Carla Connor (née Donovan[1]; previously Gordon) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, a long-running serial drama about working class life in the fictional town of Weatherfield. She is portrayed by the actress Alison King. Carla was created by producer Steve Frost as part of the new Connor family. She made her first on-screen appearance on 1 December 2006. King left the show temporarily on 6 February 2009 for maternity leave and returned for five episodes between 19 and 23 October 2009. She made her full-time return on 23 November 2009.
Carla's storylines have focused on her relationships with brother-in-law Liam Connor and Tony Gordon, with the latter producing a wedding following Liam's death. Other notable storylines have included the breakdown of two marriages, being the victim of an attempted murder and battling alcoholism. In late 2011, Carla is raped by her fiance Frank Foster. Carla is supported by her friend Maria Connor as she seeks a conviction. She also experiences an affair with Peter Barlow, which later turns into an relationship. In March 2012, it was announced that Carla's estranged brother was being cast. Carla is portrayed as a strong, no-nonsense businesswoman. She has been referred to as "the new Elsie Tanner", and one of the serial's most popular characters, with critics often praising her appearance and storylines. Carla will take a four month break with Peter Barlow. They are due to make their departure in July.
On 20 September 2006, it was announced that the former Dream Team actress had been cast as Carla Connor. A Coronation Street spokeswoman said of the new addition, "She will make quite an impact. The phrase ‘dosh doesn’t make you posh’ was made for Carla. She’s a WAG on the cobbles, beautiful but tough and ambitious".[2] King had briefly appeared in the series in 2004, as Mrs. Fanshaw, a housewife who seduced Jason Grimshaw.[3]
Carla's mother was a drug-dealer, while her brother served eight years in Strangeways prison for armed robbery. She comes to Coronation Street to see her husband, local factory owner Paul Connor (Sean Gallagher). Upon her arrival, Carla is furious to discover that Paul has spent the money intended for her children's clothing business on buying Danny Baldwin (Bradley Walsh)'s share of Underworld. Not giving up without a fight, she persuades Kelly Crabtree (Tupele Dorgu) and Joanne Jackson (Zaraah Abrahams) to work overtime to make up orders for her business. On 16 April 2007, after finishing a shift for Carla, Polish worker, Kasia, dies instantly after falling down a flight of stairs. Carla phones Paul, instead of an ambulance, and he covers up Carla's illegal shifts. They wait until morning and clock Kasia in for work so that they could claim she came in early to help Paul, and fell to her death.
Carla becomes close friends with her brother-in-law Liam's (Rob James-Collier) girlfriend Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) and the pair go into business together. However, their friendship ends when Carla discovers that Leanne is working as a prostitute, and that Paul is one of her clients. She vows to divorce Paul, who blames Leanne for wrecking his marriage, and takes revenge by kidnapping her while Carla seems determined to drown her problems. However, Paul is distracted while driving and the car is hit by a truck at a junction. Paul later dies from his injuries but Leanne survives. Carla changes her mind about going into business with Leanne and inherits Paul's 60% share of Underworld, causing friction with Liam.
Carla overcomes Paul's death and starts dating catalogue boss Tony Gordon (Gray O'Brien) in September 2007. Two months later, Carla is stunned when Tony's current wife, Lindsey (Susie Amy), slaps her. Lindsey tells Liam that she and Tony were still together when he started dating Carla. Liam tries convincing Carla that Tony can't be trusted but Carla ignores him. Carla and Tony's relationship makes Liam consider his true feelings for her. During an argument, they kiss, leaving them both confused. Carla tries to stop Liam marrying Maria Sutherland (Samia Smith) but fails, leaving Carla devastated. She turns up at Liam and Maria's wedding, upsetting Maria. Maria finally stands up to her and slaps her in the face in the ladies. A forlorn Carla leaves the reception in a cab.
