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Karl Munro

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Karl Munro
Coronation Street character
Portrayed byJohn Michie
Duration2011–13
First appearance17 June 2011
Last appearanceSeptember 2013
ClassificationPresent; regular (departing)
Introduced byPhil Collinson
In-universe information
OccupationBarman (2011–12,2013-)
Taxi driver (2011–12, 2013)
Factory packer and delivery driver (2012)
Labourer (2013)

Karl Munro is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by John Michie. Michie's casting was announced in April 2011. He signed an initial one-year contract and began filming his scenes in May. Upon joining the cast, Michie was told that producers would initially "bed [him] in", before increasing his involvement in the show in 2012. Michie is from Scotland, but because Coronation Street is set in Manchester, he uses a Mancunian accent for the role. Karl was introduced along with his girlfriend, Stella Price (Michelle Collins) and her daughter, Eva (Catherine Tyldesley). Karl made his first appearance in the episode broadcast on 17 June 2011.

Karl is described as a "ne'er-do-well". He could have had a career as a professional footballer, but Michie opined that Karl is too keen on "the wine, women and song". He "clings" onto Stella because she is "very reliable and very organised". Karl previously worked part-time in Stella's public house in Rochdale and played for the pub's football team; he later began a relationship with Stella in May 2006. Karl does not have a good relationship with Eva as they are alike and Michie said that she "kind of ruins everything for Karl". The actor told Digital Spy that "Eva is selfish, spoiled and she wants her own way" and Karl is the same. He has also been described as "tense but charming" and a "northern lad". In November 2011, it was revealed that Karl would become a gambling addict and subsequently begin an affair with Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati) as he "sets off on a dark journey". In 2013, Karl set the Rovers Return on fire, in order to split Stella and Jason Grimshaw up. This left Stella and Sunita fighting for their lives. On 30 April 2013 it was announced that Karl will leave the show in late 2013, after signing a 6 month contact so they can write a ending to his story.

Storylines

Karl arrives in Weatherfield after his girlfriend, Stella Price (Michelle Collins), finds employment at the Rovers Return Inn public house, owned by Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson). Karl moves into the pub with Stella and her daughter, Eva (Catherine Tyldesley).[3] Karl begins driving for a local taxi firm. Karl discovers that Stella has been run over by Frank Foster (Andrew Lancel).[4] Stella is placed on life support and Karl is told that she will need emergency surgery due to internal bleeding.[4][5] Frank apologises and Karl accuses him of blaming Stella for the incident.[6] In retaliation, Karl attempts to attack Frank, but is restrained.[6] Stella later regains consciousness. Karl becomes convinced that Stella is having an affair with his employer, Lloyd Mullaney (Craig Charles) and confronts them.[7] Lloyd confesses to drunkenly kissing Stella, but explains that it was not reciprocated.[7] Steve announces that he is selling the pub and offers Karl and Stella first refusal to buy it.[8] Stella inherits some money from an aunt and puts it towards a deposit for the pub.[9] Karl steals the money and gambles it at a casino.[10] He wins a large amount of money and tells Stella that it is for the deposit on the pub.[10] Karl and Stella later purchase the pub.[11]

Karl begins visiting the casino more frequently and Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati) realises that Karl has developed a gambling addiction. The two later begin an affair and Sunita holds some of Karl's money for him after he wins big at the casino. However, her children discover the money and after refusing to tell her husband Dev (Jimmi Harkishin); the couple split and Sunita moves into the pub with Karl, Stella, Leanne (Jane Danson), and Eva. Karl becomes increasingly anxious that Sunita will expose their affair after Eva becomes suspicious and later tells Sunita that he loves Stella and ends their affair; with Sunita agreeing to marry Dev in order to spite Karl. However, in July 2012 the couple briefly reconcile after Sunita becomes increasingly unhappy with her impending wedding. Karl and Sunita are eventually caught, orchestrated by Sunita, in the act in the pub when Stella, Leanne and Eva arrive back from a night out. A heartbroken Stella kicks Karl out and he ends up staying at Sunita's. Dev is willing to give Sunita another chance in their relationship but she chooses Karl over him. Sunita lets him meet her son Aadi Alahan (Zennon Ditchett) and daughter Asha Alahan (Tonisha Gorey) who are twins and he promises them he won't get in the way of seeing their father. Later on Dev confronts Sunita and Karl when he gets jealous of seeing them together with the twins and attacks Karl with the twins looking on. Karl becomes enemies with a member of staff at Street Cars, Lloyd Mullaney (Craig Charles), after Lloyd fires Karl from his job there. They begin to hate one another, but, Karl eventually warns Lloyd that one day he will pay him back dearly.

