Storylines
Karl met his wife, Susan at university and they had three children together; Malcolm, Libby and Billy. After he is suspected of causing the death of a patient, Karl decides to move his family from the countryside to Erinsborough. The move is initially difficult on the family, but they eventually settle into the community. Karl goes into partnership with Tamsin Caldo (Soula Alexander) at the local medical centre. The children begin causing problems for Karl. Billy befriends Toadfish Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney), who Karl dislikes, while Libby falls for an older guy and Malcolm begins dating Danni Stark (Eliza Szonert). Karl becomes friends with his neighbours, Philip Martin (Ian Rawlings) and Lou Carpenter (Tom Oliver). He starts treating Kate Cornwall (Christie Sistrunk), a patient with an incurable disease. He develops a close friendship with her and just before she leaves, they share a kiss. When Kate dies, Karl struggles with his grief and admits to Susan that he was attracted to Kate. Karl's father, Tom (Bob Hornery), comes to stay with the family and he reveals he is not Karl's biological father. Karl assures Tom he will always consider him as his father, but he decides to track down his biological father, Ronald Davies-Smythe (Tony Hawkins). Ronald visits the family once, before dying.
Karl clashes with Libby's boyfriend, Darren Stark (Todd MacDonald), and a feud between Karl and Darren's mother, Cheryl (Caroline Gillmer) begins. They later call a truce and when Cheryl is knocked down by a lorry, Karl tries to help her. He gives her painkillers, but Cheryl dies. Karl later realises that Cheryl may have been allergic to the drugs he gave her and thinking he caused Cheryl's death, Karl stops practising medicine. However, when Karl saves Malcolm's life by performing a tracheotomy on him, he decides to resume practising medicine and takes over the lease on the surgery at the Lassiter's Complex. Karl allows Toadie stay with the family after his own family leave. When Malcolm leaves home, he sends his friend Joel Samuels (Daniel MacPherson) to Erinsborough to stay with Karl and Susan. Karl become attracted to his receptionist, Sarah Beaumont (Nicola Charles). He helps her to become a nurse and when he comforts her about a break up, they kiss. Karl tries to distance himself from Sarah, but she falls for him. Karl tells Sarah that he cannot be with her as he loves Susan. Toadie learns of the kiss and tells Billy, who then tells Susan. She slaps Karl across the face and asks him to leave.
Karl moves into a flat and the distance between Karl and Susan is widened when an old university friend, Martin Chester (Gil Tucker), arrives in Erinsborough and comforts Susan. She kisses Martin, but realises she loves Karl and they reunite. Sarah becomes engaged to Peter Hannay (Nick Carrafa) and on the day of her wedding, Karl gives her a lift. Following the wedding, Karl and Sarah kiss again, before Sarah and Peter leave for good. Karl clashes with new neighbour, Joe Scully (Shane Connor), over the boundaries of their households. Libby gets engaged to Drew Kirk (Dan Paris) and Karl gives her away at the wedding. A few months later, Karl, Susan and Libby attended Malcolm's wedding. Karl offers Susan's nephew, Darcy Tyler (Mark Raffety), a job at the surgery and they later become partners. Darcy tries to convince Karl to sell the practive to a private medical company, but Karl refuses and offers to buy Darcy out of the partnership. Susan slips on some spilt milk and develops retrograde amnesia, which causes her to lose thirty years of her memory. Susan rejects Karl as she cannot remember him and decides to divorce him. Drew dies and Karl supports Libby. Soon after, Susan falls in love with Karl again and they decide to remarry. Susan regains her memory half way through their vows.
Karl is fined for drink-driving after he has a few glasses of wine at a medical conference and is stopped by the police. He is banned from driving for six months and his fine is doubled when he attends court. Karl starts drinking behind Susan’s back and she suspects he is having an affair with Izzy Hoyland (Natalie Bassingthwaighte). Susan's suspicions grow when Karl begins to use breath freshener more often and arrives home at odd hours. However, she is forced to apologise after Karl assures her nothing is going on. Susan discovers Karl's drinking problem when she finds he has drunk a whole bottle of wine and all the scotch. Susan decides they should spend some time apart and she goes to Adelaide. Karl begins spending time with Izzy and when Susan returns, Karl asks her for a trial separation. He later admits that he no longer loves Susan and he moves out and rents a flat nearby. Karl has sex with Izzy and they begin a relationship. Izzy later announces she is pregnant. Susan takes the news badly as does Libby, Malcolm and Billy. Susan files for divorce and they divide their assets without lawyers. They share a kiss and decide to remain friends.