Carla and Tony break up briefly as Carla believes herself to be in love with Liam; however, on 17 March 2008, Tony proposes to Carla, and she accepts. In May that year, Carla supports Liam following the stillbirth of his and Maria's son, Paul, and they finally sleep together. Unknown to them, Carla's personal assistant, Rosie Webster (Helen Flanagan), has come to ask for the spare keys and records them kissing on her mobile phone. In June 2008, Carla blackmails Liam into selling his share of the factory to Tony by threatening to tell Maria about her and Liam's one-night stand. In September, she invests in Liam and Tom Kerrigan (Philip McGinley)'s t-shirt business but they agree not to tell Tony and Maria.
Later that month, Tony discovers Carla has cheated on him when he sees Rosie's video footage. Carla and Liam had a brief affair before her wedding to Tony as they could not hide their feelings from each other any longer and planned to call her wedding off. However, she changes her mind when she discovers Maria is pregnant again, she then lies to Liam telling him that she doesn't love him, but is devastated when Liam is killed in a hit-and-run, arranged by Tony. Unaware of Tony's role, a grief-stricken Carla postpones the wedding[4] and goes to stay with a friend in Los Angeles. She returns on 26 November 2008, and they rearrange the wedding for the following week, marrying on 3 December. Before marrying Tony, she tells Ryan Connor (Ben Thompson) that she will always be his aunt despite marrying again and that she will always love him. Upon returning from her honeymoon with her new husband, Maria accuses Tony of being responsible for Liam's death but he denies it and Carla refuses to believe her, standing by Tony. She also tells Tony that she had only slept with Liam once, and takes revenge on Rosie by making her life hell.
While Maria shouts from the rooftops that Tony has murdered her husband and tries desperately to find proof to make people believe her, he calmly denies it. He even asks the police not to prosecute Maria as she is going through a difficult time as a new widow and pregnant. Maria is finally silenced when Tony brings Jed Stone (Kenneth Cope) to visit the street - she had accused Tony of murdering him too - but while his visit makes Maria realise that she could be wrong, it makes Carla suspicious. She visits Jed Stone, taking him out for lunch and quizzing him. She is startled to see the bruises on his neck and when she asks if Tony is responsible, he runs away. She also questions Tony's henchman, Jimmy Dockerson (Robert Beck), confirming her suspicions.
On 6 February 2009, Tony locks Carla in the factory and, after an explosive showdown, Carla confesses that she loved Liam and not Tony. Guilt-ridden, Tony confesses that he had had Liam killed after she demands the truth. Horrified, Carla escapes and drives off in a storm after a violent struggle, leaving a devastated Tony behind. Maria, out walking her dog, sees this from across the street. Carla hires old business colleague Luke Strong (Craig Kelly) to look after her interests during her absence. It is revealed after her disappearance that she is in Los Angeles with a friend though Tony is unaware of this. Shortly after her departure, it is revealed that Carla has filed for divorce and leaves her wedding ring with her solicitor.
Almost a year passed with no sign or word from Carla but on 19 October 2009, Tony is shocked to get a call from Carla, asking to meet him in the cemetery. He isn't pleased as it is the day of baby Liam's christening. She knows that he and Maria are together as she had kept in contact with Leanne. When he reveals that they are engaged, Carla demands that he call it off, sell his share of the factory to her and leave Weatherfield for good, or else she will report him to the police for Liam's death. The night of the christening, Tony orders Jimmy Dockerson, the man who had killed Liam and threatened Jed Stone, to murder Carla. He and Carla have a fight and she knocks him out, smashing him over the head with a candlestick. Tony tells Carla that she has killed him but he will cover it up in return for her silence. However, Jimmy is merely unconscious, and after a showdown with Tony, Carla says she will get her revenge one day and returns to Los Angeles.