Karl begs Loyd and Steve for his job back and they agree. After Stella persuades Sunita to make Karl move out of her place, Karl is forced to get a bedsit. On March 1st 2013, Karl, who still has feelings for Stella tries to make a pass at her but comes on too strong, causing Stella to throw him out. Karl tries to apologise and even sends flowers but Stella ignores him so the following evening, he locks Stella in his cab and drives off to a remote location to talk to her. Stella persuades him to leave her alone which he does but he can't resist following Jason, torching his van and framing him for it. Jason retaliates by damaging Karl's car but Karl chooses not to press charges. On March 18th, without knowing that Stella was upstairs he tries to frame Jason (Ryan Thomas) by torching the Rovers. He later discovers that Stella is inside the building and goes in to save her but as he gets to her the stairs collapse trapping them. But luckily Paul Kershaw (Tony Hirst) arrives and helps get Stella out whilst Paul's friend and fellow firefighter Toni Griffiths (Tara Moran) goes in to get Karl and manages to get him out before the roof caves in. Toni is killed, and Sunita's life is left hanging in the balance. To thank Karl for saving her life, she lets him stay with her, where they share a passionate kiss, which leads to her breaking up with Jason.

When Dev joyfully tells Stella and Karl that Sunita is showing some signs of regaining consciousness. Stella congratulates Dev, while Karl is silently consumed with panic. Later Karl goes to the hospital and goes to Sunita who is starting to wake up and removes her oxygen tube and flees seconds before the nurses arrive and she is pronounced dead moments later. At Sunita's funeral, Karl is consumed with guilt. He breaks down and admits to Stella that he killed Sunita but Stella doesn't believe him. Stella and Karl reunite much to the anger of Leanne who doesn't trust him because she witnessed him shouting at Simon who was badmouthing Sunita to the twins. In June Dev starts to work out that Sunita was framed for the Rovers fire and that the real arsonist must have stolen Sunita's keys and planed the pub keys on her instead. Karl comes very close to hitting Dev with Aadi's golf trophy but manages to persuade Dev to drop his investigation into the fire. Guilty Karl is very shaken by what he nearly did and when Gloria assumes he is having flashbacks to the fire, goes along with it.

Casting

The character of Karl and Michie's casting in the role were announced on 15 April 2011, along with Karl's girlfriend, Stella Price (Michelle Collins).[12] Michie said of his casting: "My mum is from Rochdale, my wife is from Grimethorpe - they are both northerners and huge fans. I am from even further north so [Coronation Street] is the only soap for me."[12] Coronation Street executive producer Kieran Roberts said, "I'm thrilled to be welcoming John and Michelle to the cast of Coronation Street. As Robbie Ross in Taggart, John has kept viewers on the edge of their seats for the last ten years. Karl is a very different character for him, though, and the ladies of Weatherfield need to watch themselves as this sexy charmer will quickly make his presence felt. Michelle's acting credentials are first class with more than a decade leading some brilliant and memorable drama series. Of course Michelle's soap credentials are superb and in the same way she made Cindy Beale one of EastEnders' most memorable bitches, I am certain she is going to be fantastic as the warm, funny, steely, flawed and larger-than-life northern matriarch Stella.[12] It was announced on 4 May 2011 that Catherine Tyldesley had been cast as Stella's daughter, Eva, completing the new family.[13] Michie signed an initial one-year contract[14] and began filming his scenes in May.[12] Upon joining the cast, Michie was told that producers would initially "bed [him] in", before increasing his involvement in the show in 2012.[15] Michie made his first on-screen appearance as Karl in the episode broadcast on 17 June 2011.[3]

