List of characters from Shameless
Encyclopedia
The following is a list of fictional characters from the British drama Shameless
Shameless
Shameless is a British television drama series set in Manchester on the fictional Chatsworth council estate. Produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4, the first seven-episode series aired weekly on Tuesday nights at 10pm from 13 January 2004...

, created by Paul Abbott
Paul Abbott
Paul Abbott is a BAFTA award-winning English television screenwriter and producer. Abbott has become one of the most critically and commercially successful television writers working in Britain today, following his work on many popular series, including Coronation Street, Cracker and Shameless,...

, which began broadcasting on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 in 2004. The programme is set on the fictional Chatsworth Estate in suburban Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, and the surrounding area and primarily follows the lives of the Gallagher family and the neighbouring Maguire family, and their friends and neighbours in the town's shops and local pub the Jockey.

The first series focused on layabout Frank Gallagher
Frank Gallagher (Shameless)
Vernon Francis "Frank" Gallagher , is a fictional character from the Channel 4 drama Shameless.-Storylines:Frank's hallmarks are drunken rants on a wide variety of literary, historical and philosophical subjects, usually returning to how decent, hard-working people, among whom he erroneously seems...

 and the lives of his six children, Fiona and boyfriend Steve, Lip, Ian
Ian Gallagher
Ian Gallagher is a fictional character from the British television series Shameless and its American spinoff.-Fictional biography:...

, Carl
Carl Gallagher
Carl Gallagher is a fictional character from the Channel 4 drama Shameless, he is the fourth oldest Gallagher sibling. The son of Frank and Monica, his brothers are Phillip and Liam; his sisters are Fiona, Debbie, and Stella; his half-brothers are Ian and Nigel; and his half-sister is Delia...

, Debbie and Liam, and next door neighbours, Kev and Veronica. When the second series began, the Maguire family were introduced, with certain episodes just focusing on their family, and both the Maguire family and Gallagher coming into contact and conflict, with marriage, teenage pregnancies and neighbourhood rivalry. Other characters have also taken major focus throughout the years after only starting of as minor characters, such as the Karib family. Since the series started, the Gallagher family has split hugely, with most of the Gallagher children departing the show, due to the actors moving onto bigger things and taking on other projects. Beginning with the latest series of the programme, Carl Gallagher is the only Gallagher sibling remaining in the show.

Frank Gallagher

(Series 1 - Present)

Vernon Francis "Frank"[1] Gallagher (born 26 January 1960), is a fictional character from the Channel 4 drama Shameless.

Frank's hallmarks are drunken rants on a wide variety of literary, historical and philosophical subjects, usually returning to how decent, hard-working people, among whom he erroneously seems to count himself, are discriminated against. Frank frequently quotes Shakespeare, the Bible, references international current events and uses poetry and soliloquy to express his feelings or view, as he does at the start of each episode. Thus, in spite of his drunken ramblings, sometimes he does come across as being well-educated owing to the issues he raises during his interactions with others.

Frank is an unemployed alcoholic, and the son of Neville and Sarah Elizabeth Gallagher (1935–1972). He was married to Monica, with whom he has six children (Fiona, Phillip, Carl, Debbie, Liam, Stella), and one, Ian, to whom he is de jure father. He also has two children with Sheila Jackson, Nigel and Delia, and is the father of Monica's half-sister, whom he fathered with Monica's mother at Monica's birthday party. He has two grandchildren, Katie and an unnamed child of Fiona's when she left in Series 2. During one of Frank's drunken rants, it is implied that he got many girls pregnant in school. Although this is never elaborated upon, it is unclear precisely how many children Frank has actually fathered.

Frank was apparently convicted and sentenced to imprisonment several times in his youth. He claimed to have been incarcerated in Strangeways Prison. It has not been mentioned what exactly were the reasons for his string of past convictions.

