Every villain comes with a ticking clock, and Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard) is no exception. The question is, will he leave Coronation Street as a changed man… or in a box?
We don’t have many kind words for Carl here at Metro, and with good reason. Outside of Theo the abusive raging narcissist and predatory Megan the child-grooming teacher, he’s probably the most morally bankrupt individual walking the Cobbles right now. But he is SO much fun to hate.
How do we hate thee, Carl? Let me count the ways. First of all, he seduced his uncle Kevin Webster’s (Michael Le Vell) wife, then he did a hit and run on Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) that left him confined to a wheelchair. Then the coup de grace: he got plastered at his mum Debbie Webster’s (Sue Devaney) wedding and caused a multi-car pile-up that kills the local vicar, then took advantage of his mother’s dementia to gaslight the poor woman into going to prison for the crime. We don’t call him the Worst Webster for nothing.
However, despite the bible-sized list of lives he’s ruined, Coronation Street has created two good reasons to feel a smidgen of sympathy for Carl. One – he grew up believing that his mother was his sister. Pregnant at age 17, Debbie was unable to care for a baby so agreed to let her dad Bill Webster (Peter Armitage) and his partner Elaine (Judy Gridley) raise him as her sibling. This resulted in a difficult and estranged upbringing for Carl, as Elaine was emotionally distant and never approved of his cavalier lifestyle. Needless to say, the reveal that his big sis Deb was actually his mum turned Carl’s world upside down.
The second reason to feel bad for Carl is – he’s a massive loser. Even when Debbie was released from prison and her dementia got worse, it didn’t stop him from trying to con his own mother out of every last penny and her beloved charity street hotel. Despite the best efforts of Kevin and Debbie’s husband Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan) to make him disappear forever, it was ultimately Carl’s own repeated selfish actions that made his mum turn her back on him for good. She even paid him two grand to never darken her door again. Ouch.
But Carl still couldn’t take the L and move on. Not after Kevin stole back the ten grand and gave it back to Debbie. So the Worst Webster snuck into the garage to sabotage one of the cars Kevin was working on… only for Tyrone to knock the jack and send the vehicle crashing down on the slime-wrong’un. That’s Carl all over. A victim of himself. No matter how badly he hurts those around him, he’s the only one who ends up alone.
Will he ever find redemption? If he does, he better be quick. The villain’s exit is round the corner, as actor Jonathan Howard already confirmed the character’s departure in April. Of course, before Carl gets better, he’s going to get worse. Coronation Street bosses have already revealed that Carl will come crawling back to dodgy car dealer Fiona Morley (Sara Poyzer) in desperation for a bit of cash, which will lead to a gun finding its way into the garage during a tense showdown with Kevin, Tyrone and Ronnie.
The subsequent drama with the firearm leads to Carl owing Fiona big time and being in the gangster’s pocket, which Debbie is distraught to discover. With the end in sight, will Carl finally do right by his family and take responsibility for his actions? And no, I didn’t write that last line with a straight face…
