondary school.

In series 6, Carl realises Micky Maguire is gay; he is one of the few people on the estate, along with Maxine, his brother Liam and his half-brother Ian, who is aware of this. Micky makes several unsuccessful passes at Carl.

Through series 6 and up to early 7 Carl pursues and begins a relationship with auxiliary nurse Maxine Donnelly. Carl breaks up with Maxine after she admits to having aborted his child and feeling he is too immature to be a father. Carl soon decides he wants another chance with Maxine, and is encouraged when she has sex with him in the Jockey toilets. However, he does not know that Maxine only had sex with him to get her mind off Ian, whom she is beginning to have feelings for. Carl proposes to Maxine, but she turns him down. Carl continues to hope until Micky, out of hurt and jealousy, tells Carl about Maxine and Ian. A heartbroken and enraged Carl meets Ian in The Jockey toilets before savagely beating him. He smashes the engagement ring to pieces and cuts all ties to Maxine and Ian.

Carl begins working for Michelle, the head of a male escort agency that Jamie Maguire briefly worked for; when Jamie no longer wants to have sex with her, an eager Carl is more than capable of taking over the job. Unfortunately this proves to be the one bright spot for Carl around this time. He and Chesney go to a party and afterwards are in the street with a boy named Bonehead, who shows them a video he took of a girl he'd taken advantage of. Her brother, Jimmy, a local tough, viciously attacks Bonehead in front of them, and threatens them into staying silent. When Bonehead dies, Jimmy makes sure they are seen as the prime suspects, and threatens them into fleeing town. Carl and Ches end up on a farm in Wales, but when Carl is able to get reception for his mobile phone, the messages of support from Maxine and his family move him and he and Ches decide to return home. They hide in Chesney's shop but when Jimmy again threatens Carl's family, Carl attacks him. Carl even gets a gun to use on Jimmy, but Joe Pritchard convinces him this would be a mistake. Ultimately, Joe makes Jimmy disappear, Jimmy's sister clears Carl and Ches, and the Maguires convince Jimmy's gang to leave the Gallaghers and Ches alone.

Carl and Ian still have bad blood, with blood literally spilled for Ian as his attempt to tape a confession from Jimmy had ended in a beating. Ian did not accept Carl's apologies for what had happened over Maxine and he drives Maxine away by accusing her of still wanting to be with Carl. Carl visits Maxine at hospital and tells her he knows she was right to have the abortion. He convinces her to give Ian another chance, as he says that he can be her mate, but Ian is her soulmate. Ian and Maxine reconcile, and so do Carl and Ian.

[edit] Liam Gallagher

Liam Gallagher
Shameless character
Portrayed by Joseph Furnace (Series 1–2)
Johnny Bennett (Series 3 – present)
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004—
First appearance 13 January 2004
Profile
Date of birth 26 January 1999 (1999-01-26) (age 11)
Home 2 Windsor Gardens
Occupation Student

Liam Gallagher (born 26 January 1999) is the second youngest of the Gallagher children and is a minor character until series 5, when he takes a more central role in the main storylines. He apparently suffered from epileptic fits when he was smaller. He also used to wet the bed, though he claims that it was only to help put out the fires he had a likeness for starting, as seen during his pyromania phase in series 4-5 (match-boxes and lighter-fluid was routinely found under his mattress by Carl and Ian). Throughout the series, Liam is practically raised by his older sisters, Fiona and Debbie, as Frank is lazy and Monica inept- when she is around. In later episodes, Liam shows considerable intelligence and resourcefulness like sister Debbie and is also an outspoken atheist. In series 5, signs of genius in Liam became obvious when he was shown to be an adept car thief, and was seen later to use a defibrillator on a comotose Frank when it was thought that his heart had stopped. In series 6, it is revealed that Liam is a talented musician, and also fluent in Sign Language. Given his academic performance, the school determines Liam to be an exceptionally gifted pupil, which leads to him being awarded a special scholarship. During an interview at a local university, he initially fails to make a good impression due to nervousness. But that changed when his father Frank attempts to steal the "Joy of Sex" manual from the university library; Liam plucks up the courage to tell the panel of education directors why he deserves the scholarship in an impassioned speech.

Liam was also persuaded by his brother Carl to create false identities on the internet for him, Chesney Karib, Maxine Donnelly, and Micky Maguire, so they would be admitted into an exclusive nightclub.

In series 3, the then five year old Liam was almost expelled from his RC primary school when he openly denounced religion during a Christmas nativity play that was held by the school. Debbie learned of this development on New Year's Day 2006 when meeting with Liam's headteacher and a local parish priest. Debbie tried to warn Frank of the situation and the expected visit from the school, but to no avail. On the day of the school visit, and when it was apparent that Frank was not going to help, Debbie had to take matters into her own hands. She shaved Liam's head, and told the school administrators that her little brother had Cancer. Unfortunately, the rumour got out of hand, and spread out across the Chatsworth community, until a fundraiser for "Liam Day" was set up by Jez Dawson, the landlady of "The Jockey".

While apparently an atheist, it was hinted in series 6 that Liam may have had change of perception on the matter, even when he expertly refuted the arguments of two Jehovah's Witnesses, whom Monica tricked into baby-sitting Liam and Stella, he stated that "they may not know it, but they're right and I'm wrong". He also tried to get rid of the clothes Debbie and Maxine stole, thinking that they brought "bad Karma". In series 7, Liam quoted from passages in the Old and New Testements that condoned prostitution when Kelly thought that her occupation would disqualify her as godmother of Karen and Jamie's son. And was seen later with a copy of the Torah when counselling a Jewish convert with a penchant for pork-scratchings. Although knowledgeable about religion, Liam does not appear to endorse nor practice any of them.

Liam is now one of the few people in Chatsworth who is aware of Micky Maguire's homosexuality. He sarcastically tells Micky that he figured it out through his "amazing powers of deduction", despite Micky's stereotypically gay mannerisms and aesthetic preferences.

In series 7, Debbie has left Chatsworth to join the army, and perhaps due to this, Liam seems to have taken on more responsibility within the household, even getting a job delivering newspapers to support the family. His relationship with Frank has soured to the point that Liam has grown openly contemptuous of his father. Liam now attends a prestigious senior school.

He soon falls for a girl called Holly, whom he meets during his music lessons. Holly takes Liam home to meet her parents, when he tells them his father is a deceased heart specialist. But an accident at school exposes the lie. Despite this, Holly wanted to continue the relationship, but her comments against Frank hurt Liam's feelings, and cause him to leave with Frank.

After the Gallagher household falls behind on their HP payments, Liam gambles at Joe's shop to raise cash. Despite showing great aptitude early on, Liam ends up losing to Joe's bluff during a game of poker, owing him £100. Unable to come up with the money, Liam desperately asks his drunk father for help. Frank accidentally headbutts him, causing Liam to run out of The Jockey. Later on in the episode, Liam contacts Joe, asking "if I die, would it clear my debt?" Joe hurriedly seeks out Frank, Carl and Ian, who find Liam on top of a building threatening to jump. When a scuffle ensures between his brothers and father, he moves to a different ledge, and throws his phone down. After a heartfelt pledge by Frank to be more supportive, and from Joe to write-off his debt to him, Liam seemingly jumps, but he simply lands onto the balcony 7 feet down, recovers his mobile phone, and holds both Joe and Frank to their promises.

When Carl is framed for the death of a local boy, Liam is instrumental in helping to clear his name and convincing him to come home.

Liam struggles to adjust to Frank's new girlfriend Libby Croker taking over the mother role in the household. Liam begins to act more hostile towards her than ever. Liam feels that Frank is taking advantage of Libby, as he did with Sheila. The family realise why when Carl finds a letter Liam has kept from Debbie which tells them she has been sent to Afghanistan. Liam does a school report on a World War II veteran, Reggie. Slowly they become friends and Liam tries to help Reggie as he has no one to take care of him since being widowed. Carl, Kelly, and Libby all feel suspicious of their friendship, especially when Libby sees Liam wearing a dress (Liam wore one of Debbie's dresses as it reminded him of her smell). Liam defends Reggie, but when Reggie, knowing that he was close to death, desperately hugs him and doesn't want to let go. Liam completely mis-interprets Reggie's reasons, and flees the house. However, Liam begins to realise he was wrong about Reggie and returns to apologise and sit with Reggie as he dies.

Liam skillfully plays an acoustic guitar during The Jockey's talent night in episode 12. By then, he seems to have eventually warmed to Libby Croker after she promised him that she would never leave no matter how much Frank might put her off. In various episodes, Liam is seen to adopt Debbie's mannerisms and views in respect of his feelings about religion, figures of authority and the ways in which his family cope with one another. Debbie was Liam's main care-giver and role model since Fiona's departure from Chatsworth in series 2.

[edit] Karen Maguire

Karen Maguire
Shameless character
Portrayed by Rebecca Atkinson
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004—
First appearance 13 January 2004
Profile
Date of birth 12 June 1988 (1988-06-12) (age 22)
Home The Jockey
Occupation Landlady

Karen Maguire (née Jackson; born 12 June 1988), is the daughter of Sheila Gallagher and her second husband, Eddie Jackson. Nigel and Delia are her half-brother and sister. She becomes estranged from both parents throughout the series. She is Lip Gallagher's girlfriend in series 1, but seduces Lip's father Frank and has an affair with him. She then leaves to stay with her grandmother but returns to work at The Jockey, the local pub. Karen becomes considerably more mature in series 4, at the end of which she marries the recently freed Jamie Maguire, with whom she co-runs the pub. Season 5 sees her becoming increasingly, albeit grudgingly more integrated with the Maguire family and their somewhat violent way of life. Karen suffers a miscarriage early in season 6, then has an affair with her sister-in-law, Mandy's, boyfriend. She ends her affair with Joe by threatening him that if the Maguires see any bruises on Mandy they'll kill him. She gets back with Jamie with the help of Micky. The last episode of series 6 reveals Karen to be once again pregnant; however she is unsure whether the father is Jamie Maguire or Joe.