Frank became an alcoholic shortly after his first wife Monica left him for Norma Starkey. He then left the younger children in the care of Fiona, and moved in with agoraphobic Sheila Jackson. Often known to make a fool out of himself and shirk all responsibility, Frank nonetheless shows signs of loving his children. He can offer good advice, for example saving Liam from being taken into care when a parent was needed. When he is rendered completely sober by a new drug, Frank appears reflective and even quite intelligent, wondering why Sheila would add to her problems by marrying a mess like him. We also understand his character a bit better when Frank's father pays a visit and treats his son in a condescending and abrasive manner. Frank's father shows extreme sympathy towards Sheila and even takes care of the twins. It is also stated that his father did not always treat Frank kindly when Frank was growing up.

In early series Frank comes across as a drunken bully, even headbutting his son Ian on one occasion. Most of his children initially hate Frank for his drunken bullying ways. Lip and Ian are never scared to show their feelings towards him, and even physically attack him on a few occasions. However, his middle daughter Debbie shows sympathy throughout the series when her father is either in serious trouble or presumed dead, something which has happened three times to date. The family have generally warmed towards him more as the series has progressed, mostly because he isn't bothering them hugely on a daily basis. However, Debbie finally grew sick of taking care of the family, and cleaning up after Frank in particular, and left to join the army after series 6. Frank and Liam came into serious conflict in series 7, when Liam was forced by circumstances to take over Debbie's former burden as the de facto head of the family. At one point, Frank headbutted Liam, and a furious Carl had to be restrained from beating Frank to a pulp. Frank finally softened towards Liam when Liam threatened to commit suicide.

In series 7, Frank falls for a librarian named Libby Crocker. Libby believes Frank is a man of the arts and he encourages her to rise up against her library closing, which leads to a violent protest and her imprisonment. When Libby is released from prison, she tries to find him, but her upscale appearance causes various characters to warn Frank that the DSS is after him. Finally, they meet again, and although Libby is initially put off by his poor character and the frosty reception from Liam, she and her mother move into the Gallagher home. Frank and her mother soon set up a mutual loathing society, with Frank painting her bedroom a bright yellow just to keep her awake. In Series 8 Frank is kept hostage in a psychiatric hospital by former wife Monica's girlfriend, part of Monica's plan to snatch her family back from Libby Crocker and prevent the pair from getting married. On Frank's escape, the pair stay unmarried and he eventually loses Libby in Episode 13 after cheating on her with Letitia's head teacher.

In series 8, Frank is ready to get married to Libby Crocker and he goes missing on his stag night. Libby starts putting up posters because of his disappearance. Chesney Karib and Carl Gallagher find a video on the internet; it is Frank having sex in public. Libby walks in and sees the video. In the feature length 100th episode Frank is accused of beating an old lady who is well known on the estate for her scratch-card winnings. Frank suffers a blackout and throughout the episode has flashbacks of that evening. Not knowing if he actually carried out the attack he hands himself into the police. His son, Carl Gallagher is convinced Frank is innocent. He digs into the events of that night and finds that a local gangster's brother had actually carried out the attack. Frank, along with Kev devise a plan to work with the police and cut a deal with the gangster that sees Frank set free.

Kelly Maguire

  • Played by: Sally Carman
    Sally Carman
    Sally Carman is an English actress, best known for her role as Kelly-Marie Maguire in Shameless, which she played in a recurring stint from 2005, before becoming a more prominent character in the 2008 series and finally a main cast member from 2009 onwards....

     (Series 2–)

Kelly-Marie Maguire (née Ball; born 1983) is Kev Ball's sister. A recovered heroin addict, she became a prostitute working in Lillian Tyler's brothel, and struck up a relationship with Shane Maguire, which ended under intimidation from Paddy Maguire. She returned a couple of episodes later, telling Shane she "decided not to take his father's offer". This resulted in Shane confronting Paddy, who beat him up in The Jockey. At the end of series 5 Kelly-Marie announces she is pregnant with Shane's child, and is welcomed into the family with open arms by Paddy and Mimi. In series 6 it is revealed by Kelly that she had had a "phantom pregnancy", and was comforted by Mimi and Shane.

