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 Price (Catherine Tyldesley). Karl made his first appearance in the episode broadcast on 17 June 2011. On 30 April 2013, it was announced that Michie would be leaving Coronation Street. Karl departed during the episode broadcast on 13 September 2013.
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 Inn on fire, which led to the deaths of Sunita and local firefighter Toni Griffiths (Tara Moran). He then married Stella and took her hostage in the pub before he was arrested for arson and murder.
Creation 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). 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." 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." It was announced on 4 May 2011 that Catherine Tyldesley had been cast as Stella's daughter, Eva, completing the new family. Michie 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 made his first on-screen appearance as Karl in the episode broadcast on 17 June 2011.
Characterisation
Karl is described as a "ne'er-do-well". 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". Karl "clings" onto Stella because she is "very reliable and very organised". Stella had a cancer scare and Michie explained that this made Karl "think like a man for the first time in his life". 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." Karl is attracted to Stella "quite a lot" and Michie opined that Karl does love her. Karl previously worked part-time in Stella's public house in Rochdale and played for the pub's football team. Karl does not have a good relationship with Eva and Michie said that she "kind of ruins everything for Karl". The actor opined that Karl and Eva dislike one another because Karl can see his traits in her. Michie told Digital Spy that "Eva is selfish, spoiled and she wants her own way" and Karl is the same. The Daily Record called Karl "tense but charming". Michie told the newspaper that it is "really nice to get into a new character" and Karl is a "really fascinating guy". Karl has a "real suppression of aggression deep down inside" after failing to become a footballer. Michie is from Scotland, but because Coronation Street is set in Manchester, he uses a Mancunian accent for the role. To prepare for the role, Michie visited bars in Manchester to pick up the dialect.
Development Gambling addiction and affair with Sunita Alahan
In November 2011, Michie revealed that Karl would become a gambling addict in an upcoming storyline. The actor told the Daily Record that Karl would be gambling for "a while" and descend into debt after "a few big losses". 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." Michie also said that Karl's storyline would help viewers "get inside his mind a bit". 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". She opined that people would relate to Karl's addiction and how Stella copes with it. Coronation Street producer, Phil Collinson, revealed that Karl and Stella's relationship would face problems because of this. Collinson teased that Karl may turn to someone else as he "sets off on a dark journey". 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."
In January 2012, it was revealed that Karl would begin an affair with Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati). 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." 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." 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". 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."
Storylines Karl arrives in Weatherfield in a removal van the day after his girlfriend, Stella Price (Michelle Collins), gets a job as bar manager at The Rovers Return Inn public house. Karl moves into the pub with Stella and her daughter, Eva (Catherine Tyldesley). Karl gets a job as a driver for local taxi firm "Streetcars". In September, Karl is devastated when Stella is run over by Frank Foster's (Andrew Lancel) car. Stella is placed on life support and Karl is told that she will need emergency surgery due to internal bleeding. Frank apologises and Karl accuses him of blaming Stella for causing the accident. Karl tries to attack Frank, but is restrained by Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne). Stella later regains consciousness and recovers. Karl becomes convinced that Stella is having an affair with his employer, Lloyd Mullaney (Craig Charles) and confronts them in the pub. Lloyd confesses to drunkenly kissing Stella, but explains that it was not reciprocated. Karl angrily bars Lloyd from the pub and tells him to stay away from him and Stella. Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) announces that he is selling the pub and offers Karl and Stella first refusal to buy it. Stella inherits some money from her aunt and puts it towards a deposit. Karl steals the money and gambles it at a casino. He wins a large amount of money and tells Stella that it is for the deposit. Karl and Stella later purchase the pub on the day of Steve's wedding to Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford).
Karl begins visiting the casino more frequently and barmaid Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati) realises that Karl has developed a gambling addiction. When Karl picks Sunita up from the police station after she has been arrested for being drunk and disorderly, she and Karl kiss. Karl later stages a break in at the pub in order to pay off his debts and when Stella finds out, she throws Karl out and Sunita lets him stay with her whilst her partner Dev (Jimmi Harkishin) is away. They embark on an affair. Sunita holds some of Karl's money for him after he wins big at the casino, wanting to try to help him beat his addiction. Stella forgives Karl and he returns to the pub. However, Sunita's children Aadi (Zennon Ditchett) and Asha (Tanisha Gorey) discover the money and after refusing to tell Dev where she got the money from; the couple separate and Sunita moves into the pub with Karl, Stella, Eva and Stella's oldest daughter, Leanne Barlow (Jane Danson). 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 relationship. Sunita agrees 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 caught in the act in the pub when Stella, Leanne and Eva arrive back from a night out, in a honey-trap orchestrated by Sunita, after she deletes a text message from Stella on Karl's phone telling him they were returning. A heartbroken Stella throws Karl out and he ends up staying at Sunita's. Dev is willing to give Sunita another chance but she chooses Karl over him. Sunita formally introduces Karl to her children and he promises them he won't get in the way of them seeing their father. Later on Dev confronts Sunita and Karl when he gets jealous of seeing them together with the twins and attacks Karl in front of the twins, aggressively pushing him onto the sofa. Stella then demands that Karl sign his share of the pub over to her. He is reluctant at first but when Stella threatens to tell the police about the staged break-in, he gives in and does what she asks.