In the first episode of series 7, Karen is two weeks overdue in her pregnancy, and can't wait to have the birth over and done with. When Mimi tells her that sex several times a day could make her waters break quicker, Karen tells that "they've" been "at it" all the time, and flashbacks show that she's been having sex with both Jamie and Joe, implying that her brief affair with Joe from series 6 has continued, despite Karen's abuse towards him. In the same episode, Karen goes into labour after having a brief confrontation with Joe in the empty bar of the Jockey (Everybody else were celebrating at Frank's birthday party). Joe decided to help a scared Karen deliver what could be his son, who would christened Connor Joseph Maguire. Despite playing happy families with "proud dad" Jamie, Joe tells that she's kidding herself into thinking that she wants Jamie, when she really only wants Joe, branding Jamie "boring". Karen would then engage in risky sex in the Maguires' living room, with Joe, nearly being caught out by Paddy. Joe would then declare that he loves her. Karen also finds out that motherhood brings out hereditary Jackson traits, as Karen starts to act strange and starts losing Connor on a regular basis. For example, she hides her baby in a dresser drawer. On the third episode of the 7th series Karen starts to act in a strange manner by becoming obsessed with exercising and thinking that she can start her own fitness business, bouncing on a trampoline outside, going out late at night to buy groceries and putting baby Connor in a wardrobe. Karen's strange behaviour deteriorates further as she starts ripping wall paper off the walls and playing music at high volume, even attempting suicide by falling from a window at one point. She is saved from her suicide attempt by a quick-thinking Paddy Maguire, who shows his sensitive side when he expresses deep care and sympathy for her. Finally Karen has to be restrained by medics and is put in a psychiatric unit. Karen is soon diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and when she returns home, struggles to repair her marriage to Jamie, who is unable to have sex with her because he can't stop picturing her during her breakdown. Jamie, unknown to Karen, begins having sex with other women for money, and to get away from her. Jamie does not derive any pleasure from having sex with other women and is motivated by the financial gain. Eventually he stops prostituting himself when Paddy discovers what Jamie has been up to and tries to be happy with Karen.

As much as Karen is repulsed by the sordid nature of her affair with Joe, she is also drawn to it, and is disappointed when Joe stops seeing her. When he begins going to anger management meetings, Karen repeatedly tries to taunt him, throwing cereal around his shop and offering to resume their fling, but he refuses. Karen, pretending to be Joe's wife, drops into one of his meetings and listens to him as he talks about his attempts to control himself and how much he cares about her and their son.

The uneasy distance between Joe and Karen continues until Joe's father dies. Joe wants to start a new life with Karen and Connor, and Karen's feelings for him win out. She also stops taking her medication, with her more erratic personality being closer to Joe than to Jamie. Karen leaves with Joe when Joe exposes their affair to Jamie, but cannot cope without her son. After some close scrapes, Joe and Karen manage to kidnap Connor, and make plans to leave for Ireland. Karen has begun taking her meds again and is increasingly wary of Joe. As Karen's doubts rattle Joe, she is subjected to verbal and finally physical abuse. When Karen attempts to call Jamie, Joe begins strangling her. Ian Gallagher, who has been hiding in the back of the car for the entire trip, repeatedly hits Joe in the back of the head, and urges Karen to get away. Karen takes baby Connor and runs to get help, as Ian drives away with Joe's body.

[edit] Monica Gallagher

Monica Gallagher
Shameless character
Portrayed by Annabelle Apsion
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004, 2006, 2007–09, 2011—
First appearance 17 February 2004
Profile
Date of birth 24 April 1963 (1963-04-24) (age 47)
Stretford, Manchester, England
Occupation Housewife

Monica Gallagher (born 24 April 1963) is Frank's estranged wife, and the mother of Fiona, Phillip, Ian, Carl, Debbie, Liam and Stella. She is bisexual and left Frank for a lorry driver named Norma. She came home at the end of series 1 and very briefly at the start of series 3, but returned for good at the beginning of series 4 and resumed co-habiting with Frank. Although her intentions for this were unknown at first, a visit from her mother in series 5 explained her backstory and a possible reason of why she returned to be with her children. Monica announced at the beginning of series 5 that she was pregnant again, giving birth to Stella at the end of the series. She has two known grandchildren, an unnamed child from Fiona when she left in Series 2, and Lip's daughter, Katie.

When she returned home in series 1 and series 3, her children, apart from Carl, showed their hostility and Debbie constantly blamed her for leaving them, saying that she would only leave and do it again. This warning indeed came to pass when Monica left again during Series 6, leaving all her children behind, including baby Stella.

Monica is to return in series 8, ready to win back her family from Libby, similar to what she did with Sheila.[1]

[edit] Mimi Maguire

Mimi Maguire
Shameless character
Portrayed by Tina Malone
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2005—
First appearance 8 February 2005
Profile
Date of birth 25 March 1963 (1963-03-25) (age 47)
Liverpool, England
Home The Jockey
Occupation Drug dealer/Barmaid

Catherine Mary Joy "Mimi" Maguire (née Murphy; born 25 March 1963) is the foul-mouthed, loud, brash and violent matriarch of the Maguire family. She is also a drug dealer on the Chatsworth Estate and is frequently seen selling drugs on the show. She is also extremely violent and easily angered. She has "headbutted" several characters on the show including Lip Gallagher, Sue Garland, Cassie Western and even her own son Shane. Mimi is as hard as nails, and she can hold her own with men and women.

She is the wife of Paddy Maguire, and the mother of Mandy Maguire and the Maguire boys (Jamie, Shane, Micky, the late Fergal and the little-seen Joey and Donny) and the daughter of "Nana" Murphy. Her ex-boyfriend is also called Paddy. In series 5 a more sensitive side to Mimi is introduced, after her ex-boyfriend, Paddy, makes a crass comment about her weight. She describes herself as a "bulimic who can't stand vomit". In the same series, she is shown attending anger management classes. In Series 6, Mimi experiences some regret over her lack of education when son Micky takes film classes. Mimi does most of his coursework for him, and when he decides the class isn't for him, he allows Mimi to take his place.

The Maguire family's drug dealing business comes to haunt them when Mimi's beloved Paddy is abducted and forcibly addicted to heroin by the bereaved mother of one of their deceased customers. To make matters worse, she is arrested for an assault that her son Jamie carried out. She however openly wants to take the blame for the attack, claiming "A mam's gotta do what a mam's gotta do". This is because she does not want to see her son go to jail again. At the end of series 6, her beloved daughter Mandy is killed by the woman who got Paddy addicted to heroin. The strain of this loss causes Paddy and Mimi to split up.

In series 7 Mimi lives in The Jockey as the landlord and also has an affair with a friend of her son Micky, until she finds out that he is only 14 years old (although he looks just as old as Micky). After the boy starts to blackmail Mimi into a secret relationship, Mimi tries to threaten him away from her, finally giving him a gun filled with blanks and daring him to shoot her. When he does, she pretends to be dead, and he flees Chatsworth

Mimi attempts to join a local women's group to feel better about herself, but they rebuff her attempts to appear in their risque charity calendar, and make her feel worthless. To add insult to injury, they ask Mimi to supply them with some party drugs to help loosen them up before the photo shoot. In revenge, Mimi gives them such a strong supply that they begin dancing around in their underwear and groping each other. Mimi sets up a pornographic website to display the shots.

Mimi gives birth to a newborn daughter at the end of series 7 after complaining of stomach pains and nausea which scared Mimi into believing she had started her menopause. The baby was presumably fathered by estranged husband Paddy.

According to the Shameless website, Mimi will return to living in the Maguire house, with baby daughter Cilla, in Series 8. It is implied that she is unknown who fathered Cilla because of her fling with underage football star Billy.

[edit] Shane Maguire

Shane Maguire
Shameless character
Portrayed by Nicky Evans
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2006—
First appearance 7 February 2006
Profile
Date of birth 10 August 1982 (1982-08-10) (age 28)
Occupation Drug Dealer/Gangster

Shane Maguire (born 10 August 1982) is part of the Chatsworth estate Maguire gangster family, the brother of Micky (who he constantly squabbles with), Donny, Joey, and Jamie, as well as the late Fergal and Mandy, and son of Paddy and Mimi.

Shane is known for his short and unpredictable temper and limited intelligence, although he was once shown to possess great instincts for shopper's habits during series 5 when he briefly worked in Yvonne Kharib's Cash and Carry off-licence shop. Judging by certain scenes from series 3-4, the other Maguire boys, except for Jamie, seemed to be taking direction from Shane, in the absence of Paddy and Mimi, which might imply that Shane is the second oldest of the Maguire children. In series 6 Shane suffers a head injury whilst running a hotel scam with his lover, Kelly. After coming out of a coma, Shane is left partially paralysed and bed-ridden. Conflict arises between Kelly and Shane's overpowering mother, Mimi, over who will oversee his convalescence. However, with physiotherapy and speech therapy, his condition begins to improve.

After a running a series of wedding scams together, Shane asks Kelly-Marie to marry him, but she was hestitant to do so. After they fall out during a party at The Jockey, he tries to make amends. But discovers that weeks earlier, Kelly had sex with his father, Patrick. A heart-broken Shane later asks his father why he betrayed him. Patrick reveals that he felt shamed by his sons for abandoning him during that night, and in a moment of self-pity, paid Kelly for sex to "hurt" his son, but he now deeply regrets it. Shane demands that his father proves how sorry he is, and produces a syringe and a bag of heroin. As Paddy is about to inject himself, Shane stops him just in time. Satisfied with his father's remorse, he quietly leaves Paddy, who breaks down in tears. He is now married to Kelly-Marie Ball. They had their impromptu civil ceremony at The Jockey.

While giving a deposit to a sperm bank, Shane learned that he was sterile. Shane was upset at the thought of never having children. His father and brothers tried to help by offering to be sperm donors for Kelly, but she refused. Liam suggested Kelly and Shane raise Shane's niece Katie, but this plan was dashed when her father Lip decided to take her. Shane was left to look on Liam as a son.

When Carl and Chesney were framed for murder by a local drug-dealer called Jimmy, the Maguires initially decide to remain aloof from the situation, as it was "not their fight". But Jimmy's increasing cockiness revealed in Shane a sense of justice, when he began to openly speak against Jimmy's aggressive antics before taking overt action. When Jimmy tried to set the Gallagher home on fire, Shane stepped in, as he knew Jimmy was afraid to cross the Maguires. The last straw for Shane was when Jimmy promised to harm the family, including Liam. When Paddy elected to remain uninvolved, Shane and Jamie decided to take the law into their own hands despite their father's wishes, and rounded up members of Jimmy's gang, and brutally interrogated them as to Jimmy's whereabouts. Paddy later showed his face, and endorsed his son's proactiveness. Shane and Kelly have also developed a parental bond with Liam to the point where Liam even calls them mum and dad (albeit in jest) as they put him to bed.