During her early appearances on the show, Kelly had a hostile relationship with her sister-in-law Veronica, who was the one that eventually discovered her addiction to heroin, and helped Kelly get clean by locking her in the bathroom against her will.

In series 7, Kelly is chosen initially by Jamie and Karen to be the godmother of their newborn son, Connor Joseph Maguire. She and Shane have also actively dealt in personal side jobs in addition to the normal Maguire family business.

In the fourth episode of Series 7, Kelly has sex with Paddy in exchange for money, after Paddy found it hard to "pull" on a night out with his sons. Paddy wanted to hurt Shane since he felt Shane had not been there for him. Paddy and Kelly kept their encounter a secret, but during a mass wedding scam, Shane proposed to Kelly. Kelly turned him down several times, even ending their relationship, because she could not marry him while living a lie. Shane told her he would forgive her sleeping with anyone, at which point she and a guilty Paddy made eye contact. Shane was devastated to learn the truth, but forgave Kelly, and they married in a civil ceremony at the Jockey.

Shane was deeply upset when he learned he was sterile. Jamie, Micky, and Paddy offered to be Kelly's sperm donors, but she refused, saying she'd already had Paddy in her once and wasn't going to do that ever again. As they would be unable to adopt a child, Liam convinced them to try to be parents to Shane's niece Katie. This plan was dashed when Katie's father Lip decided to take a more active role in her life. Kelly and Shane decided to give up on their plans and just be honorary parental figures for Liam, whom she has grown quite fond of.

Kelly was revealed in the thirteenth episode of series 7 to have a fifteen year old half-sister named Tonya, whose care she was briefly responsible for. Kelly and Tonya were both fathered by a man named Homer. It was implied that he abused them both sexually. Tonya had a baby-boy named Enrico, who was in foster-care. Micky Maguire, who pretended to be Shane during a visit from a social-care worker during his brother's absence, found out from Tonya that Enrico was actually born out of incest with her father, who raped her. She begged him not to tell Kelly. After finding out that Homer abused them both, Micky injected tranquilizer into Homer's blood-stream in The Jockey toilets, and dragged him with Shane's help to a slaughter-house to dispose of him, doing his sister-in-law a tremendous favour in the process.

Avril Powell

  • Played by: Karen Bryson (Series 8–present)

Avril Powell (nee Carson) is a newcomer to the Chatsworth Estate and appears from Series 8 Episode 1. Avril is show to be sexually ambiguous and tries to have sex with husband Jackson regularly, most of the time to keep hidden the fact that she is sending daughter Letitia to a private school, a secret that would devastate her husband. She also has a good friendship with Libby Croker and Mimi Maguire, regularly hanging out with them and drinking and smoking with them.Although she was briefly at a hospital on series 5 episode 1, yet we do not know whether or not that was actually Avril.

Letitia Powell

  • Played by: Kira Martin (Series 8–present)

Letitia Powell is a newcomer to the Chatsworth Estate and appears from Series 8 Episode 1. Letitia is for lack of a few words dumb, which is why her mother is sending her to an expensive private school behind her dads back, as her mother wants her to go to university and pass all her exams, and she also goes to Liam Gallagher for help with her studying.

Jackson Powell

  • Played by: Emmanuel Ighodaro (Series 8–present)

Jackson Powell is a newcomer to the Chatsworth Estate and appears from Series 8 Episode 1.

Marty Fisher

  • Played by: Jack Deam
    Jack Deam
    Jack Deam is an English actor. He used his Grandfather's name for his stage name. His most notable performance is of the pyromaniac Marty Fisher, who has Tourette syndrome, in Channel 4's Shameless....

     (Series 1–4, 8-)


Martin Andrew "Marty" Fisher (born 1978) is the son of Carol Fisher, and brother of Veronica. Marty has coprolalic
Coprolalia
Coprolalia is involuntary swearing or the involuntary utterance of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks. Coprolalia comes from the Greek κόπρος meaning "feces" and λαλιά from lalein, "to talk"...