However, Carla returns again on 23 November 2009, when she is contacted by the police, following Tony's arrest. She visits Maria and they argue but later console each other. She is then questioned by the police but is released without charge. Wanting to be sure, Carla returns to Underworld and reveals to the workers that she is back, and promptly shreds the paperwork connected to Jimmy. Later she visits Tony in prison and he confesses he set her up for the false murder. She cries and tells him that he's going to hell. Jimmy is arrested in December 2009, and the police question Carla again. She admits that Tony confessed to killing Liam, but she didn't believe him and left. Michelle (Kym Marsh), Liam's sister, finds out and charges into the factory, dragging Carla out into the street by her hair. Everyone is shocked and disgusted that Carla knew about Tony killing Liam, and everyone leaves her by herself. The factory girls and Roy Cropper (David Neilson), who Tony confessed Liam's murder to, all come to forgive her.
In March 2010 she enters into a relationship with local binman Trevor Dean (Steve Jackson). She then sells Tony's shares of Underworld to Nick Tilsley (Ben Price), despite Leanne, who was once married to Nick, warning her that he shouldn't be trusted. In May 2010, Robbie Sloan (James Fleet), one of Tony's cellmates, is released from prison after serving a 15-year sentence. Before he is released, Tony hands a gun to Robbie, ordering him to kidnap and kill Carla and Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh). Later on, Robbie helps Tony to escape from prison and they head to Weatherfield. The police come to the factory to warn Carla that Tony has escaped from prison and tell her to be vigilant and stay indoors. Robbie follows Tony's orders, and ties Carla and Hayley to chairs in Underworld and not long after, to Carla's horror, Tony makes his appearance.
On 9 June 2010, Tony frees Hayley but does not free Carla. Determined that they will both die together, Tony then sets the factory alight after dousing the place with petrol. Carla manages to untie herself and hits Tony over the head with the chair but it doesn't have any effect. They continue to fight while the factory burns around them. Carla eventually escapes from the factory and runs into Trevor's arms, and Tony decides to take his own life by going back into the flames. The whole street watches in horror as Underworld explodes dramatically and Tony perishes in the blast. The next day, she finds Maria standing in the charred remains of the factory, and talks to her before Maria leaves again for Ireland. Maria sulkily tells her that she can never forgive Carla for what she has done in the past, and whatever she does will mean nothing to her.
Carla returns in July 2010, after going on holiday to South Africa with Trevor, and discovers from Leanne that Nick has been looking after Underworld whilst she was away. However, after paying a visit to Nick later that day, she finds out that he has fully taken over, leaving her with no business. She takes legal action finding that Nick has no planning-permission. However, Leanne goes behind her back and gets George Wilson (Anthony Valentine), the proprietor of Turner's Joinery to sort it out for Nick. Eventually Carla and Nick settle their business differences and set out to rebuild the factory. After her relationship with Trevor, who accuses her of still being infatuated with dead lover Liam, comes to an end, Carla turns to alcohol to numb her pain. Realising that she has a problem she goes to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. However, she soon flees when she sees that Leanne's fiance Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) is there. He is quick to see that she has an alcohol problem and offers his support, with Carla insisting that she is in control. However, Peter is the first person whom Carla calls, when she gets extremely drunk at her flat. She confides in him that she is unable to move on following Liam's death and blames herself for triggering the chain of events which led to Tony organising the hit-and-run.
At the opening of Nick and Leanne's new bar The Joinery on 12 November 2010, Carla struggles with her growing attraction towards Peter. She once again turns to alcohol and is arrested for drink-driving. After Peter collects her from the police station, she confesses that she has fallen for him and makes a pass at him. However, Peter rebuffs her advances, leaving Carla both embarrassed and upset. Later Carla is secretly delighted when a guilty Leanne confesses to her that she has cheated on Peter by sleeping with ex-husband Nick and uses the information to try to break Peter and Leanne up. She is later upset when Peter is injured in The Joinery explosion and tram crash in December 2010. Carla later admits to Leanne at the hospital that Peter had been helping her with her alcohol problem. She explains that she has feelings for Peter and tells Leanne she doesn't deserve Peter because of her affair with Nick. Carla drunkenly accuses Leanne of marrying a dying man to gain control of his assets and reminds her of her days of prostitution to which Leanne reacts by slapping her in the face.