[edit] Mickey Maguire

Mickey Maguire
Shameless character
Portrayed by Ciaran Griffiths
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2007—
First appearance 9 January 2007
Profile
Date of birth 20 June 1985 (1985-06-20) (age 25)
Occupation Drug Dealer/Gangster

Michael "Mickey" Maguire (born 20 June 1985) is described as a "paranoid, aggressive, violent, homosexual yet homophobe" who is a member of the Maguire family. He is erratic and obsessively licks the side of his mouth, which could be a tic and/or hint of a behavioral disorder. Despite his aggressive, exaggerated personality, he is mentally weak and often runs away at the first sign of trouble. His father Paddy often disrespects him, like brother Shane, but still loves him. Mickey is the most idealistic of his family, and the most loyal to his parents. In spite of Paddy's lack of faith in him, Mickey was the one who tracked down Paddy after Paddy was shot and left for dead.

He has a brief and casual affair with Ian just after his first appearance on the show and falls in love with him, constantly chasing him up throughout the show. Unlike Ian, none of Mickey's family are aware of his homosexuality, despite several occasions when Mickey has come close to coming out to them, or had daydreams about coming out. In his early appearances, Micky has a dog, Nelson, whom he's been close to for years. Ian is disgusted to learn just how close they had become at one time, and declines to continue a relationship with Mickey. By this time Micky is in love with him and wants everyone to know. When Mickey is about to tell his family, Ian bursts into the room and tells them about what had happened with Mickey and Nelson. Paddy immediately has Nelson put down, deeply upsetting Mickey.

The early episodes of the sixth series shows Micky going to college to study film. Mickey struggles with the course and is distracted by an erotic story his professor accidentally slipped in with house coursework. Mickey decides his true talents are in erotic writing and gives up his place in the class for his mother, Mimi, who loves film and has always wanted to go to college. He begins an affair with his professor, who is highly aroused by his writing, although his main reason for doing so is that her attractive husband, Ady, joins them. She quickly realises where his true desires were and ends the arrangement. Mickey asks her husband Ady to get a divorce and they could begin a relationship. Ady declines, but tells Mickey they can continue to see each other in secret, but Mickey refuses, saying he deserves better. Mickey meets Ady again several times in his job as a police officer, once when Joe Pritchard is beaten up and Mimi takes the blame, and later when Paddy is missing. On this occasion Ady tells Mickey his wife has been cheating on him and he is now living with a man, an interior decorator, and that Mickey and Ian can stop by the flat if they ever want to.

Near the end of said series, Mickey is manipulated by Liam Gallagher into making overtures with Ian, because Ian was due to move away from Chatsworth. After a couple of embarrassing incidents, Ian decides to postpone his trip around Europe, and to personally mend fences with Mickey. This series also sees Mickey's sister Mandy die due to a gas leak in the home of an enemy of Paddy's who has kidnapped her. Micky rings the doorbell which set off the spark that killed Mandy, and he blames himself for her death.

Mickey has had a crush on the staunchly heterosexual Carl Gallagher (shown through his fantasies), as well as a plumber that he saw on a gay porn website, who came to his house to fix a leak. During this time, Mickey continues to sabotage the plumbing system to give him an excuse to ring the plumber up. However, nothing happens, and the next time Mickey tries to sabotage the plumbing, housemate Maxine fixes it.

In the seventh series, Mickey continues to build a friendship with Ian, with whom he shares a house. This series has proved that Mickey has a sensitive side, as explained through his dialogue with Ian when Ian became involved with Maxine Donnelly. Mickey tried to warn Ian that Maxine fancied him, not realising that Ian felt the same way about Maxine. Ian had sex with Mickey to get Maxine off his mind, but this didn't help, and he and Maxine had sex, which Mickey witnessed. Mickey was devastated when Ian insisted he cared for Maxine and wanted to be with her. Mickey told Ian that he'd felt like a freak before he'd had Ian to look up to, and now Ian had taken that away. Relations between Mickey and the new couple remained strained, but eventually Mickey decided to stop letting the relationship bother him. He told Maxine that all he wanted was that when she finally realises she cannot be happy with a gay man, that she let Ian down gently.

Maxine's brother Bruce moves in after their father throws him out; his lies soon get him thrown out by Maxine as well. Bruce gets a job tending bar at The Jockey and befriends Mimi. Mickey tries to convince him to stay in the closet, but not only does Bruce reveal he's gay, he also needles Mickey by asking him about his love life in front of Mimi. Mickey's hopes are briefly raised when Paddy is asked what he'd do with a gay son and says he'd do the right thing — unfortunately for Mickey, Paddy's idea of the right thing is killing said son. Mickey begins to have nightmares about his parents murdering him. Finally he tells Bruce that if Bruce keeps quiet about Mickey's sexuality, he will let him move in.

When Mickey is talking to a woman who owes Paddy money, her little girl accidentally starts a fire. Mickey douses the flames and decides he should be a fireman. Paddy is more interested in getting Mickey to intimidate an old man named Jock who owns the boxing club and owes Paddy money. Ian, who has been going to the club and looks up to Jock, is furious when he learns Mickey got into a physical fight with him. Mickey continues to prepare for his fireman's exam but Paddy continues to mock him. Visions of Paddy taunt Mickey throughout his tests. Finally, Mickey snaps at Paddy in The Jockey over the pain he has felt due to years of Paddy's constant abuse, telling Paddy that he is now a fireman, while Paddy will always be bitter. Mickey later risks his life to save Jock when Jock sets himself and the boxing club on fire. Mickey confesses to Paddy that he lied about passing his fireman test. Paddy says it doesn't matter, Mickey will always be more of a man than he will ever be.

Mickey agrees to help sister-in-law Kelly with her sister Tonya, a teenager who infant son was recently put into care. Social services tell Tonya to spend all her time taking care of a baby doll as if it were her son. Tonya continually passes the baby off to Mickey. When he finally snaps at her, she reluctantly admits that she isn't sure if she wants her son back, and that her father, Homer, who forced himself on her, is also her baby's father. Mickey tells Kelly, and quickly surmises that Homer also raped Kelly. Homer refuses to stay out of Tonya's life, even after Mickey warns him off. A furious Mickey waits until Homer is in the toilets at the Jockey and jabs him in the neck with a syringe, after which he and Shane take him to a slaughterhouse. When Homer wakes up, he is gagged and heavily bound on top of a slab. As Mickey says he was initially going to go quickly, but has now decided to take things slow, he pulls out a large drill. Later, he lets Kelly know that her father is dead.

When Mickey is depressed over his parents' impending divorce, he goes out clubbing and meets a man named Gary. They spend the night together, but the next day, Mickey and Shane run into Gary when they have to threaten the owner of a burger stand. Mickey headbutts Gary (in order to keep his homosexuality a secret from Shane), but Gary doesn't mind Mickey's criminal activities, as he believes Mickey is Paddy. Mickey goes along with this lie, but when he learns Gary has been spreading around town that he's sleeping with Paddy Maguire, he becomes furious and breaks up with Gary. During this time Mimi and Paddy remarry, for the sake of their children, but when Mickey realises they are lying, his experience with Gary causes him to finally accept that his parents aren't meant to be together. He advises them to split up if they don't really want to be together.

[edit] Jamie Maguire

Jamie Maguire
Shameless character
Portrayed by Aaron McCusker
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2007—
First appearance 9 January 2007
Profile
Date of birth 1978 (age 31–32)
Home The Jockey
Occupation Barman/Gangster

James Patrick "Jamie" Maguire (born 1978) is the oldest son of the notorious Maguire family, the son of Paddy and Mimi Maguire, and recently returned after serving a ten-year prison sentence for murder. Much to his parents' disgust, he appeared to be reformed, rejected his family, got a job as a barman at "The Jockey", began training as a probation officer, and became engaged to his colleague, Karen Jackson.

Jamie has a tendency to sleepwalk on occasion.

In the last episode of series 4, Jamie revealed that he had admitted his guilt in order to get parole so that he could hunt down his father's three former cellmates, who were planning to muscle in on Paddy's territory and dispose of him. His new reformed life was a sham to cover his murders of these three men. Karen assumed that his courtship of her was part of this pretence, but Jamie claimed that he really loved her and they were married at the end of the episode.

Despite being portrayed as one of the warmer of the Maguire family, Jamie has become somewhat of a dark and aggressive character, possibly due to him taking on the family business while his father was going cold turkey when recovering from drug addiction. Jamie is shown to go to extreme lengths to get revenge, sending one such message to Joe Prichard (after finding out about Karen's affair with him) by digging up his recently deceased father and leaving him slumped outside of the local shop.

Jamie becomes a father in series 7, but afterward witnesses the gradual mental breakdown of his wife Karen, unaware that the overwhelming guilt and self-loathing she carries is eaten away at her inside. After Karen's release from hospital, they fall behind on household bills, and Jamie is finding it difficult to cope with his wife's mental illness. He meets a woman named Michelle while on a night out, and has sex with her in the ladies toilets. Michelle runs a male escort agency, and leaves her card in Jamie's pocket, along with some money. They meet later when Michelle offers Jamie a job. Despite his obvious disgust at the thought of working as a "man-whore", Jamie agrees to the offer. He services Michelle and other women, needing the money as well as some time away from Karen. When Karen begins to suspect an affair, Michelle confesses her love for him, and Paddy uncovers what he's doing and tries to tell him to stop, Jamie finally has enough. Initially Michelle is reluctant to let him go, but when he introduces her to the virile young Carl Gallagher, she changes her mind.

[edit] Lillian Tyler

Lillian Tyler
Shameless character
Portrayed by Alice Barry
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004—
First appearance 23 December 2004
Profile
Date of birth 1947 although one of the episodes stated her year of birth to be 1870 (as per Series 7 Episode 16)as a joke
Occupation Brothel owner

Lillian Tyler (born 1947) is a local busy-body. She had an affair with her friend Carol Fisher's husband in the 1970s. Her husband was accidentally shot dead by Carl Gallagher. As of series 5, Lillian has appeared much more in the show, even becoming narrator for episode 7. Lillian also runs a brothel at her home, a means to making easy money. Frank often makes reference to her resemblance to Mel B's caricature from the TV series Bo Selecta!. In series 6 it is revealed she has a son called Rodney.