 Tourette's syndrome and is a pyromania
Pyromania
Pyromania in more extreme circumstances can be an impulse control disorder to deliberately start fires to relieve tension or for gratification or relief. The term pyromania comes from the Greek word πῦρ . Pyromania and pyromaniacs are distinct from arson, the pursuit of personal, monetary or...

c. He was a guest character in the first series of Shameless, became a main character (along with his mother) in series two, and left along with Veronica and Kev in the first episode of season four. Marty was originally something of a burden to the other characters, setting things alight when he got angry, particularly whenever he found Carol with much younger men. At one point he burns Carol's house down when he finds her having sex in the shower with his best friend, as well as burning down the toilets of the Jockey when Veronica attempts to have him sent back to prison after he escaped to attend her wedding; incidents like this have landed him in prison several times. His tourette's syndrome often creates uncomfortable situations for him, causing him to reveal otherwise secret information or offend those who are not used to him by insulting/swearing. However, later in the series Debbie teaches Marty to use other words such as buttermilk and spongecake instead of swearing, and his pyromania seems to calm down when he starts a relationship with Sue Garland. The two live relatively happily in the Gallagher household for a time, until Marty accompanies Kev and Veronica in a scheme to buy a Romanian baby from an orphanage. Marty escapes back to the Chatsworth with the stolen orphan and suggests to Sue that they raise it as their own. Initially Sue is reluctant but later saves the baby from being sent back by the police. Sue reveals that she is pregnant with Marty's child and the two leave the estate (how they find the money to do this is unclear).

He returns in Series 8, Episode 17. Marty reveals that him and Sue lived happily for years in Spain with their kids, only for Sue to cheat on him with a rich local and kick him out of the house. Not knowing where else to go, Marty flees back to the Chatsworth and begins squatting in a flat once occupied by heroin addicts, and on the run from the CSA for not paying child maintenance. Presumably, he found his mother Carol (who left to go to Maguluf), as he returns with her urn. Shortly after returning Marty causes tension between Shane and Kelly Maguire by telling Kelly that he loves her.

It has been comfirmed that Marty will return for Series 9

Aidan Croker

  • Played by: Robbie Conway (Series 8–present)

Aidan Croker arrives to the Chatsworth estate in the eighth series, and fills the void left by Liam. His mother has gone to prison, and has been sent to live with his Aunt Patty and god-mother Libby. During his first episode, he has already been shown to be a trouble-maker; beating up neighbour Jackson, and buying internet porn with Libby's credit card.

Chesney Karib

  • Played by: (Qasim Akhtar
    Qasim Akhtar
    Qasim Akhtar is an English actor, best known for his role of Chesney Karib in the Channel 4 show, Shameless.-Career:Akhtar started his acting career by appearing in Mischief Night 2006....

    ) (Series 4–present)

Chesney Karib (born 1992) Played by (Qasim Akhtar
Qasim Akhtar
Qasim Akhtar is an English actor, best known for his role of Chesney Karib in the Channel 4 show, Shameless.-Career:Akhtar started his acting career by appearing in Mischief Night 2006....

) is Yvonne and Kash's son and younger child. He was briefly the Young Mayor of Chatsworth and love interest of Debbie Gallagher, until she decided he was self-interested and using her. However, Chesney was using the campaign funds to help an elderly Pakistani woman to take her British Citizenship Test. Chesney is a smart but moody teenager who quietly resents his mother's bossy and abrupt demeanour.

In series 6, Chesney finds out that his mother had faked his father's death. Kash then attends the shop in order to speak with his son. In a moment of rage, Chesney knocks his father out cold, and seemed to be prepared to bludgeon him with a baseball bat when the fireworks that were stacked up in the shop's stockroom were ignited, due to the spreading flames of Chesney's insufficiently stamped out cigarette. Chesney flees the store, leaving his unconscious father to die for real from smoke inhalation which Chesney should have been arrested and should be spending time in prison for. Having discovered his parents duplicity, Chesney began to openly defy Yvonne by liberally taking money from the till and drinking in the house.