On the day of Peter's wedding to Leanne on 14 February 2011, Carla flees the church when Peter reveals to the congregation how she has a crush on him. She later takes on Maria as her new PA at the factory and comforts her when business client Frank Foster (Andrew Lancel) attempts to rape her. However, due to the factory being in dire financial straits, Carla and Maria are forced to do a lucrative business deal with Frank, as there are no other contracts available. In June 2011, Carla's mother passes away, and she initially refuses to attend her funeral, but Frank talks her into it and she eventually attends. Afterwards, she asks Peter to meet her, where he tells her she should not drink, but Leanne catches them and thinks they are having an affair before Carla explains to her about her mother's death. Leanne and Peter later argue, as she feels he cares more about Carla than her and his son Simon (Alexander Bain). Carla ignores Leanne and goes drinking in the Rovers with Frank, who later lets her stay the night at his house as she is too drunk to drive home.
Carla leans on Frank for support as she struggles to see Peter with Leanne. She hears about Leanne's pregnancy when she overhears Peter talking about it in the Rovers. This later causes problems for Peter and Leanne when they fight over his feelings for Carla. Carla tries to congratulate Leanne on being pregnant but she won't accept it. Carla later sleeps with Frank and the next day agrees to go on a romantic trip to Rome with him. She later sees Peter talking to his father Ken (William Roache) about Leanne and Peter seems jealous when he sees Carla with Frank. Carla tries to help when she learns that pregnant Leanne has fallen down the stairs. She is told by Leanne's mother Stella Price (Michelle Collins) that Leanne has lost the baby. She later finds Peter, who has left the hospital after another row with Leanne, stood outside his flat. She tells him she's sorry about the baby and takes him upstairs for coffee. Peter tries to get her to leave, but she tells him that he needs to listen to her and what she thinks just once. Carla tells Peter that she can't leave him because he will get the urge to drink alcohol if she does. She tells Peter that she's in love with him and has been for a very long time. Peter denies feeling anything for her. She tells him that she doesn't expect anything to happen but she has to tell him how she feels. Carla reminds Peter she's supposed to be leaving for a trip with Frank soon but she doesn't really love him. Carla and Peter then kiss very passionately but he then pulls away from her as he cannot cheat on Leanne.
On 15 August 2011, Frank proposes to Carla in the Rovers. After originally rejecting his offer, a confrontation with Peter causes her to change her mind, and later that day she tells Frank that she will marry him. Frank then helps Carla and Leanne to become friendly with each other again and a truce is agreed between both couples. A few weeks later after meeting Frank's parents and having a brief argument with him, Carla decides to show Frank that she does not need him so gets into his car, to which Frank jumps in and warns Carla she is drunk and can't drive. Carla, ignoring his warning, goes speeding round the corner and runs over Stella before smashing through the bookies. Peter hears the crash outside and calls for an ambulance. Frank places an unconscious Carla into the passenger seat to make it look like he was driving and Stella stepped out in front of him. Frank takes an alcohol test to see if he was drink driving but the test is negative. At the hospital, Stella's boyfriend Karl Munroe (John Michie) asks Frank about the accident and he continues to lie that he was driving, but Karl is suspicious. When Carla regains consciousness, Frank explains to her the story he told everyone and she believes she should confess but Frank tells her she will be convicted and could be sent to prison. Carla confesses the truth to Peter while visiting Stella in intensive care, and he tells her that she should be ashamed of herself.