Lilian was revealed during series 2 to suffer Narcolepsy, when she was questioned by the police about medication she used, suspecting that her late husband Brendan Tyler may have been killed due to a gang-based turf war over drugs.

[edit] Kelly-Marie Maguire

Kelly-Marie Maguire
Shameless character
Portrayed by Sally Carman
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008—
First appearance 1 March 2005
Profile
Date of birth 1983
Occupation Prostitute

Kelly-Marie Maguire (née Ball; born 1983) is Kev Ball's sister. A recovered heroin addict, she became a prostitute working in Lillian Tyler's brothel, and struck up a relationship with Shane Maguire, which ended under intimidation from Paddy Maguire. She returned a couple of episodes later, telling Shane she "decided not to take his father's offer". This resulted in Shane confronting Paddy, who beat him up in The Jockey. At the end of series 5 Kelly-Marie announces she is pregnant with Shane's child, and is welcomed into the family with open arms by Paddy and Mimi. In series 6 it is revealed by Kelly that she had had a "phantom pregnancy", and was comforted by Mimi and Shane.

During her early appearances on the show, Kelly had a hostile relationship with her sister-in-law Veronica, who was the one that eventually discovered her addiction to heroin, and helped Kelly get clean by locking her in the bathroom against her will.

In series 7, Kelly is chosen initially by Jamie and Karen to be the godmother of their newborn son, Connor Joseph Maguire. She and Shane have also actively dealt in personal side jobs in addition to the normal Maguire family business.

In the fourth episode of Series 7, Kelly has sex with Paddy in exchange for money, after Paddy found it hard to "pull" on a night out with his sons. Paddy wanted to hurt Shane since he felt Shane had not been there for him. Paddy and Kelly kept their encounter a secret, but during a mass wedding scam, Shane proposed to Kelly. Kelly turned him down several times, even ending their relationship, because she could not marry him while living a lie. Shane told her he would forgive her sleeping with anyone, at which point she and a guilty Paddy made eye contact. Shane was devastated to learn the truth, but forgave Kelly, and they married in a civil ceremony at the Jockey.

Shane was deeply upset when he learned he was sterile. Jamie, Micky, and Paddy offered to be Kelly's sperm donors, but she refused, saying she'd already had Paddy in her once and wasn't going to do that ever again. As they would be unable to adopt a child, Liam convinced them to try to be parents to Shane's niece Katie. This plan was dashed when Katie's father Lip decided to take a more active role in her life. Kelly and Shane decided to give up on their plans and just be honorary parental figures for Liam, whom she has grown quite fond of.

Kelly was revealed in the thirteenth episode of series 7 to have a fifteen year old half-sister named Tonya, whose care she was briefly responsible for. Kelly and Tonya were both fathered by a man named Homer, whom was implied to have abused them both sexually on different occasions. Tonya had a baby-boy named Enrico, who was in foster-care. Micky Maguire, who pretended to be Shane during a visit from a social-care worker during his brother's absence, found out from Tonya that Enrico was actually born out of incest with her father, whom raped her. She begged him not to tell Kelly. After finding out that Homer abused them both, Micky injected tranquilizer into Homer's blood-stream in The Jockey toilets, and dragged him with Shane's help to a slaughter-house to dispose of him, doing his sister-in-law a tremendous favour in the process.

[edit] Chesney Karib

Chesney Karib
Shameless character
Portrayed by Qasim Akhtar
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2007—
First appearance 27 February 2007
Profile
Date of birth 1992
Occupation Shop assistant

Chesney Karib (born 1992) Played by (Qasim Akhtar) he is Yvonne and Kash's son and younger child. He was briefly the Young Mayor of Chatsworth, and love interest of Debbie Gallagher, until she decided he was self-interested and using her. But later, it turned out that Chesney was using the campaign funds to help an elderly Pakistani woman to take her British Citizenship Test. Chesney is a smart but moody teenager who quietly resents his mother's bossy and abrupt demeanour.

In series 6, Chesney finds out that his mother, Yvonne, had faked his father, Kash's death. Chesney, in a moment of rage, knocks his father out cold, and seemed to be prepared bludgeon him with a baseball bat when the fireworks that were stacked up in the shop's stockroom were ignited, due to the spreading flames of Chesney's insufficiently stamped out cigarette. Chesney fled the store, leaving his unconscious father to die for real from smoke inhalation. Having discovered his parents duplicity, Chesney began to openly defy Yvonne by liberally taking money from the till and drinking in the house.

In series 7, after helping his mother and Stan Waterman cheat Paddy Maguire out of the money they owed him, Chesney gains the house to himself, and stays on at the Kash and Carry after Joe Pritchard purchases the shop from Yvonne. Recently, a party thrown at Chesney's house goes badly when a drunk girl is taken advantage of, and the boy that did it gets battered to death by the girl's older brother, since the act was filmed and spread via text. The deadly assault was witnessed by both Chesney and Carl Gallagher. Their consciences soon got the better of them, which led them to grafittying the name of the killer close to the scene of the crime.

The murderer, Jimmy, in turn prevented them from going forward to the police by threatening to kill Liam, and tells them to leave Chatsworth. After spending some time at a Welsh farm with a woman called Hazel, who has her own murky past which Chesney helped her resolve, both him and Carl decided to return to Chatsworth to clear their names. When entering a football competition for gays Chesney rows with Ian over his relationship with Kash. Towards the end of the penultimate episode, Chesney has a dream including Mickey and Ian, and it is assumed that he may actually have homosexual feelings himself.

[edit] Maxine Donnelly

Maxine Donnelly
Shameless character
Portrayed by Joanna Higson
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2009—
First appearance 27 January 2009
Profile
Date of birth 1990
Occupation Auxiliary nurse

Maxine Donnelly (born 1990) is a carefree, spirited, and clever young woman who was introduced in the second episode of series 6 when Carl Gallagher, after having his arm casted, briefly did volunteer work at the local hospital. Maxine has also become a good friend of Debbie's, while simultaneously having a minor fling with Carl. She works as an auxiliary nurse, and frequently accompanies Debbie Gallagher on nights out and shopping trips, or more accurately, they steal clothes, and often come up with creative tactics of eluding the centre's security staff. Later in the series, she becomes ever more infatuated with Carl, despite being frustrated with what she describes as his "Benny Hill-character" behaviour. Maxine and Carl become a couple.

In series 7, Maxine, increasingly disillusioned by Carl's immaturity, secretly aborts she and Carl's unborn baby, but she would later tell Carl, which infuriates him enough to make him end their relationship. She moves in with Ian after her breakup with Carl. She later takes Ian to a party at her parents house under the pretence that Ian is her doctor boyfriend. She tells Ian that her family sees her as a "fuck-up." After witnessing the disparaging remarks from Maxine's father about his daughter, Ian defends her. This leads to an unexpected romance between Ian and Maxine, which in turn leads to a fight and a strained relationship between Ian and Carl as well as Maxine and Carl and Maxine and Micky.

A local tough named Jimmy kills a boy who took advantage of his sister, and he frames Carl and Chesney for the crime, forcing them to flee Chatsworth. Maxine is one of the few people who is concerned about Carl's disappearance. Ian tries to convince her not to get involved, but she persists, and when she confronts Jimmy, his sister hits her in the back of the head with a pool cue. Ian feels ashamed that he did nothing to help her, and he confronts Jimmy in an attempt to tape a confession. Jimmy savagely beats him. Ian's sense of worthlessness leads him to withdraw from everyone and makes him unable to perform with Maxine. As she continues to help clear Carl's name, Ian bitterly accuses her of caring more about Carl than she does him. Maxine helps convince Jimmy's sister to go to the police, but there is little time for celebration as Ian continues to give her as well as Carl the cold shoulder. Maxine tells him that she's leaving him, but not because of Carl. Carl finds Maxine at hospital and admits to her that she was right to abort their child. When she tries to tell him she's steering clear of the Gallagher brothers because of the damage she's done to their relationship, Carl tries to get her to reconsider, telling her he's her mate, but Ian is her soulmate. Ian arrives and he and Maxine share sheepish grins, resuming their relationship.

Maxine's brother Bruce shows up in Chatsworth, sporting a black eye and saying their mother has left and that their father, Cameron, hit him and threw him out of the house for being gay. Maxine agrees to let him move in, and goes to confront their father. He tells her that he threw Bruce out for spending all his time smoking dope, and he's stunned to learn Bruce is gay. When Cameron visits Maxine soon afterwards he rubs makeup off Bruce's eye to prove he never hit him. Bruce admits he lied but says Maxine did the same, revealing that Ian was never a doctor, as Maxine had told everyone in the family. Maxine throws Bruce out. In an attempt to try to get closer to her father, she cooks him some dinner and cleans up his home. She tells him that she's always felt like he undermined her and that she'd always been told she had no confidence—even today she had lost a job as head cleaner at the hospital because of lack of confidence. When he shows her little sympathy, she leaves.

Maxine's insecurities about Ian's feelings for men bubble up when he begins going to gay clubs with Bruce and playing against gay football leagues. Maxine begins posing nude for an art class, and recognises the professor as a teacher she had a crush on when she was a teenager. He confesses he also had feelings for her. At first, she appears to be uncomfortable with the realisation that this man found her attractive when she was sixteen years old. She eventually invites him to her home and they get drunk and take cocaine. As they are undressing, Maxine backs out. Unfortunately, the professor has a heart attack and she has to call an ambulance. Maxine desperately tries to explain to Ian. The relationship begins to fall apart, accelerated when Ian holds hostage a man who tried to rob and rape Maxine. When Ian attempts to kill this man with the gun he used to threaten Maxine, she tries to stop him from taking matters further. Maxine notices Ian's attraction to his hostage when the hostage states: You would rather fuck me than kill me.' Maxine catches Ian admitting to the man that he finds him attractive, and she tells Ian that she will never be able to get over his being attracted to other men. Ian leaves Chatsworth.

