Coronation Street star confirms ‘sad’ ending for Carl after ‘wonderful’ year on soap

Be honest. Who’s sad to see Carl go? (Picture: ITV)

Is there anything worse in Soap than a out-and-out villain who makes you feel sorry for them right before they sling their hook? That’s the plan for Coronation Street’s Carl Webster, as actor Jonathan Howard drops a few hints regarding the character’s ‘sad’ ending on the Cobbles.

I’ll say one thing for Carl Webster. There’s nobody else in Soapland right now that audiences love to hate this much.

While violent abuser Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) and predatory paedophile Megan Walsh (Beth Nixon) are compelling antagonists in dark, realistic issue stories, they lack the joyous, pantomime’boo hiss’ quality of a good old fashioned wrong’un like Carl Webster.

Carl would sell his own mother for a bit of cash. In fact, I’m surprised he hasn’t tried that already. He’s already taken advantage of her dementia to gaslight the poor woman into taking the blame for the deadly multi-car pileup which HE caused by driving drunk. Now Debbie’s (Sue Devaney) out of prison, Carl’s trying to cash in on his mum’s deteriorating mental state by pressuring her into handing over half of the Chariot Square Hotel.

Now is not a good time to be a baddie on Corrie. There’s a murderer at large, and he’s one of five of Weatherfield’s nastiest pieces of work who could be bumped off.

Carl is one of five villains who might meet a sticky end on the Cobbles. (Picture: ITV)

Having already teased his potential exit on Instagram, actor Jonathan Howard spilled the tea on his reaction to being involved in Coronation Street’s most ambitious Whodunnit to date in a recent chat with Metro.

‘I was hoping I was going to be one of the potential victims.’ Jonathan admitted. ‘I think I’ve annoyed a lot of people on the Street and I’ve not really covered myself in glory, so I was hoping and expecting that I would be one of these bad guys.’

‘I’m very lucky about the storylines I’ve had, and I get to come in and play with the actors I get to play with. So if this was my time, then I would go out very proud and very grateful for the experience.’

There’s certainly no shortage of potential killers. Carl’s caused so much chaos on Coronation Street, there will probably be a queue.

Kevin Webster’ (Michael Levell) is holding a grudge against his nephew for destroying his marriage by running off with his wife Abi (Sally Carman-Duttine)… only to dump her when he got bored. That makes Abi a suspect too, especially as Carl recently tore her to shreds verbally over her failures as a mother. Then there’s Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall), who was put in a wheelchair thanks to Carl’s hit-and-run. Lastly, there’s Theo, who accidentally confessed to leaving Billy Mayhew to die within Carl’s earshot.

Carl’s not made many friends on the Cobbles. (Picture: ITV)

The would-be killer with the biggest axe to grind has to be Debbie’s husband Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan), who blames Carl for speeding up his wife’s dementia by letting her go to prison for his crimes. Ronnie hates the Worst Webster so much that he threatened to get rid of him for good if he didn’t leave town, and even punched him in the face out of anger.

Will Ronnie be the one who makes sure that Carl leaves Weatherfield in a box? Jonathan Howard admits that Carl’s formidable father-in-law is more than a match for him.

Ronnie is Carl’s number one enemy. (Picture: ITV)

‘ He’s a protector. He loves his wife dearly and he sees me just taking advantage and taking advantage and taking advantage. He’s like the silent warrior. He’s very stoic, not like my brother, aka my uncle. He’s not like Kevin, who’s going to be very explosive and shouty and then gets it out of his system and moves on. Ronnie’s a deep thinker and he wants to protect his wife and I’m putting her in danger and he sees that I’m taking advantage of that unconditional love. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out and how far he’s willing to go.’

If Carl does die, it would be nice to see a flicker of redemption before he meets the Grim Reaper on the Cobbles. Is there any good in the Worst Webster at all?