Character development

Characterisation

"He is also very smart, though, and is an ex-footballer who could have done well but didn't and got involved in the clubbing scene in Manchester. He feels frustrated because he feels he has failed in what he could have done very well at."[14]

—Michie on Karl (2011)

Karl is described as a "ne'er-do-well".[16] Michie told Digital Spy that Karl could have had a career as a professional footballer, but opined that he is too keen on "the wine, women and song".[16] Karl "clings" onto Stella because she is "very reliable and very organised".[16] Stella had a cancer scare and Michie explained that this made Karl "think like a man for the first time in his life".[16] He said "It's made him be responsible and it's made him fall in love with a woman for the first time, rather than just having brief affairs."[16] Karl is attracted to Stella "quite a lot" and Michie opined that Karl does love her.[16] Karl previously worked part-time in Stella's public house in Rochdale and played for the pub's football team.[16] Karl does not have a good relationship with Eva and Michie said that she "kind of ruins everything for Karl".[16] The actor opined that Karl and Eva dislike one another because Karl can see his traits in her.[16] Michie told Digital Spy that "Eva is selfish, spoiled and she wants her own way" and Karl is the same.[16] The Daily Record called Karl "tense but charming".[14] Michie told the newspaper that it is "really nice to get into a new character" and Karl is a "really fascinating guy".[14] Karl has a "real suppression of aggression deep down inside" after failing to become a footballer.[14] The Scottish Sun described Karl as a "northern lad".[17] Michie is from Scotland, but because Coronation Street is set in Manchester, he uses a Mancunian accent for the role.[14] To prepare for the role, Michie visited bars in Manchester to pick up the dialect.[14]

Gambling addiction and affair with Sunita Alahan

In November 2011, Michie revealed that Karl would become a gambling addict in an upcoming storyline.[18][15] The actor told the Daily Record that Karl would be gambling for "a while" and descend into debt after "a few big losses".[15] He told the newspaper "You know what gamblers are like, he has to lie, drinks a little bit more than he should and it is going to cause tension in his relationships."[15] Michie also said that Karl's storyline would help viewers "get inside his mind a bit".[15] Munro researched gambling addictions with help from Coronation Street and support from Gamblers Anonymous. Collins responded positively to the storyline as she felt gambling addiction is a "big problem".[11] She opined that people would relate to Karl's addiction and how Stella copes with it.[11] Coronation Street producer, Phil Collinson, revealed that Karl and Stella's relationship would face problems because of this.[19] Collinson teased that Karl may turn to someone else as he "sets off on a dark journey".[19] Remarking on tensions that arise between Karl and Stella, Michie states that "she doesn't know that Karl has a problem, so she can't understand why Karl is behaving the way he is."[20]

In January 2012, it was revealed that Karl would begin an affair with Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati).[21][22] Of the affair, Collinson told the Daily Star: "There [have] been suggestions about Karl's wandering eye but we're going to see it for ourselves. Sunita is not someone you would expect, which makes it even more brilliant."[21] Michie had previously revealed his hopes that Karl would feature in an infidelity storyline, saying "I think [his dream storyline] would involve having an affair with someone behind Stella's back, so there would be a lot of dramatic tension, which is what you want in a drama."[23] Discussing Karl's attraction to Sunita, Michie calls his character a "serial flirt" but notes that with Sunita "there's also a shyness about her that he's quite attracted to." Karl is partly attracted to Sunita because of the differences in their characters and finds her "sexy in a demure way."[20] Golati conjectures that Sunita is attracted to Karl because "he's naughty" and "he's cute, and above all, he's noticed her". She feels the attraction between the pair is able to develop because Sunita's husband Dev "has taken his eye off the ball".[24] Michie remarked that Karl's developing friendship with Sunita brought out his "kind" and "caring" side. He is shocked at the fact Sunita's husband refuses to collect her from the police station after Sunita makes an exhibition of herself whilst drunk. At this point, he states that Karl "is just genuinely helping out - he's not chasing her."[20]