[edit] Libby Croker

Libby Croker
Shameless character
Portrayed by Pauline McLynn
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2010—
First appearance 26 January 2010
Profile
Date of birth 1967
Occupation Librarian

Libby Croker (Pauline McLynn) is Frank's current love interest. She is a librarian who lives with her disabled mother, for whom she is sole carer, giving up her own independent existence. Libby is narcoleptic. In the most recent episode, she has moved in with Frank, after being released from prison for inciting a riot. Her mother has also moved in with the Gallaghers, living in their front room, and has been set up as a counter-point to Frank, both of whom consider the other as "fakers" regarding their illnesses. Libby's moving into the Gallagher home has not been welcomed by Frank's sons. Liam in particular has demonstrated a rather cold attitude toward Libby, perhaps because he fears that the relationship is doomed to failure anyway, and doesn't want to get too friendly with Libby. However, Libby has gradually been accepted by most of the family.

[edit] Bruce Donnelly

Bruce Donnelly
Shameless character
Portrayed by Philip Hill-Pearson
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2010—
First appearance 23 February 2010
Profile
Occupation Barman

Bruce Donnelly is Maxine Donnelly's younger brother, first introduced in episode 5 of series 7, and appeared again from episodes 11-16 after accepting a job as a barman at The Jockey by Mimi Maguire. Bruce is a charming but manipulative young man. He is also an open homosexual, but has quickly gained the confidence of Mimi, after at first being thrown out after his father, Cameron, for being a stoner, and then only to arrive at Ian's house and lie to his sister that he was thrown out for being gay. Bruce also moves into The Jockey while working there. In the seventh series he manages a 'gay' football team for a gay football tournament consisting of Carl Gallagher, Ian Gallagher, Chesney Karib, Mickey Maguire and others.

[edit] Former main characters

[edit] Ian Gallagher

Ian Gallagher
Shameless character
Portrayed by Gerard Kearns
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–10
First appearance 13 January 2004
Last appearance 11 May 2010
Profile
Date of birth 11 August 1989 (1989-08-11) (age 21)

Ian Gallagher (born 11 August 1989) is the third oldest Gallagher sibling and is aged 15 at the beginning of the first series in 2004. He is the son of Monica and Gary Bennett, revealed when his blood group was found to be incompatible with the rest of his siblings'. His half-brothers are Phillip Gallagher, Carl Gallagher, Liam Gallagher and Sean Bennett, and his half-sisters are Fiona Gallagher, Debbie Gallagher, and Stella Gallagher. He has one niece, Katie Maguire. He used to work at The Jockey as a barman but in more recent series his employment, if he has any, has not been shown.

In the early series, Ian is depicted as closest to his brother Phillip, with whom he shares a room, and is initially the only member of his family to know that he was gay. The brothers often have to look out for each other more than any of the other characters, due to being party to each others' secrets. In later series, all the family, except Frank, are aware of his sexuality.

Ian often identifies as gay, having various relationships with older men throughout the first four or five series. Kash Karib is to date his only long-term boyfriend, though he has a brief relationship with Sean Bennett, and an ongoing friendship, sometimes sexual, with Micky Maguire. Because he is unaware of his parentage at the time, Ian also unknowingly sleeps with his half-brother. Ian sees Sean at their biological father's funeral and later tells the truth to Sean, who wants to keep seeing Ian, but eventually agrees that they can not ignore their familial relationship. Beginning in the 4th series, Ian has a number of relationships with women. He repeatedly has sex with a girl he is briefly hiding in his home for her protection, but when she asks him to leave with her, he declines, knowing a relationship would not work. He has a relationship of convenience with Mandy Maguire, to protect his secret, which nearly turns sexual when they're both at a low point, but they fumble about until Ian decides it's a bad idea. In the seventh series, Ian begins a serious relationship with Maxine Donnelly. When Maxine's brother Bruce asks if their being in a relationship means Ian is now "bisexual", Ian pauses, before saying he just believes he has found the right person.

Due to Gerard Kearns break to work on a film [2], Ian leaves in the first episode of the 6th series after suffering amnesia. He is seen in episode two in a clip of him partying abroad and appears on webcam in later episodes. He returns in the seventh episode; this features the debut of Danny, a deaf teenager whom Ian unwittingly transports back to the UK in the boot of his car. Ian now lives in the house of Danny's deceased grandfather, which was leased to him by Danny's Aunt Pegg, in gratitude for looking after him. Danny and Pegg later move to Spain.

In Series 7 in 2010, it appears Ian has remained at Danny's old address, and has accepted Micky Maguire as a tenant. Ian supports Carl's girlfriend Maxine when she decides to have an abortion and break up with Carl. Maxine moves in with Micky and Ian. The situation becomes complicated when Maxine asks Ian to pose as her boyfriend to impress her parents. Ian and Maxine begin to develop feelings for each other and have sex. Micky sees them and tries to convince Ian he shouldn't be with a woman, but Ian says the labels don't matter, he wants to be with Maxine. This leads to a major falling out with Micky, who feels betrayed. Micky tells Carl, who then beats up Ian in the toilets at The Jockey. In spite of the remaining tensions, Ian and Maxine become a couple.

Even with the lingering animosity from Carl and Micky, Ian and Maxine are happy, but they are thrown into turmoil when Carl (along with Chesney) run away after being accused of murder. Ian is initially not bothered with Carl's absence, and is more concerned at just how concerned Maxine is over Carl. When Ian and Maxine are in The Jockey, Maxine confronts Jimmy, whom everyone knows is the killer. As Ian looks on, Jimmy's sister hits Maxine in the head with a pool cue. Ian feels ashamed that he let Maxine fight the battle on her own and in spite of her reassurances, he begins to believe that she would have been better off with Carl. To try to prove his worth, Ian attempts to tape a confession from Jimmy, but Jimmy sees through his plan and savagely beats him. Ian begins to further withdraw and is unable to have sex with Maxine; during the time they do spend together, he becomes more paranoid about her feelings every time she mentions Carl. Carl's name is soon cleared and he attempts to make amends with Ian, but Ian isn't interested. He again accuses Maxine of wanting to be with Carl, to which she tells Ian she just doesn't want to be with him. In spite of this conflict, Ian and Maxine still have strong feelings for each other, and Carl convinces Maxine that she and Ian belong together. Ian shows up at hospital soon after Carl and Maxine talk, and he and Maxine smile at each other, and they reconcile.

In the finale of series 7, Ian and Maxine were returning home after a nightout, when they are accosted by a rough whom attempts to mug them. But they fight back and overpower the thug, and drag him back unconscious to their house. The thug turns out to be a hireling of Roscoe, a Moss Side-based crime lord. After hours of deciding what to do with him, Maxine overhears a conversation where Ian admits that he would "rather fuck him than kill him". This seems to be the end of the relationship, as Ian's sexuality may might turn out to be the source of future infedilities. When Ian prepares himself to kill the thug, him and Maxine find that he escaped from his bounds while they were conversing. Ian is seen later with a backpack, apparently leaving Chatsworth. It is not stated whether because he's leaving Maxine, or if its to avoid retribution by Roscoe's gang. He happens upon Karen, as she and Joe are about to leave Chatsworth themselves. After witnessing Joe's abrupt treatment of Karen, Ian secretly stowsaway in Joe's trunk. After Joe tries to beat and abuse Karan, Ian kills him and makes his exit from the show to dispose of the body.

[edit] Paddy Maguire

Paddy Maguire
Shameless character
Portrayed by Sean Gilder
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2005–10
First appearance 8 February 2005
Last appearance 27 April 2010
Profile
Date of birth 20 April 1964 (1964-04-20) (age 46)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Home Ireland
Occupation Drug dealer/Gangster

Patrick Donal "Paddy" Maguire (born 20 April 1964, Belfast), is the patriarch and the head of the Maguire family, the most feared and therefore most respected of the local criminal families. His cherished wife is Mimi, and he has an identical twin brother called Noel, who is gay. It was shown in Series 6 that he is a supporter of Celtic F.C. and in the background at the Maguire residence there is a statue of a Celtic player.

Patrick is extremely forceful and violent and his presence puts fear into most people on the Chatsworth Estate. For example, when he and his family enter the local pub, The Jockey, the customers sitting at the table beside the entrance clear the seat for them. He and his family are also drug dealers on the Chatsworth estate. He has a particular dislike for the Gallagher family, particularly Frank and Lip, which he has demonstrated on several occasions, both physically and verbally. However in more recent series, Paddy has begun to show a more compassionate side, and since series four, he has also become much more accepting of Lip Gallagher, as well as Karen Jackson, the wife of his oldest son Jamie. Paddy's identical twin brother Noel was credited as being played by Neil Grades, an anagram of actor Sean Gilder. Paddy also has a strong sense of family and is loyal toward them. For example, when his daughter-in-law Karen becomes severely depressed he becomes the rock upon which she can lean.

Despite his initial dislike of Frank Gallagher, this mind set was then turned after Paddy choked on a cashew nut in The Jockey and Frank acting out of morality (whilst very drunk, as per usual) performed the Heimlich manoeuvre, thus saving Paddy's life. Frank also saved Paddy's life again, stopping him from injecting himself with what would have been a lethal dose of heroin. Paddy now has some grudging respect for the Gallaghers.

Despite showing open contempt for higher education, Paddy has occasionally shown knowledge of certain literary subjects.

In Series 6, Paddy was briefly abducted by the mother of a teenager who died after using his drugs, who in revenge repeatedly injected Paddy with heroin, causing him to become addicted to the substance. His attempts to conceal his new habit and deal with its effect on his life were a recurring theme of Series 6, with him finally going cold turkey later in the series, during which he had visions of his father Padraig. In addition to the visions of his father, Paddy fantasizes about sleeping with Karen and Kelly, who are both his daughters-in-law.

In series 7, Paddy's marriage to Mimi is near-enough over, due to the fact that his affair with Maureen, results in the tragic circumstances of the series 6 finale, in which daughter Mandy died in an explosion. Separated, living in separate houses and each given the freedom to see other people, Paddy takes a night out with sons Shane, Micky and Jamie, as an opportunity to restart his love life with a meaningless one-night-stand with a female clubber. When he can't "pull", he returns home, alone and defeated, and is greeted by Kelly. After a short conversation, Paddy hands Kelly a wad of money, in exchange for sex. Kelly accepts this money, and they have sex in the living room, while Kelly's boyfriend and Paddy's son Shane looks all over the nightclub for him. Later on in the episode, an awkward Paddy and Kelly exchange moments, in which Paddy offers Shane and Kelly the master bedroom of the Maguire house, out of guilt. Some time later, Kelly rejected Shane's marriage proposal, as she could not marry him after lying to him. Shane insisted he would forgive her anything, no matter who she had slept with, but the guilty looks between Paddy and Kelly made him realise what had happened between them. Paddy was so ashamed of his actions that he was willing to inject himself with heroin at Shane's request, but Shane stopped him at the last minute. Paddy then attended Shane's and Kelly's wedding.