‘Definitely.’ Jonathan insists. ‘I’ve got to have empathy and compassion and find the humanity in him. Especially if I’m being paid to play this guy, I’ve got to find the empathy and compassion there. If I’d grown up my whole life not really knowing who my family was and feeling left like I was left on the side, how would that impact me? How would I react?  I’ve got to play what’s on the page, but I’ve got to try and find the humanity in that and the reason behind it.’

Jonathan is referring to Carl’s complex relationship with his mum, who pretended to be his sister for most of his life due to having him too young. Because of this, Carl grew up being raised by his grandparents and without any motherly affection. However, he has used Debbie’s absence in his life to guilt her into letting him get away with anything.

Freud would have a field day. (Picture: ITV)

This has had fans wondering if Debbie actually means anything to Carl, or if she is nothing but a piggy bank to him now.Jonathan Howard sees the good in Carl. ”Absolutely, he’s got feelings for his mum, yes. Does he know how to express them? No. I don’t really think so. Does he know how to love? I don’t really think so.’

‘I’m a bit of a chancer like that. I’m really intrigued to see, if he survives, if he’s going to have a redemptive arc because  I’ve had a wonderful, fun time for the 12 months I’ve been here, you know, being a mosquito and annoying the hell out of people, doing the dodgy dealings, the hit and runs, the car stealing, the teenage robberies, the blackmailing – I’ve really enjoyed all that.’

‘If Carl survives, how far are we going to push the envelope? And I love playing the mosquito and I really hope he continues to have some of that in him if he survives. But, yeah, I try and find moments of kindness in him and moments of wanting to be loved.’

Carl better enjoy those moments while he can. Debbie was already disgusted by him for attempt to extort Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby) out of Billy Mayhew’s life insurance. When he tried to blackmail Debbie into handing over half of the Chariot Square Hotel by threatening to get Ronnie sent down for assault, the scales finally fell from her eyes. Realising Carl would never change, Debbie paid him to get out of her life.

Carl finally ran out of chances with Debbie. (Picture: iTV)

Carl tried to front it out and act like he was glad to be shot of Debbie. His words may have said ‘edgy bad boy’ but his face said ‘lost little boy’. The heartbreak was pain to see.

Now the biggest loser in Weatherfield has nothing left to lose… which makes him more dangerous than ever. Jonathan Howard shares the mindset which led Carl to hitting the self-destruct button on his relationship with his mother.

‘Specifically with the hotel, it’s after Ronnie beats him up. With Carl, everything that drives him is that he feels like he’s owed something. Before he found out Debbie was his mum, he felt like he had this family in England that never visited him and he’d been neglected, so he’s always had a chip on his shoulder. Now he’s got the news Debbie’s his mum, and then to be attacked by Ronnie, he uses that to his advantage. Wherever he is in life, he’s going to try to take advantage of the situation. He knows his mum loves him unconditionally and he’s going to take advantage of that because he doesn’t quite know how to accept that love at the moment.’

Will Carl ever get that hug he so badly needs? (Picture: ITV)

‘It is. It’s very sad. I feel for him. Obviously, I play him, so I feel something for him.’

Let’s not break out the tissues just yet. In this week’s Corrie, Carl is set to get the last laugh at his brother/uncle (bruncle?) Kevin Webster’s expense by fiddling with the breaks on his car.

If Jonathan Howard does depart the Street, his amazing performance will be missed. But I doubt many people will shed a tear for the Worst Webster, especially after Jonathan shared a few of Joe Public’s reactions to seeing him out and about:

‘I was filming this morning, then I went to the gym and I came back and two guys, I promise you, shouted out, ‘You’re a snake!’ Driving past, ‘You’re a ‘snake! But we love ya,’ and driving off. I’ve had snake, I’ve had ‘scumbag.’

‘I was in the Trafford Centre a couple of weeks ago… It’s always men that are really mean to me. The women just point the finger a little bit, but the guys get really upset by it. But I like it. [Referring to Trafford Centre incident], ‘Oi Carl, you scumbag! Leave your mum alone!”

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