In series 7, Chesney helps his mother and Stan Waterman cheat Paddy Maguire out of the money they owed him. He continues to work at the Kash and Carry after Joe Pritchard purchases the shop from Yvonne. Things begin to go badly for Chesney a party thrown at his house takes an abrupt turn when a drunk girl is taken advantage of, and the boy that transpired the events gets battered to death by the girl's older brother. The act was filmed and spread via photographs over a mobile phone. Chesney and Carl Gallagher were witnesses to the assault. Their consciences soon got the better of them, which led them to grafittying the name of the killer close to the scene of the crime.

The murderer, Jimmy, in turn prevented them from going forward to the police by threatening to kill Liam, and tells them to leave Chatsworth. After spending some time at a Welsh farm with a woman called Hazel, who has her own murky past which Chesney helped her resolve, both him and Carl decided to return to Chatsworth to clear their names. When entering a football competition for gays Chesney rows with Ian over his relationship with Kash. Towards the end of the penultimate episode, Chesney has a dream including Mickey and Ian, and it is assumed that he may actually have homosexual feelings himself. These feelings progress in the 8th series when along with Mickey, he starts up a gay sex line and begins to enjoy it far too much.

Lillian Tyler

  • Played by: Alice Barry
    Alice Barry
    Alice Barry is an English actress.Her first regular television role was playing Peggy Hargreaves in Clocking Off. She regularly appeared in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights and Bob & Rose, and has had minor roles in Linda Green and The Royal.She has more recently appeared in Shameless as Lillian Tyler,...

     (Series 2–present)


Lillian Tyler (born 1947, but when The Jockey was to be blown up in series 7, Lilian's year of birth was shown as 1870), is a local busy-body. She had an affair with her friend Carol Fisher's husband in the 1970s. Her husband Brendan Tyler was accidentally shot dead by Carl Gallagher
Carl Gallagher
Carl Gallagher is a fictional character from the Channel 4 drama Shameless, he is the fourth oldest Gallagher sibling. The son of Frank and Monica, his brothers are Phillip and Liam; his sisters are Fiona, Debbie, and Stella; his half-brothers are Ian and Nigel; and his half-sister is Delia...

. As of series 5, Lillian has appeared much more in the show, even becoming narrator for episode 7. Lillian also runs a brothel at her home, a means to making easy money. Frank often makes reference to her resemblance to Mel B's caricature from the TV series Bo Selecta!. In series 6 it is revealed she has a son called Rodney,and she appears not to like him, and feels that he is a waste of space.

Lilian was revealed during series 2 to suffer Narcolepsy, when she was questioned by the police about medication she used, suspecting that her late husband Brendan Tyler may have been killed due to a gang-based turf war over drugs.

Billy Tutton



William "Billy" Tutton, first appeared in Episode 4 of Series 7, when he was on The Jockey football team, lying about his age he started a sexual relationship with Mimi Maguire who then went on to have his baby Cilla. He returned in series 8, when he snatched Cilla without Mimi noticing. He and Mimi married on the last episode of Series 8.

(Michael Taylor previously co-starred alongside fellow Shameless Alumni Kelli Hollis and Qasim Ahktar in the 2005 film Mischief Night.)

Other characters

Character Actor
Norman Owens Paul Copley
Paul Copley
Paul Mackriell Copley is an award-winning English actor and voice-over artist.-Early life:Copley was born in Denby Dale, West Yorkshire, and grew up beside a dairy farm there. His father, Harold, was involved with local amateur dramatic productions, as were the rest of his family...

Roxy Ball Jill Halfpenny
Jill Halfpenny
Jill Halfpenny is an English actress.Halfpenny is best known for her roles as Rebecca Hopkins in the British soap opera Coronation Street from 1999–2000, and as Kate Mitchell in rival soap EastEnders, from 2002-2005...

Nick Anastasiou Andrew Sheridan
Gaynor Pierce Denise Kennedy
Shirley Lawson Katy Cavanagh
Katy Cavanagh
Katy Cavanagh in North Shields, North Tyneside and grew up in Bolton, Greater Manchester and educated at Canon Slade School is an English actress, best known for her appearances in Coronation Street in the role of Julie Carp since 2008....