Paddy starts a relationship with a dance enthusiast named D'reen, and makes plan to emigrate to Cuba with her. When he realised that he couldn't leave his family and business, Paddy put a spotter on his plans, and shared one last dance with D'reen before she left.

Paddy begins applying heavy pressure on Jock, the owner of the boxing club, who had borrowed heavily from the Maguires. Meanwhile, he relentlessly belittles Micky when Micky wants to join the fire brigade. Micky's self-confidence falls through the floor and he berates Paddy for always putting him down. Paddy's belligerence towards Jock leads Jock to set himself and the club on fire. Micky risks his life to save Jock. When Jock is in hospital, Paddy reveals that he had been a young boxer at the club, he had real potential to use his skills to get a better life, but Jock essentially sold him to a crime family. Micky reveals to Paddy that he lied about passing his fire test. Paddy tells Micky it doesn't matter, Micky is still more of a man than he will ever be.

On 6 March 2010, It was announced that Sean Gilder had quit Shameless after five years with the show because of his apparent dislike of the actress who portrays Mimi. He departed Shameless at the end of Series 7, Episode 14.

Mimi gives birth to his 8th child (Jamie, Shane, Donny, Joey, Micky, and the late Fergal and Mandy) while he is away, at the end of series 7, Joe tells Karen that he, like Paddy, has family members in Ireland and it is heavily implied that has had Paddy Maguire killed, although Paddy's demise was not seen onscreen, which casts doubt on this. Joe's actual words were: "I don't think we'll be seeing Paddy again". While Joe sounded sure of himself, this by itself is not confirmation that Paddy has died.

[3]

[edit] Joe Pritchard

Joe Pritchard
Shameless character
Portrayed by Ben Batt
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2009–10
First appearance 3 February 2009
Last appearance 11 May 2010
Profile
Date of birth 11 May 1981(1981-05-11)
Date of death 11 May 2010 (aged 29)
Occupation Accountant/businessman

Joseph Pritchard (11 May 1981–11 May 2010) was first introduced as the boyfriend of Mandy. Joe works as an accountant, and captains a local amateur football team in Chatsworth. Joe briefly became friends with Mandy's older brother Jamie, and took advantage of his turbulent relationship with Jamie's wife, Karen, and had sex with her twice. Joe would use this incident to blackmail Karen, whom was the first to suspect that Mandy was being repeatedly assaulted by him. Eventually, Jamie found out about the bruises on Mandy's body, and confronted Joe at the Jockey, and beat him within an inch of his life. Sending Joe into a temporary coma. Mandy and Jamie's mother, Mimi, claimed to be responsible for attacking Joe, and was sentenced to two months imprisonment. Joe recovered, and after Mandy decided to give their relationship another chance, Joe was separately visited in hospital by Karen, Jamie, Paddy, Shane, Mickey, and Kelly. All of them threatened to kill Joe if he ever laid another hand on Mandy again. Joe was intimidated by their show of force.

It is shown in series 7 that Joe continues his secret relationship with Karen, and delivered her newborn son Connor Joseph Maguire whilst the rest of the family was absent. Joe distanced himself from Karen during and after her mental breakdown, but they continued to have feelings for each other. Joe also bought Yvonne's Kash and Carry store after learning that she borrowed money off Paddy, as she was already in enough debt. One of the reasons for Yvonne's quick departure with Stan was that Stan was beaten up by a masked assailant. They assume Paddy Maguire is involved, not knowing Joe himself had beaten Stan in his plans to help convince them to leave. Joe also took over looking after Chesney, not doing a great job, as Chesney was soon embroiled in a murder investigation. However, the drug-dealer who framed Carl Gallagher and Chesney, called Jimmy.D, in his desperation to prevent them from informing the police of the murder he committed, roams around Chatsworth with his associates, terrorising the neighbourhood, and stepping on the toes of the Maguire family in the process. Shane Maguire declares Jimmy a marked man. The next morning, Chesney is still hiding in the shop when Joe assures him that things are going to turn out okay. Then a flashback is shown that during Shane's interrogation of rival gang-members for Jimmy's whereabouts, Joe had attacked and presumably murdered Jimmy.

Joe's temper flares up as he drives Lillian, from his shop. He gets into an argument with Karen over their sex lives since their breakup, but when Karen tries to taunt him into another tryst, he refuses. He decides to go to anger management to rebuild his life. Karen continues to try to make him boil over, but finally she attends one of his meetings and is impressed by the effort he's making to move on.

When Joe is having a birthday party in The Jockey, he learns his father has died. In spite of Joe seeing his father as a selfish failure, his death is a system shock, and Joe begins trying to reclaim Karen and Connor, whom he continues to see as their son. Joe and Karen resume their affair, but Karen is afraid to tell Jamie the truth. After his father's funeral, Joe finally tells Jamie the entire truth. Joe and Karen hide out at his shop. Joe sees Jamie waiting outside, and expects a fight, only to be devastated when Jamie shows him his father's corpse, dug up and dumped outside Joe's shop. Joe buries his father again, and becomes more determined to take Connor from the Maguires. Joe later implies that he had Paddy Maguire killed after Karen expressed concerns over Paddy taking revenge on them. After running away with Karen with baby Connor, and Ian hiding in the boot unknowingly to Joe, Karen tells Joe that she doesn't love him. He goes into a rage, and strangles Karen while asking her to tell him that she loves him. She is struggling for breath, and Ian can hear the action outside. He jumps out of the boot and seemingly kills Joe by hitting him twice in the back of the head with a pipe wrench.

[edit] Yvonne Karib

Yvonne Karib
Shameless character
Portrayed by Kelli Hollis
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–10
First appearance 13 January 2004
Last appearance 2 February 2010
Profile
Date of birth 1 April 1965 (1965-04-01) (age 45)
Occupation Shopkeeper/businesswoman

Yvonne Karib (born 1 April 1965) was married to Kash Karib, with whom she has two children, Chesney and Meena. She owns and runs the local shop featured in the series, and previously employed Ian Gallagher, her husband's gay lover. At first she was angry to discover Kash was gay, but later accepted it to keep her marriage together for her children's sake. She is a hard-nosed businesswoman who is not averse to breaking the law to make a bit of extra profit.

Yvonne converted to Islam to marry Kash, and is far more devout than her now estranged husband. Although white, she always wears Asian dress and was originally never seen without a hijab, although she no longer wears one.

It is implied that Yvonne came from a racist family, due to her refusal to go home to them after being made homeless in the last episode of series 4. During this episode, Yvonne moved into the house between the Gallaghers and the Maguires after arranging to rent it from Fiona and Steve. Season 5 sees her begin a relationship with police officer Stan Waterman.

In series 7, Yvonne has borrowed money off Paddy Maguire due to massive debt and that the "banks wouldn't touch her". After Stan is assaulted, she accepts Joe Pritchard's offer to buy her out. She and Stan Waterman have now left Windsor Gardens.

[edit] PC Stan Waterman

Stan Waterman
Shameless character
Portrayed by Warren Donnelly
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–10
First appearance 17 February 2004
Last appearance 2 February 2010
Profile
Date of birth 1 June 1965 (1965-06-01) (age 45)
Occupation Police officer

Stanley Dennis "Stan" Waterman (born 1 June 1965) is one of the estate's community policing officers. He is generally friendly, and treated as one of the estate, and is usually willing to bend the rules to help out when the Gallaghers get in trouble. He worked with Tony in early series, though is later usually seen working with new recruits Carrie and Tom. In series 5 he begins a relationship with Yvonne. When he asks her to marry him, she reveals that she can't because her husband, Kash, is not actually dead.

In Series 7, Paddy demands repayment of a loan he gave to Yvonne. Stan is then severely beaten by an unknown assailant. Yvonne and Stan assume Paddy was behind the attack and move away, selling the shop to Joe Pritchard (who was actually the one who attacked Stan).

[edit] Debbie Gallagher

Debbie Gallagher
Shameless character
Portrayed by Rebecca Ryan
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–09
First appearance 13 January 2004
Last appearance 12 May 2009
Profile
Date of birth 27 January 1993 (1993-01-27) (age 17)
Home Afghanistan

Deborah "Debbie" Gallagher (born 27 January 1993) is the fifth Gallagher sibling. The daughter of Frank and Monica, her brothers are Phillip, Carl and Liam; her sisters are Fiona and Stella; her half-brothers are Ian and Nigel; and her half-sister is Delia. Although Debbie is only 16, she is old beyond her years and since Fiona went to Amsterdam, Debbie is often tasked with saving the family from ruin. Originally Debbie was a slightly unusual and awkward child, albeit highly intelligent and resourceful, but since Fiona's departure, Debbie quickly became head of the household and took care of duties such as cooking and taking Liam to school. As a consequence, Debbie missed out on socialising and has become mature beyond her years.

In series one, Debbie had once abducted a three year old boy, because she "wanted a girl, but none of the girls on the estate would take the chocolate". So she dressed him up in girls clothes. The child's disappearance compelled the majority of the estate to go up in arms in search for young "Jody". When Debbie finally admitted what she did to her family, a furious and bewildered Fiona, Steve, Lip, and Ian, formulated a plan to return the youngster back to his family without incriminating Debbie. After circulating false rumours of sightings around the Chatsworth Estate for much of the day, Debbie emerged as the hero of the hour when she returned the boy to his distressed family.

Debbie's closest familial relationship is with her father, Frank. Unlike Fiona, Lip, Ian and Carl, Debbie admires him and often shows her love for him, often seen to be the most affected when he is in danger or trouble. This often leaves her the most vulnerable to being let down by him, but Debbie's loyalty to her father is occasionally rewarded, and it is strongly suggested that Frank appreciates 'Little Debbie' more than anyone else in the world. Debbie also detests her mother more than the rest of the family, refusing to forgive her for abandoning them years ago or for her continued laziness and self-absorption. She did respond sympathetically when more details became clear regarding Monica's abusive childhood at her mother's hands. In contrast, Debbie was close to Frank's ex-wife Sheila.

