成人快手

Where is he now?

Taken the leap and gone to art college.

Carl was brought up by two parents who were each very controlling but in different ways.

His dad always expected total obedience and his mum exerted her control more subtly but no less effectively. Always spoiled in material terms, but not used to getting his own way at home, he learnt to get what he wanted by subterfuge and stealth - going behind his father's back.

He knew his mother was the real boss in the house and learnt from her that it was best not to confront Dad but to deceive him, and if necessary present him with a fait accompli. He was known to apply the same principles to her. He loves both his parents but only really respects his mother. He was only comfortable living at home so long as he could manage his father, but began to worry a bit about his future.

He had wanted to study architecture at Uni but failed to get the grades so was pushed into doing Town and Country Planning instead. Both parents had refused to let him do Art A'Level which ruled out art college which had been his own ambition. He dropped out of his T&C Planning degree at the end of the second year after failing exams. He hated his course and didn't want a future in planning so let his exams go and left with some sense of relief. He enjoyed all the social aspects of uni life and wasn't prepared for the bump back to reality when he left student life. He tried to stay on in Birmingham for a bit - doing bar work, call centre work etc but he was no longer getting cash from home and felt like the odd one out with his old uni friends. He wasn't making any money and finally gave up to return home and work for his dad.

Having worked in some dead end jobs in Birmingham he came home with a sense of purpose - he realised that the building business would be his one day if he wanted it and thought that he could use it to become the pseudo architect he always wanted to be. When he told his dad his ideas he was told bluntly that his firm doesn't do "twiddly stuff" and so Carl resorted to small acts of defiance (taste) dressed up as incompetence/mistakes, eg he'd return from wholesalers with not the bog standard product but something a bit more interesting and play dumb, or he'd offer customers more elaborate options when Dai's wasn't around, much to his chagrin because it ended up taking longer and costing the same.

Carl has to do these things to keep himself sane in a job that basically he finds really dull. Since hitting a brick wall with Dai over the type of work the firm is going to do, he has reassessed his immediate future and is now saving to put himself through Art College. To this end he has enrolled in an evening A'Level art class but hasn't told his parents about it. He's a bit lonely because all his mates are still at college and he doesn't fit in with the building site boys, particularly as he's the boss's son. He'd had hopes for his evening class but it's full of housewives painting landscapes.

He has to put up with his dad's constant jibes about him being a gay drop-out but he's learned to ignore them. He's getting on fine with his mother, she's his ally and friend. He's a lonely figure, occupying himself with his art, his gadgets and his fancy car (an over-the-top 21st birthday present).

In Series 6 Carl discovered he had a half-sister - Des - who couldn't be more different. He watched as Des becomes the apple of his father's eye, but still found an ally in her when he argued with Dai and finally leaves home. Carl set up business with Robbie and can do his 'twiddly bits' to his heart's content now he's aiming at a posher market. He's enjoying his freedom.

In Series 7 he was still unaware that dai has hit Wendy. He was preoccupied by his lack of hard cash, though found out that credit was easy to come by.

• Catch up with characters from Series 8.