Troy Lawson Graeme Hawley
Graeme Hawley
Graeme Hawley is an English actor known for his role as John Stape in the British soap Coronation Street.-Career:He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1996 with a degree in Drama before beginning his acting career in the theatre.He started his career off by performing on stage at...

Emily Lawson Emily Fleeshman
Janie Rattigan Katie Wimpenny
Zoe Wyatt Christine Bottomley
Christine Bottomley
Christine Bottomley is a British actress.She is best known for her regular roles as Melanie in the BBC comedy series Early Doors and Susie Ward in Heartbeat.-Life and career:...

Jack Wyatt Bryan Dick
Bryan Dick
Bryan Dick is an English actor, who has starred in multiple motion pictures, television series, and stage productions in both the United Kingdom and United States.-Background:...

Wendy Wagstaff Yasmin Bamford
PC Danny Lowe Danny Cunningham
Lena Marshall Brana Bajic
Brana Bajic
Brana Bajic is a Bosnian actress who appears on British television.She has appeared in The Bill, Randall & Hopkirk and Trial and Retribution. Her most recent role was as Sofija Katic in All the Small Things...

Bernie Creme Robert Pugh
Robert Pugh
Robert Pugh is a Welsh film and television actor.Pugh was born in Cilfynydd and graduated from Rose Bruford College in 1976. In 2007, he co-starred alongside Genevieve O'Reilly and Geraldine James in ITV1 drama The Time of Your Life, where he played a parent whose 36-year-old daughter was...

Katrina Webb Tara Moran
Tara Moran
Kathleen Tara Moran is an English actress.Moran's television debut was in Yorkshire Television's educational history series for schools, How We Used to Live...

Joey Dawson Ryan Pope
Maureen Hale Daryl Fishwick
Cassie Western Moya Brady
Moya Brady
Moya Brady is a British actress. Born in Manchester, Brady grew up in the seaside town of Blackpool with other actor classmates such as David Thewlis of Harry Potter fame. She has appeared in a wide variety of roles in film, television and the theatre, including a role as F.D.O. Roberta Cryer in...

Lucy Connor Maisie-Jo Stahl
Ollie Bibby Gary Cargill
Eric Tatchell Oliver Hudson
Marissa Platting Karen Henthorn
Karen Henthorn
Karen Henthorn is a British character actress who portrayed the role of Teresa Bryant in the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street. She appeared in the role briefly in 2007 and became a regular character in 2008. Her character was involved in major story lines. In late 2008, she left...

Neville Gallagher John Woodvine
John Woodvine
John Woodvine is an English stage and screen actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles.-Early life:...

Billy Wilson Clive Russell
Clive Russell
Clive Russell is a British actor.Clive was born in Reeth, England and brought up in Fife, Scotland.He is a familiar face on British television and has appeared in numerous television series including Boys From the Black Stuff ,Hope And Glory, Neverwhere, Great Expectations, The Mists of Avalon,...

Eddie Jackson Steve Pemberton
Steve Pemberton
Steve James Pemberton is an English actor, comedian, writer and performer, most famous as a member of The League of Gentlemen along with fellow performers Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson.-Early life:...

Bonnie Tyler Rosamund Hanson
Rosamund Hanson
Rosamund Abigail Hanson is an English film and television actress who played the role of Michelle in 2006 film This Is England and its 2010 television sequel This Is England '86...

Jimmy Clifton Danny Martelli
Umi Karib Shireen Shah
Padraig Maguire Steven Robertson
Steven Robertson
Steven Robertson is a Scottish theatre and film actor.-Education:* Vidlin Primary School* Brae High School* Anderson High School, Lerwick* Fife College , Kirkcaldy...

Noel Maguire Neil Grades
Hazel Niky Wardley
Niky Wardley
Niky Wardley is an English actress. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.One of her best known parts was in The Catherine Tate Show as Lauren Cooper's best friend Liese Jackson, as well as other parts during the series.-Theatre:...

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