Reception

In June 2011, Karl came second in an Inside Soap poll to find out which member of the new family readers were most looking forward to seeing on-screen. He received 17% of the vote.[25] The character of Karl arrived on-screen on 17 June 2011, drawing 7.94 million viewers and 37.6% of the total TV viewing audience.[26] In November 2011 Steve Hendry of the Daily Record noted that Michie "hit it lucky in review terms – in comparison to screen wife, Stella" as he escaped the "fierce criticism" she received regarding her Mancunian accent.[18] In regards to the affair storyline between Karl and Sunita, Jaci Stephen of the Daily Mail wrote "it's hard to imagine Karl summoning up the energy for breath, let alone adultery" but conceded that Sunita "proves hard to resist".[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Karl Munro". itv.com. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  2. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (17 April 2012). "Sally faces a massive decision". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  3. ^ a b Kilkelly, Daniel (17 June 2011). "Stella moves into The Rovers". Digital Spy. (Hachette Filipacchi UK). Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  4. ^ a b Kilkelly, Daniel (5 September 2011). "Stella could die as Frank takes the blame". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  5. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (7 September 2011). "Karl lashes out as Stella's life hangs in the balance". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  6. ^ a b Kilkelly, Daniel (7 September 2011). "POTD: 'Coronation Street' Karl lashes out at Frank". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  7. ^ a b Kilkelly, Daniel (12 December 2011). "POTD: 'Coronation Street's Karl angrily confronts Lloyd". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  8. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (7 December 2011). "'Coronation Street's Steve 'sparks Rovers Return fears'". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  9. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (29 December 2011). "Sophie and Sian's wedding day arrives". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  10. ^ a b Kilkelly, Daniel (30 December 2011). "Sian faces a massive decision". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  11. ^ a b c Kilkelly, Daniel (23 January 2012). "Becky gatecrashes Steve's wedding". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 26 January 2012. Cite error: The named reference "rovers" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b c d Kilkelly, Daniel (15 April 2011). "Michelle Collins joins 'Coronation Street'". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  13. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (4 May 2011). "'Coronation Street' casts Stella's daughter". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Mciver, Brian (7 June 2011). "I could murder a pint: Former Taggart cop John Michie joins Coronation Street as Rovers Return barman". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  15. ^ a b c d e Millar, Paul (20 November 2011). "'Coronation Street' John Michie reveals gambling storyline". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kilkelly, Daniel (7 June 2011). "Michelle Collins, John Michie (Stella and Karl, Corrie)". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  17. ^ Georgina Reid and Thomas Smith (16 April 2011). "I only agreed to role at The Rovers if they'd let me Return to Taggart... even if it's to kill me off". The Scottish Sun. News International. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  18. ^ a b Hendry, Steve (20 November 2011). "Scots star John Michie thriving after gambling on switch from Taggart to Coronation Street". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  19. ^ a b Kilkelly, Daniel (22 November 2011). "'Coronation Street' producer teases heartbreak plots". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  20. ^ a b c Kilkelly, Daniel (19 March 2012). "'Coronation Street' John Michie interview: 'Sunita intrigues Karl'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  21. ^ a b Peter Dyke and Katie Begley (19 January 2012). "Coronation Street: Boss Karl Munro's secret sex with Sunita Alahan". Daily Star. Northern and Shell. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  22. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (19 January 2012). "'Coronation Street' affair plot revealed". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  23. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (8 June 2011). "Corrie newcomer hopes for affair storyline". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  24. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (5 April 2012). "'Coronation Street' Shobna Gulati talks Sunita, Karl spark - interview". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  25. ^ Ellis, Sarah (25 June – 1 July 2011). "Your verdict". Inside Soap (25). Hachette Filipacchi UK: 97. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)CS1 maint: date format (link)
  26. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (18 June 2011). "Stella's Rovers debut nabs 8m on 'Corrie'". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  27. ^ Stephen, Jaci (27 April 2012). "Soap watch: The ultimate insight into the week's soaps". Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 5 May 2012.

External links

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