Karl proposes to Izzy, who accepts. After she falls down some steps and miscarries, Izzy begins staying out and partying, while Karl starts drinking again. They sort their issues out and decide to go ahead with the wedding. However, Izzy gets spooked by her ex-boyfriend, Gus Cleary's (Ben Barrack) presence and tries to leave. She returns and Karl forgives her. Karl goes away to the country for the weekend and he suffers a heart attack while changing a tyre on his car. Karl believes he is dying and calls Susan to tell her he loves her. The paramedics arrive and Karl is taken to Erinsborough Hospital, where Susan is waiting. Karl learns he was not the father of Izzy's child and they break up. Susan becomes engaged to Alex Kinski (Andrew Clarke), a man Karl is treating for terminal cancer. Karl urges Alex to tell Susan the truth about his illness, but he refuses. Karl then tells Susan the truth and encourages her to seize her chance of hapiness with Alex. Karl begins dating Jenny McKenna (Carrie Barr), but they break up when Jenny realises Karl still loves Susan. Karl acts as a witness at Susan and Alex's wedding and he comforts his former wife when Alex dies hours later.
Karl begins dating Jenny again and he asks her to move in with him. However, when Jenny's political career takes her away from Erinsborough more and more often, they break up again. Karl and Susan start growing closer and after they take care of Tom together, they kiss. They decide to get back together, but keep their relationship a secret from Susan's stepchildren, Rachel (Caitlin Stasey) and Zeke (Matthew Werkmeister). When the children find out, they find it hard to accept, but eventually give the relationship their blessing. Karl moves in with Susan and the children and quits medicine after a mistake on a paternity test. Karl decides to become self-sufficient and plants an organic vegetable patch in the back garden. During a trip to London, Karl and Susan run into a pregnant Izzy and they try to help her out. Karl proposes to Susan and they marry on a boat on the Thames. The ceremony is interrupted when Izzy turns up and goes into labour. Karl helps to deliver her daughter, who she names Holly (Chaya Broadmore). Susan learns Karl is Holly's father and she tells him when they return home. Karl then goes back to London to spend time with his daughter.
When he returns, Karl starts working for Vivex Pharmaceuticals company. He learns some of their drugs are faulty from Steve Parker (Steve Bastoni) and reports this to the company. Trouble-shooter Christian Johnson (Neil Pigot) arrives and tells Karl that some batches had a problem and that it was being dealt with. However, Karl and Steve become suspicious that there is a cover up going on and Karl decides to proof of corruption. Vivex promote Karl and give him his own personal assistant Julia Sanders (Raelene Isbester). Karl and Julia break into a warehouse and to find some proof, but they are caught by security. Julia reveals that Christian is planning to set Karl up and when he is arrested, she admits to the police that Karl is innocent and that she has proof that Christian set everything up. Susan is diagnosed with MS and Karl returns to work at the hospital to help out with their finances. Karl befriends Nicola West (Imogen Bailey) and when she takes blood from a patient without permission, he helps her cover it up. Nicola tries to blame her malpractice on Karl and he is suspended by the hospital board. However, Nicola later tells the board that she took the blood and Karl is reinstated.
Zeke goes missing following a rafting accident and Karl and Susan later find him living with Phil Andrews (Robert Mammone). They bring him home and realise he is suffering from amnesia. The family help Zeke recover his memories. A few months later, Karl realises Zeke is suffering from anxiety disorder and he takes him back to the scene of the rafting accident to help him. Karl begins writing a medical column for the local newspaper and he co-presents a radio show on PirateNet with Zeke. Karl is sacked from the radio show when he plays his own music, but Zeke begins a successful campaign for him to be reinstated. Karl suffers a health scare and is taken to the hospital, where he clashes with Doctor Doug Harris (Mahesh Jadu). Karl takes part in a Million Paws Walk with Dahl, the Galah, but Dahl goes missing and Karl blames Rebecca Robinson's (Jane Hall) cat. Lou finds Dahl and he and Karl compete to see who can attract her back. Dahl flies into Toadie's house and Toadie brings her back to Karl. Ringo Brown (Sam Clark) asks Karl to be his best man at his wedding to Donna Freedman (Margot Robbie). Karl is devastated when Ringo dies a few months later.