Debbie's relationship with the rest of her family is generally good: She sees her siblings as her dependents and generally supports them through their various misadventures; and they generally recognise all she does for them. She's particularly protective of and very close to her younger brother Liam. Her relationship with him seems to border between surrogate-parent and partner-in-crime, as she has frequently enlisted Liam's help with some of her past schemes. She can also be seen to forge strong relationships with other characters, notably Marty Fisher and Mandy Maguire.

It is revealed in Series 5 that Debbie has been in a secret relationship with police officer Tom O'Leary, despite the fact that she is only 15 years old. Debbie and Tom break up at the beginning of series 6 during her 16th birthday party when she realises that Tom is too old for her and that he wants much more from the relationship. Tom begins to stalk her, although he tells workmate Carrie that Debbie has been stalking him.

Debbie is now seemingly in a relationship with a man called Mark, who she met on a night out with Maxine and when she got drunk, he took her back to his student residence to sleep, but nothing more. Debbie left the students room the next morning, thinking that she'd never see him again. However, at a funeral the family had been invited to, they met again, and she discovered it was his Grandmothers funeral.

At first, Debbie was a little objective to a relationship with him after he made comments about Frank (who had decided to go to the toilet behind a tree at the funeral and then punched Mark) however she told Maxine of her feelings for him. He later appeared outside Debbie's home and when she refused to see him, he sat on a chair in the middle of the road until she did. He later used the chair when a hired gunman was going to kill both Paddy and Mimi, but Mark knocked the hitman out with the chair.

After this, Debbie and Mark have sex in on the kitchen floor, reminiscent to the scene in the first episode where Steve and Fiona also have sex in the kitchen, in the same place as Debbie does. Debbie does not return in 2010 for series 7. We find out from Frank's grandmother, who comes to visit, that Debbie has joined the army. At seventeen, Debbie perhaps had no wish to allow her role as the driving force of the Gallagher household hold her back from her potential. Liam, whom was in effect her protege, has fulfilled her former obligations ever since.

In episode 11 of series 7, Debbie sends the family a letter telling them she's being sent to Afghanistan.

[edit] Norma Starkey

Norma Starkey
Shameless character
Portrayed by Dystin Johnson
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004, 2006, 2007–09
First appearance 17 February 2004
Last appearance 12 May 2009
Profile
Date of birth 18 July 1969 (1969-07-18) (age 41)
Occupation Lorry driver

Norma Starkey (born 18 July 1969) is a lorry driver, possibly from Newcastle upon Tyne, which although it was never explicitly stated onscreen, she does possess a strong North East accent. Norma was also previously Monica's lesbian lover, after her split from Frank. She followed Monica back to the Gallagher home in series 4, and lived in the Dormobile in the garden. Having initially been characterised as a strong-willed and capable woman, Norma is now increasingly portrayed as weak and helpless. In series 4, Norma revealed that before her relationship with Monica, she spent time in prison.

In series 6, Monica, feeling underappreciated, has fled the Gallagher household once more. Despite feeling abandoned by the only woman she loves, Norma has thus far elected to remain at the Gallagher house, having grown attached to most of the family. Norma has not appeared in series 7 and she has been put into past characters on the official shameless website. Presumably, she has either returned to Moston at her old address, or has moved in with Ruth, an old girlfriend of Norma's who was seen in series 6.

[edit] Mandy Maguire

Mandy Maguire
Shameless character
Portrayed by Samantha Siddall
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–09
First appearance 27 January 2004
Last appearance 12 May 2009
Profile
Date of birth 26 August 1988(1988-08-26)
Date of death 5 May 2009 (aged 20)

Amanda "Mandy" Maguire (26 August 1988–5 May 2009) was the only daughter of the Maguires, the Gallagher family's neighbours. She is the mother of Lip's daughter, Katie. Mandy is the daughter of Paddy and Mimi Maguire, the most feared of the local criminals. She is generally more law-abiding than the rest of her family, but is fiercely loyal to them and can often have a violent and abusive streak. Her brothers are Micky, Shane and Jamie, as well as the late Fergal and the little-seen Donny and Joey.

She develops a crush on Ian in series 1, but sends her brothers after him when he spurns her advances. She is the second person to find out about his homosexuality. She becomes a close friend to Ian and pretends to date him to keep leering boys away from her, leading to her relationship with Ian's brother Lip.

Mandy conceives Lip's baby, Katie and after a year or so under the care of the Maguires, takes her away and moves in with the Gallaghers. However her father Paddy continues to supply her with financial support. She begins an open, long-term relationship with Lip while he is away at university, but finishes with him in series 5 after Lip's secret university girlfriend shows her face.

In Series 6, Mandy has recently fallen for Joe Pritchard, an accountant and the captain of a local football team. Mandy's brother, Jamie, even struck up a friendship with Joe, until he discovered that Mandy had been physically abused by him, which led to Jamie savagely assaulting Joe, and sending him into a temporary coma. Despite suffering at Joe's hands, Mandy still retains feelings for him, and resented Jamie's intervention. Since Joe's recovery, Mandy has decided to give him another chance, much to the chagrin of the rest of the Maguires.

In the final episode of series 6, Mandy was kidnapped by Maureen, an emotionally unstable woman who lost her daughter to heroin and blames Paddy Maguire for her death. Mandy realised that Maureen was the person who kidnapped Paddy. As Maureen disappeared to put the kettle on, Mandy followed to see what she was doing, and to her horror, found a broken gas pipe which Maureen had sabotaged. Maureen then returned to the kitchen with matches. Mandy desperately began fighting to get the matches from Maureen just as Paddy and Micky turned up outside to save her, however they could not gain access into the house. Inside the house, Mandy had fought her way into the hallway and ran towards the door. Just as Micky pressed the doorbell, creating a spark, Maureen lit a match. The gas then ignited, causing the house to explode, killing both Maureen and Mandy and throwing Micky across the street. The episode then cut to Kelly, reading a book to little Katie whilst trying to hold back the tears. Meanwhile at the Jockey, Mandy's funeral reception was taking place. Micky, who survived the blast, admitted that he felt responsible for Mandy's death. It was mentioned that Paddy was going to return to Ireland with Mandy's ashes to scatter them, however Frank ended up spilling them across the Jockey.

[edit] Kash Karib

Kash Karib
Shameless character
Portrayed by Chris Bisson
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–07, 2009
First appearance 13 January 2004
Last appearance 21 April 2009
Profile
Date of birth 12 October 1966(1966-10-12)
Date of death 21 April 2009 (aged 42)
Occupation Shopkeeper

Kash Karib (12 October 1966–21 April 2009) was the husband of Yvonne Karib, with whom he has two children, Chesney and Meena. However, Kash is actually Bisexual and had an affair with his under age employee Ian Gallagher. Kash became a city councillor in Series 3, but after falling into financial difficulties and sex scandal he faked his own suicide and left town during Series 4, leaving Yvonne homeless and in huge debt. Kash returned in series 6, Kash is now assumed to be dead as nobody dragged him out of the fire (Chesney knocked him unconscious with a baseball bat and left him to die.)[4]

During Kash's brief return in Episode 14 of Series 6, Yvonne stated that Kash had been absent from Chatsworth, and presumed dead for the past three years, last seen in 2007.

[edit] Lip Gallagher

Lip Gallagher
Shameless character
Portrayed by Jody Latham
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–07, 2008
First appearance 13 January 2004
Last appearance 1 January 2008
Profile
Date of birth 1988
Home London
Occupation Architect

Phillip "Lip" Gallagher (born January, 1988) is the oldest son and second child of Frank and Monica Gallagher. His parents delayed his birth registration for over a year, but he never found out until his 18th (actually 19th) birthday in series 4. His nickname, according to his father, is due to him being "a bit of a gobshite." Lip was in a long-term, open relationship with Mandy Maguire and they have a baby daughter, Katie, conceived while they were both still in school.

During series 1 he was in a relationship with schoolmate Karen Jackson, who dumps him for his own father Frank, causing him to beat Frank to a pulp in the middle of the street in a rage. He is ballsy, charismatic and never afraid to stand up to anyone, including the feared Maguire family. Lip dates a string of girls throughout the show, even partaking in a romantic affair with Lena, a woman considerably older than him.

Lip is close to younger brother Ian and is the first person to find out about his homosexuality. He keeps it a secret and eventually becomes completely accepting of it.

He is highly intelligent, takes 10 A-levels, and takes up an offer from Nottingham University in the last episode of Series 4. In the first episode of series five he returns to the estate during a break to see Mandy and Katie and works at The Jockey with Ian. However, his secret girlfriend from university, Alex, emerges, costing his relationship with Mandy. It is confirmed in the next episode that he returned to university.

In the tenth episode of series 7, Mimi Maguire takes Katie to Brighton to visit Lip. It is revealed that he has finished university, acquired a new job in London where he is now working as an architect, and is engaged to be married. Mimi decides that it is best to leave Katie in the care of her father.

[edit] Fiona Gallagher

Fiona Gallagher
Shameless character
Portrayed by Anne-Marie Duff
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–05
First appearance 13 January 2004
Last appearance 8 March 2005
Profile
Date of birth 24 February 1983 (1983-02-24) (age 27)
Home Amsterdam

Fiona Gallagher (born 24 February 1983) is the eldest child of Frank and Monica Gallagher. She was the acting mother to her five siblings after her mother left due to Frank's lack of responsibility. She is also the best friend of Veronica Fisher. During the early episodes, Fiona had a part-time job as a teaching-assistant at a local nursery.

During her childhood, she used to be referred to by the other kids at school as "Pov Gallagher" due to her family's low-income and her parents' perpetual unemployment. Fiona also once claimed to be proud that she was the only girl in her year-group during high school to not fall pregnant before taking her GCSEs.

After her boyfriend Steve McBride got caught up in a botched drug-bust, he had to leave the Chatsworth Estate. Fiona was reluctant to leave with him, as she did not want to abandon her siblings and friends. During his absence, she briefly hooked up with Craig Garland, and became pregnant with his child. But she still retained feelings for Steve, and when he returned briefly, he told Fiona that her siblings were more than capable of looking after themselves without her, and that she deserved a better life outside of Chatsworth. With the support of her family and friends, Fiona left with Steve at the end of series 2 and now resides in Amsterdam.