On 19 September 2011, Carla confesses to Frank that she cannot marry him and that she has been having doubts for weeks about their relationship. Frank demands the truth and Carla tells him that she loves Peter and has already spoken to a solicitor, much to his anger. Carla returns home to find an angry Frank waiting for her, demanding answers. He demands that they try again, and even suggests that they try for a baby, but Carla asks him to leave and he refuses and begins to get violent towards her, pinning her up against the front door. Frank then rapes Carla violently, and leaves her cowering on the floor while he re-buttons his shirt. He flees and Carla calls Maria, who comes over and Carla tells her that Frank forced her to have sexual intercourse with him. Maria urges Carla to report the rape to the police and Frank is arrested, however, he soon gets released under condition that he will not approach Carla, or her workplace. Frank breaks the conditions and threatens Carla into dropping the allegations against him, and when she refuses, he asks his parents to help him bring down Carla's factory. When Frank appears back on the street, while going to cancel the after-wedding party, Peter punches him and leaves. He waits for Frank in the street, and when Frank says that Carla was asking for it, Peter physically attacks Frank and is arrested by the police for assault. Peter's arrest makes his wife Leanne suspicious because of the lengths he would go to stop Frank, and Leanne confronts both Carla and Peter and demands to know why Peter is so protective of her if they have not had an affair. Carla struggles to cope and tries to commit suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. She phones Peter's mobile and Leanne hears her saying a slurry "goodbye" to him. Leanne and Peter realises that Carla is planning to commit suicide and phone an ambulance before heading over to the flat where they find paramedics working on Carla's lifeless body beside an empty bottle of pills.
Carla survives the attempted suicide and agrees to begin counselling to help her cope throughout her rape ordeal. Carla is stunned when Stella Price (Michelle Collins) confesses that she too was raped as a teenager, and Carla and Stella soon bond as they both discover that even though they don't always get on, they have a lot in common. Stella reveals that she has never told anyone about her rape, not even Karl. She explains that while working in a pub, an unhappy customer when alone one night pinned her up against the bar and raped her. Carla's erratic behaviour at the factory however quickly causes many of her clients to withdraw their orders and soon her employees find themselves with no work. As the business starts to haemorrhage money, Carla is forced to sack Becky, Eileen (due to the fact that they had only recently started at the factory) and Sally. While Becky and Eileen understand, Sally is livid and demands a reason. Carla explains that Sally, unlike many of the other workers, is in a comfortable financial situation due to Kevin's large lottery win. Frank sees an opportunity to score points against Carla and the factory and employs Sally as a supervisor at his own factory in town, knowing she wouldn't turn down a position of authority before employing Becky and Eileen too. The factory is nearly bankrupted and Carla is unable to pay any due wages, causing the entire workforce to walk out with some of them defecting to Frank's factory. As Carla reaches the depths of her despair, Michelle returns to visit after working on a cruise ship and sends Carla away for a much needed holiday. While away, Michelle tries to get the factory up and running again. Enlisting the help of Nick Tilsley, she is able to secure an order and promises the staff their due money on condition the order is filled. It works, and Underworld slowly recovers.
In December 2011, Peter starts drinking again on the anniversary of the tram crash. Carla goes to Peter's flat after hearing from Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) that he has taken a bottle of vodka and left the money after being refused service. At first, Peter says he does not want to see Carla and she leaves, but he later goes over to her flat and apologises. Peter tries to kiss Carla several times, but she reluctantly pulls away reminding him he has a wife. Peter leaves after having a shower to go back to the flat, but as he puts his hand on the doorknob he changes his mind and goes back to Carla. He tells her she's the woman he loves not Leanne, and that he'll leave Leanne for her. Carla spends the night and next day with Peter before he goes back to tell Leanne that their marriage is over. However, he cannot do it, which leads to Carla feeling rejected and refusing to talk to him. He is persistent and they eventually meet at Carla's flat, where they decide to begin an affair until Peter is ready to tell Leanne. They later decide to do this after the rape trial, since Frank was claiming as part of his defence that Carla and Peter were having an affair and plotting to falsely accuse him of rape to get rid of him. The pair is almost caught on several occasions, and Frank decides to hire a private investigator to follow Peter in the hope of catching him with Carla. The weekend before the rape trial, Peter arranges for them to go to a hotel in Chester, where the investigator takes pictures of them kissing outside. Peter is forced to confess to the affair when Frank's mum Anne Foster hands over the photos to his wife - Leanne - in the public gallery. He comforts Carla briefly but then says he has to go find Leanne. The next day, he goes round to Carla's flat as she is about to go to court and tells her that he has left Leanne and that he is now there for her. Afterwards, Peter finds himself attempting to cope with Simon, who, devastated over Leanne's departure, blames his father and starts acting up. Carla overhears many people gossiping about her, and Stella bars her and Peter from the Rovers.