Karl and Susan compete for Citizen of the Year, but they both lose out to Lou. Following a fire at the Scully house, Karl comes up with a plan for a male nude calendar to help raise money for the repairs. He makes a bet with Jade Mitchell (Gemma Pranita), who is overseeing the women's calendar, that whoever raises the most money will win the Men's Shed. The women win, but after seeing the state of the shed, they give it back. When Karl thinks Libby is being consumed by work, he tries to set her up on a date with his colleague, Jonathan Swan (Gary Abrahams). Libby is embarrassed and she fakes a relationship with Lucas Fitzgerald (Scott Major) to get her own back. Susan invites Summer Hoyland (Jordy Lucas) to stay without consulting him and Karl later tells his wife that he thinks they are heading in different directions. He worries that he is not enough for her, but they make up and plan a holiday together. Karl gives Susan's friend, Jim Dolan (Scott Parmeter), some medical advice and manages to rile the new doctor, Rhys Lawson (Ben Barber). Malcolm returns home for a visit and detects all is not well with Karl and Susan. Karl becomes angry when he learns Susan wants to postpone their holiday to care for Jim.
Karl asks Jim to keep his distance from Susan for a while, but later confesses that he overreacted. Karl helps save Jim when he collapses and he later witnesses Susan kissing Jim. Karl and Susan leave the hospital to talk and Jim dies. Susan is angry with Karl for keeping her from Jim and she goes away to plan his funeral. Rhys covers for Karl when he makes a mistake on a prescription form. Karl joins Susan and on their return, they announce they have decided to separate. Malcolm initially blames Susan for the separation, but Karl tells him he initiated it. Karl learns Malcolm is having an affair with Jade and he orders them both to end it. Susan also finds out and is disappointed when she realises Karl knew. When they get stuck in a storage shed, Karl and Susan reminise about the past and they share a kiss, but Karl realises it was a goodbye and Susan moves out. Susan notices their dog, Audrey, is not well and she and Karl come together for her final days. Susan tells Karl that she wants Audrey to be buried somewhere that she can visit often. They argue, but put aside their differences when Audrey's body, which was placed in an esky, is collected by a hard rubbish collector. Karl rescues the esky and he and Susan bury Audrey at Sonya's (Eve Morey) nursery.
Karl goes on a date with his colleague Jessica Girdwood (Glenda Linscott). He cooks dinner for them the following day and at the end of the night, they kiss. Karl learns Jimmy Edwards, a friend from university, has died and he attends the funeral with Susan, where he sings a duet with Jimmy's widow, Valerie (Grace Knight). Karl later has dinner with Jessica, but feels like he is boring her with stories of Jimmy. He then invites Susan to share a drink with him at home. Jessica finds out about Karl and Susan spending the evening together and she tells Karl that he can have her or Susan, but not both. They later decide to end their relationship. Valerie sends Jimmy's drums to Karl and he decides to restart his band, The Right Prescription. He invites Adrian Pearce (Christopher Waters) and Ajay Kapoor (Sachin Joab) to join when he learns they can play the bass and drums respectively. Karl expresses a concern for Susan's health when he learns she has taken on extra work at the newspaper office, but she reassures him she is looking after herself. Susan informs Karl that she has a date and he invites her to watch The Right Prescription play their first gig at Charlie's. Karl bonds with Susan's date, Bernard Cabello (Bruce Alexander) and Andrew Robinson (Jordan Smith) offers to manage the band. Karl later diagnoses Andrew with epilepsy and encourages him to tell Paul. When Karl learns his airplane ticket is about to expire, he decides to go on holiday to Peru. Karl cuts his holiday short and reveals to Ajay that he missed having Susan with him. Karl decides to try online dating and Natasha finds him a match with Olivia Bell (Alyce Platt). Karl and Olivia go on a couple of dates, but Olivia tells him that there will not be a third one as he is looking for something more serious than she is. Susan's sister, Carmel (Kirsty Child), comes to visit and gets on well with Karl. He later invites her to move in with him when Ajay's wife goes to stay with Susan.
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