Shameless Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Shameless Wiki

This page is about the original UK version of Carl Gallagher. For the US incarnation, see Carl Gallagher (US).

Carl Francis Gallagher (born September 1990) is the fourth oldest Gallagher sibling. The son of Frank and Monica, Carl initially played only a minor role in the show, likely due to his age, but since Series 2 has been featured just as much as the other Gallagher children. Carl left Chatsworth early in Series 9 to move in with his girlfriend, Clem but he returned to the estate in Series 11.

Throughout the Series[]

Early Series[]

In Series 3, Carl briefly worked for the Maguires by growing marijuana for them in the house's loft, until the police found out about the production. Carl was 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 drugs, her mother Mimi suspected that Carl had betrayed them after his arrest 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.

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

He gets 2 C's and 4 D's for his GCSE's, which he is bitterly disappointed by despite his family halfheartedly trying to persuade him otherwise. He recognises the people around him on the estate as losers and nobodies and desires to set himself apart.

In Series 6, Carl realised 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 has made several unsuccessful passes at Carl, one of which Carl purposely tempted Micky into so he could confirm his suspicions that Micky was gay. In Series 8, Carl is seductively washing a car to gain the attention of Sita Desai, but unbeknown to him, Micky is watching from over a fence and masturbates believing Carl's show to be for him.

In Series 7 in the ending clip, Mimi is showed to give him a hand job just like she did with Billy, after she found out about his age.

Relationship with Maxine[]

Through Series 6 and up to early Series 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 after 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 brutally beating him. He smashes the engagement ring to pieces and cuts all ties with both Maxine and Ian.

Series 7[]

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 Karib 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 thug, 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 Chesney 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 persuade him and Chesney to return home. They hide in Chesney's shop but when Jimmy once again threatens Carl's family, Carl attacks him. Carl 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 Chesney, and the Maguires convince Jimmy's gang to leave the Gallaghers and Chesney alone.

Carl and Ian were, however, still on bad terms as Ian's 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 drove Maxine away by accusing her of still wanting to be with Carl. Carl visited Maxine at her hospital job and told her he knew she was right to have the abortion. He convinced her to give Ian another chance, as he says that he can be her mate, but Ian is her soul mate. Ian and Maxine reconciled their differences, and so did Carl and Ian. Though Maxine and Ian's relationship still broke down later on, Carl and his brother stayed close.

Series 8[]

In Series 8, Carl turned 21 and began working for the Maguires again as a drug dealer and various other small roles. His first job was on his birthday, and he was required to drop payment off to a client. Things went wrong however when Kelly took some of the money, seeing it as what she and Shane were owed, resulting in the client seeing Carl as a thief. Carl protested his innocence but almost had a finger cut off before fleeing, Jamie eventually picked Carl up, blindfolded him and began to drive him somewhere. Carl broke down out of fear, thinking Jamie was convinced he had taken the money and was going to kill him. Jamie actually drove Carl to a surprise a birthday party in the middle of the estate. Carl was overcome and clung to Karen out of relief while Jamie explained Carl could work the missing money off, unaware that Jamie had found out that Kelly had taken it.

During the course of Series 8 when both his younger brother Liam and would-be step-mum Libby leave the Chatsworth Estate, Carl is forced to show some maturity for the first time in his life and act as the head of the remaining Gallagher household, which by then consisted of himself, his ever-hapless father Frank, three year old sister Stella, and lodgers Patty and Aidan Croker.

Relationship with Sita[]

Also in Series 8, Carl began pursuing a relationship with Chesney's newly arrived cousin, medical student Sita Desai. Although she brushed off his advances at first, something soon built between them. Carl hurt his hand but exaggerated the injury so that Sita would accompany him on the drive for a delivery of a car for the Maguires. Carl had forgotten the address so they used the Satellite Navigation System and followed the direction marked "home" only to realise the car was stolen and they had just driven it back to its real owners. Pretending to be Police, they asked the owner for ID and as he went to get some, they sped away. The real Police soon found the pair and began chasing them, thinking quickly Carl told Sita to slam on the brakes before they jumped out and ran into a nearby shopping mall. They threw off their jackets to hinder identification and hid in an empty room, the adrenaline of their escape sparked them to have sex right there on the floor. They continued to have regular sex afterwards, but when Carl asked Sita to marry him right in the middle of intercourse, she ran away. She later lied and told him that she was going to Pakistan soon for an arranged marriage and though Carl offered to convert to her religion and give up all activities forbidden by its creed she refused. Carl asked Chesney for help and when he found out his cousin was lying, he told her that if she goes through with her lie not to bother coming back to the estate. Sita left for Pakistan soon after and hasn't returned since.