Frank offers Carla £50,000 to buy her share of Underworld; she initially refuses but eventually accepts when Frank's "lawyer" Jenny Summer (Niky Wardley) offers to double his money (Jenny is secretly Frank's girlfriend, and part of Frank's plan to con Carla). Carla is furious when Frank reveals his plan; it is already too late as she has signed the forms, and she has to stop Peter from hitting Frank by holding him back. Frank soon makes himself an endless list of vendettas, and Carla goes to confront him at Underworld, where he admits he raped her and teases her that he overpowered her easily. Later that night, Frank is found dead in the factory with Sally Webster (Sally Dynevor) kneeling beside him, having been beaten around the head with a whiskey bottle. Several people are in the frame for Frank's murder, including Carla, Peter, and Sally's husband - Kevin (Michael Le Vell) - but it is unknown who killed Frank. The whiskey bottle which was used to kill Frank is found by Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas), and he hands it to the police. Carla's fingerprints are on the bottle, because she brought it out of her bag the night Frank was murdered. She is then arrested for murder but is eventually released without charge. Peter confesses to Frank's murder to protect Carla, but he is eliminated when a work colleague of Peter's reveals that Peter was at his house when Frank died. It is eventually proven that Frank raped Carla when Sally reveals that he confessed it to her. Frank's mother - Anne - attacks Carla and accuses her of stealing the contract (when it was in fact Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) who stole it) and Anne is warned to stay away from Carla. The police continue with their investigation, and it is eventually revealed that Frank's mother Anne killed him after she overheard him taunting Carla about getting away with raping her. In April 2012, Carla is informed by Frank's solicitor that Frank has left her his 40% share of the factory to her in his will, changing it when they were engaged and never changing it back; making her the sole owner of Underworld.
Columnist Grace Dent has described Carla as "...an alluring vision, raven haired, classy, sultry and replete with guile".[5] The episode aired on 3 December 2008, in which Carla married Tony Gordon attracted an impressive peak of 10.5 million viewers.[6] In an online poll conducted by MSN Entertainment, Carla Connor was voted as 'Soapland's Sexiest Female of 2008', with more than 31% of votes.[7] At the 2008 Inside Soap Awards, the character was voted 'Best Bitch'.[8] King was awarded "Best Actress" at the 2012 British Soap Awards.[9]
In January 2009, the character was heralded as the new Elsie Tanner: "strong, dark, mouthy, pushy, full of herself and nobody's fool, ready to put the world to rights with another lashing of lipstick. Has Coronation Street finally found the new Elsie Tanner in Carla Gordon I'm starting to think that perhaps they might have".[10] The return of the character on 19 October 2009, after an eight month absence, drew large ratings for the show's episodes which were watched by 9.88m (42.2%) and 10.24m (40.5%) respectively.[11]
Radio Times soaps columnist David Brown gave mixed comments in his response to Carla's rape storyline. He made the point that while it was being treated with more sensitivity than the rape of Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) was, back in 2001, the impression was that the writing team were placing too much pain and anguish upon Carla's character: "By having Carla undergo a vicious violation like rape, it begins to feel that she’s being systematically targeted by the storyliners. There’s no denying that the scenes in this evening’s double bill are powerfully acted by Alison King, but there seems to be an underlying mission to crack open Carla’s carapace and expose her vulnerability. In the wider world, rapists often choose their targets regardless of the victim’s circumstance, so there’s no saying that Carla wouldn’t suffer an assault of this sort. But, in a fictional setting, it does begin to look cruel when so much anguish is piled onto one person’s shoulders."[12]
Sarah Ellis of Inside Soap said that Carla was great to watch when she is with Peter. She added that they are "like a car crash waiting to happen".[13]