[edit] Steve McBride

Steve McBride
Shameless character
Portrayed by James McAvoy
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–05
First appearance 13 January 2004
Last appearance 8 March 2005
Profile
Date of birth 1979
Home Amsterdam
Occupation Car thief

Steven "Steve" McBride (born 1979) is Fiona's boyfriend. He was first seen in a club, watching Fiona Gallagher dance with her friend Veronica Fisher. When a mugger stole Fiona's bag, Steve gave chase and attempted to catch him. Although he failed, Fiona still took him home. Once back at their house, he admitted (while undoing his trousers) that he had noticed her a month before, and that if she wanted him to stop, he would. She did not, and they went on to have sex. Steve later bought Fiona a washing machine to woo her, and they got together, after Steve revealed he stole cars for a living. When Fiona's father, Frank, hit his son Ian, Steve got him drunk and took him to Calais in France in the boot of his car. In the middle of the second series he was forced to flee the Chatsworth estate after he was involved in a murder at a drugs deal he was involved in. However, he later returned for Fiona in the emotional finale of series two. He now resides in Amsterdam with Fiona. He has a daughter named Kerry-Anne from a relationship in his youth.

Steve is from a family of doctors, referring to them as "the medical equivelant of a battery farm". Steve himself had also previously studied to become a doctor before leaving med school after two years.

Steve is often presented as the moral hero of the show. Although a car thief, he proudly claims to have not committed a single violent crime in his life. Similarly, he dislikes the way Frank treats his kids. After witnessing Frank headbutt Ian, Steve drugs him up and dumps him in a park in rural France to teach him a lesson.

[edit] Sheila Jackson

"Sheila Jackson" redirects here. For the American politician, see Sheila Jackson-Lee.
Sheila Jackson
Shameless character
Portrayed by Maggie O'Neill
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–07
First appearance 13 January 2004
Last appearance 16 January 2007
Profile
Date of birth 1962

Sheila Jackson (previously Sheila Gallagher; born 1962) is the thrice married second wife of Frank Gallagher. She is the mother of Karen Maguire, who she had with second husband, Eddie Jackson and twins Nigel and Delia Gallagher, who she had with Frank in 2005.

Sheila was first married to Sheldon. Sheila murdered Sheldon and buried him in her back garden after years of domestic abuse. Her second husband and father of Karen, Eddie, left her in series 1 after he caught his daughter performing oral sex on Ian and Lip Gallagher under the dining room table.

Sheila suffers from agoraphobia and is a fan of daytime television, especially Countdown, finding it unbelievable that someone doesn't know who Carol Vorderman or Richard Whiteley are. She named her twins after famous chefs, Delia Smith and Nigel Slater. Sheila left with the twins to go on a cruise after discovering Frank had not divorced his former wife Monica, who had suddenly reappeared with her lesbian girlfriend.

In the last episode of series 5, Frank goes into a coma and dreams of his unusual family, where Monica still has her physical body, but the mental state of Sheila, In which Frank refers to her as Sheila-Monica. This is shown in the way that she dressed and the sound of her voice while holding up a sign of Sheila's face. This may indicate that Frank still has feelings for Sheila, despite their previous marriage being illegal as Frank never got a divorce from Monica before they were to wed.

[edit] Kev Ball

Kev Ball
Shameless character
Portrayed by Dean Lennox Kelly
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–07
First appearance 13 January 2004
Last appearance 9 January 2007
Profile
Date of birth 31 January 1974 (1974-01-31) (age 36)
Home Prison
Occupation Barman

Kevin Alan "Kev" Ball (born 31 January 1974) worked in the local public house, The Jockey, and was the next door neighbour of the Gallagher family.

He is married to Veronica Fisher in every way apart from legally as he never actually got a divorce from his first wife, Roxy Ball. He is also the brother of Kelly-Marie Ball.

Kev is illiterate. And despite having lessons on and off over the years, has had limited success, until Veronica agreed to help him out once she learned that the instructor from his adult literacy class was sexually harassing him.

Kev has also taken boxing lessons from his late father during childhood.

Kev and Veronica appeared briefly in the first episode of the fourth series. They were shown being brought into a Romanian courthouse. They had been arrested after attempting to buy an orphan. This marked their final appearance in the series to date.

In keeping with the shows setting, Kev is a fan of Manchester City F.C..

[edit] Veronica Ball

Veronica Ball
Shameless character
Portrayed by Maxine Peake
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–07
First appearance 13 January 2004
Last appearance 9 January 2007
Profile
Date of birth 19 June 1974 (1974-06-19) (age 36)
Home Prison

Veronica Carol "Vee" Ball (née Fisher; born 19 June 1974) is Carol Fisher's daughter and Marty Fisher's older sister. She has four other brothers called Mitch, Phil, Leo and Barry. She is also Fiona's best friend. Veronica lived next door to the Gallaghers with husband Kev, although their marriage is not legal due to Kev still being married to his first wife, Roxy.

She stated that she and Kev thought they were rough, until the Gallaghers moved in next door which made the two feel like Charles and Camilla. Although, Veronica was on very friendly terms with Debbie, and often defended her in certain situations.

Veronica has a rather bitter relationship with most of her family, especially her mother Carol, who often behaves with a dismissive and ungrateful attitude toward her daughter.

Days before Frank and Sheila's wedding in series 3, Veronica learned that Sheila's first husband, Sheldon, was buried in the back garden with his gold jewellery. After learning that her and Kev's IVF had failed, she conspired with Frank to dig up the body to recover the valuables, only to discover that Sheldon had been stabbed. After the gold madallions were taken, Veronica was sorely disappointed to find out they were cheap fakes. Veronica discovers from Sheila that Sheldon used to beat and torment her by burning her with his madallions, until she snapped and stabbed him. Veronica and Kev then convince Frank not to allow Sheila to turn herself in to the police.

Veronica is currently in jail in Romania along with Kev for attempting to buy a baby abroad.

[edit] Marty Fisher

Marty Fisher
Shameless character
Portrayed by Jack Deam
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–07
First appearance 13 January 2004
Last appearance 9 January 2007
Profile
Date of birth 1978

Martin "Marty" Andrew Fisher (born 1978) is the son of Carol Fisher, and brother of Veronica. Marty has coprolalic Tourette's syndrome and is a pyromaniac. He was a guest character in the first series of Shameless, became a main character (along with his mother) in series two, and left along with Veronica and Kev in the first episode of season four. At the time of his departure from the series he was dating Sue Garland. He came back in series 4 with the stolen baby. Sue and Marty convinced Stan and the new PC to let them keep the baby.

Before meeting Sue Garland, Marty had a secret crush on Fiona Gallagher.

On occasion, symptoms of Marty's Tourette's have included mere confessions to matters that he would have otherwise lied about, one incident being where he assisted Ian and Carl in a late night burgalry of the home of teenagers whom robbed a house that Lip had been looking after. When asked by Ian if he had done this before, Marty nodded, but quickly blurted out "have I fuck" in a fit of Tourette's. Another occasion was when his mother, Carol, was on a cruise in the Bay of Biscay, and Marty was looking after her beloved dog Bepy. Marty's relationship with his mother's pet was adversarial to the point that he took him to the vet to have its vocal cords sliced. Later, when Kevin Ball noticed the dog's condition and confronted Marty saying "a dog can't lose its voice," Marty involuntarily cried out "it can if you pay enough."

[edit] Carol Fisher

Carol Fisher
Shameless character
Portrayed by Marjorie Yates
Created by Paul Abbott
Duration 2004–07
First appearance 27 January 2004
Last appearance 27 February 2007
Profile
Date of birth 1945

Carol Fisher (born 1945) is the mother of Marty and Veronica. She was a guest character in the first series of Shameless, but became a main character (along with her son) in series two. She is a pathological kleptomaniac and a bossy and demanding woman, fond of having affairs with much younger men. Carol is also best friends with nosy neighbour Lillian. In series 3 she found out that Lillian had an affair with her husband Malcolm in the 1960s.

Carol is very promiscuous for her age. In series 3, she embarked on a relationship with a man named Norman. She later found out that he was a nudist. Their relationship ended when he urinated on her during sex. Carol is also quite religious, although she somehow is able to balance it with her promiscuous nature.

Carol moved in with Kev and her daughter Veronica after Marty burned her house down when he left prison and found her with another man. She then moved in with the Gallaghers after Veronica kicked her and Marty out in order to foster a child. Carol then moved in to The Jockey. Absent from series 5, Karen revealed in Episode 1 that Carol had "fucked off to Magaluf with 2 months takings," from The Jockey, before flashing to a picture on the wall of Carol which read 'Employee of the month.'

[edit] Recurring characters

[edit] Other characters

Character Actor
Norman Owens Paul Copley
Roxy Ball Jill Halfpenny
Nick Anastasiou Andrew Sheridan
Gaynor Pierce Denise Kennedy
Shirley Lawson Katy Cavanagh
Troy Lawson Graeme Hawley
Emily Lawson Emily Fleeshman
Janie Rattigan Katie Wimpenny
Zoe Wyatt Christine Bottomley
Jack Wyatt Bryan Dick
Wendy Wagstaff Yasmin Bamford
PC Danny Lowe Danny Cunningham
Lena Marshall Brana Bajic
Bernie Creme Robert Pugh
Katrina Webb Tara Moran
Joey Dawson Ryan Pope
Maureen Hale Daryl Fishwick
Cassie Western Moya Brady
Lucy Connor Maisie-Jo Stahl
Ollie Bibby Gary Cargill
Eric Tatchell Oliver Hudson
Marissa Platting Karen Henthorn
Neville Gallagher John Woodvine
Billy Wilson Clive Russell
Eddie Jackson Steve Pemberton
Jimmy Clifton Danny Martelli
Umi Karib Shireen Shah
Noel Maguire Sean Gilder

(Credited as the anagram: Neil Grades)|
Hazel Niky Wardley

[edit] References

Text document with red question mark.svg
 This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (August 2009)
  1. ^ http://www.lastbroadcast.co.uk/tv/previews/v/10241-shameless-recommissioned-for-series-8-in-2011.html
  2. ^ Paul English. Sex scenes on Shameless make me squirm, says star Gerard Kearns. Daily Record. 27 January 2009.
  3. ^ Lynn Swift. Shameless actor Sean Gilder quits the drama. ATV Today. 6 March 2010.
  4. ^ http://www.channel4.com/programmes/shameless/articles/shameless-where-are-they-now
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