Police Work[]

In the last episode of Series 8 Carl began to worry that he was just another Chatsworth waster. First he witnessed a mugging and stood by as a police officer who had gone to school with his brother Lip made chase. He then came across the same police officer pleading for help as the mugger he had chased was impaled on a metal fence and he was struggling to support his weight as he phoned an Ambulance. Carl again stood by and did nothing but the events began to make him worry about the state of his life. The police officer later visited him in The Jockey and asked if Carl would give evidence at trial, as the officer was being accused of causing the mugger to get hurt. The entire Jockey watched the two suspiciously and Carl refused to give evidence out of fear for his reputation on the estate.

Frank warned his son to be careful not to let himself think he was better than everyone and that Gallaghers thrived in the Darwinian atmosphere of the estate. The other residents also joked about Carl's involvement with the police but he soon came to a decision. He began to refuse jobs offered by Jamie Maguire and spend all his time getting into shape instead. He later took applied to join the Police Force, keeping it a secret from everyone he knew and eventually received a letter informing him he had been accepted. He happily left the letter in his bedroom, where it was read by Aidan Croker who was pleased by Carl's initiative. Carl continued to keep it a secret but when he was asked to be Billy Tutton's best man in his wedding to Mimi Maguire he accepted and made a speech on how despite public opinion the couple went through with their plans and how they had inspired him.

Carl finished his Police training and attended his graduation but his father's feelings for the work soon had him doubting whether he should pursue the career. However Karen and Jamie soon came to the rescue. Karen spoke to Carl and convinced him that he needed to make his own decisions, regardless of Frank's feelings while Jamie forged a plan to repair the relationship. Jamie tricked Carl into The Jockey cellar where Frank had already been imprisoned and locked the two together on the condition they would not leave until they had resolved their issues.

It took time but father and son soon spoke their feelings and though Frank was not very enthusiastic about his son's chosen career, he came to accept it. Carl showed just how much his father's feelings on his path had bothered him by being very pleased to repair the rift it had caused in their relationship.

Relationship with Clem[]

Early in Series 9 Carl met the beautiful Clem at a club, Carl quickly began flirting with her until she invited him to join her while she went to her job at a nursing home. Carl happily accepted but was shocked when he realized she was in a wheel chair, the fact not being obvious before as she was sat behind a table. In a panic, he fled and ended up having a one night stand with a girl he had spent the night insulting.

The next day he realized his true feelings and set out to Clem's job to try and apologise. She eventually accepted but wasn't willing to give him another chance until he won her over by spending the day outside her workplace dressed as a dog. The relationship progressed quickly but one person was less than happy about the arrangement: Chesney.

Chesney thought Clem was not good enough for his best friend and made his feelings known until Clem took the initiative and decided they would spend the day together. Despite his earlier feelings, Clem was able to win Chesney over and he even seemed to be attracted to her himself eventually.

Carl soon announced that he was moving in with Clem and the couple left the Chatsworth to set up home together.

Return[]

Elliot Tittensor posted a comment on his Twitter, on the 8/1/13, saying that he may be returning to Chatsworth as Carl Gallagher for the final series. An article on Digital Spy confirms his return, along with his brother Lip Gallagher, sister Fiona Gallagher, mother Monica Gallagher, previous neighbour Kevin Ball, and previous employer Yvonne Karib.

Carl returns in Episode 1114, along with older brother Lip, after being contacted about their "dead brother". They initially fear that Ian or Liam had died, but it turned out that Monica aborted one of two twins she was carrying, giving birth to their new brother, Ben, several months later. After the 'funeral' for the aborted embryo, which was held and organized by Monica, Fiona gave money to Lip, so to distract Monica and Frank at the Jockey so she could remove young Stella and Ben from the Gallagher home before taking into her care. But when Lip admitted as much to Carl, Carl angrily went out to tell Frank and Monica, but got into a scuffle with Lip. Later, both brothers would organise a search for Stella and Ben, when Kev Ball, whom agreed to watch the kids after Fiona took them to his house, claimed that Stella had left with Ben in her arms.

Carl and Lip return to the Gallagher House, where they see Stella has returned along with Ben after they were located by Frank. He watches as Fiona argues about leaving the children with their parents, before watching Lip stand up for them by naming how well the older Gallaghers turned out. Carl watches as Fiona tries to pay Frank to leave, though notices him hesitate and is proud as this shows his father can't live without his family. After Frank takes the money, he treats them to drinks and they celebrate the event.

Notes[]

  • Carl would have been about twenty-three years old as of Series 11.
  • Carl's exit during Series 9 was announced in an interview with "OK! Magazine" at the time Series 8 was airing [1].
  • In the first series, Carl was jointly played by Tittensor's twin brother Luke Tittensor, but since the second series Elliot has played the role alone
  • It is mentioned in season 7 ep.7 that he has epilepsy and that even though he has never been shown to have a seizure it was mentioned the first time when he tried to join the military but couldn’t due to his epilepsy

Picture Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Interview: Elliott Tittensor and Sally Carmen OK! Magazine. September 20, 2011.
Advertisement