Karen Hollins

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Karen Hollins (also Teale) is a fictional character from the

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soap opera ''

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'', portrayed by

Jan Pearson Jan Pearson (born 12 April 1959) is an English actress, known for her roles as Kath Fox in the BBC medical drama ''Holby City'' and Karen Hollins in the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'', which she joined in February 2009. In 2010, Pearson won the aw ...

. Introduced as a receptionist at the fictional Mill Health Centre, Karen was created by series producer Peter Eryl Lloyd as a replacement for former receptionist

Vivien March Vivien may refer to: * Vivien (name), variant spelling * Vivien, Western Australia, an abandoned town in Australia * , a British destroyer launched in 1918 and sold in 1947 for scrapping See also * Saint-Vivien (disambiguation) * Vivienne * Viv ...

(

Anita Carey Anita Carey (born 16 April 1948) is an English actress, best known for playing Joyce Smedley in '' Coronation Street'' and later for playing Vivien March in '' Doctors''. Carey has appeared in British television programmes since the 1970s. Car ...

). She first appeared during the episode broadcast on 23 February 2009. Karen is the wife of police sergeant Rob ( Chris Walker) and the mother of Imogen ( Charlie Clemmow) and

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

(

Nicolas Woodman Nicolas Woodman (born 21 March 1986) is an English actor best known for playing Jack Hollins in the BBC soap, '' Doctors'' from 2009 to 2012. Television career Woodman started acting professionally in 2001 when he appeared at the Royal Festiv ...

). Karen is depicted as a hardworking person who cares about her job and the patients at the surgery, but someone who prioritises her family above her work responsibilities. Karen's storylines in the programme have included becoming a

healthcare assistant Unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) are paraprofessionals who assist individuals with physical disabilities, mental impairments, and other health care needs with their activities of daily living (ADLs). UAPs also provide bedside care—includ ...

, having an abortion, the breakdown and reconciliation of her marriage to Rob, becoming a foster parent, and having

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

after being involved a car accident. Pearson enjoys working with Walker to portray the fictional couple and they have stated that despite their numerous breakdowns, the pair will always be strong as a couple. Walker himself devised the storyline for Karen's memory loss and she was proud of the work that they both put into the year-long story arc. The pair received the

British Soap Award The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV and has been presented by Phillip Schofield since 2006. The trophies give ...

for Best On-Screen Partnership in 2010, as well as receiving another nomination in 2022. For her portrayal of Karen, Pearson has been nominated for various awards including the

British Soap Award for Best Leading Performer The British Soap Award for Best Leading Performer is an award presented annually by The British Soap Awards. The award was introduced to the ceremony in 2022, succeeding the categories for Best Actress and Best Actor as a gender neutral replac ...

and Best Female Acting Performance at the

RTS Midlands Awards The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Storylines

Karen is introduced as the head receptionist at the Mill Health Centre and the Campus Surgery at Letherbridge University. Karen tries to call her colleague

Cherry Clay '' Doctors'' is a British medical soap opera which began broadcasting on BBC One on 26 March 2000. Set in the fictional West Midlands town of Letherbridge, the soap follows the lives of the staff and patients of the Mill Health Centre, a fictio ...

(

Sophie Abelson Sophie Abelson is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Cherry Clay in the BBC soap opera '' Doctors'' from 2009 to 2012. For her role as Cherry, she received a nomination for the British Soap Award for Best Newcomer. Lif ...

) to tell her information about her boyfriend,

Scott Nielson '' Doctors'' is a British medical soap opera which began broadcasting on BBC One on 26 March 2000. Set in the fictional West Midlands town of Letherbridge, the soap follows the lives of the staff and patients of the Mill Health Centre, a fictio ...

(

Sam Heughan Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

). However, he had died, with Cherry at his apartment. The situation escalates into a fight in reception, and Karen is suspended by Dr. Heston Carter (

Owen Brenman Owen Brenman (born 17 December 1956, in London) is an English actor best known for his role as next-door neighbour Nick Swainey in the multi-award-winning BBC sitcom '' One Foot in the Grave'', which ran for ten years (1990–2000) and was wri ...

) but returns the following week. The next day, her son

(

Nicholas Woodman Nicholas D. Woodman (born June 24, 1975) is an American businessman, and the founder and CEO of GoPro. Early life and education Woodman is the son of Concepcion (née Socarras) and Dean Woodman.testosterone Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondar ...

to combat her early onset

menopause Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause usually occurs between the age of 47 and 54. Medical professionals often d ...

. Karen is approached by Gerry Cutler (

Steffan Rhodri Steffan Rhodri (born 1 March 1967) is a Welsh film actor, best known for portraying Dave Coaches on ''Gavin & Stacey'', Reg Cattermole in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' and as the voice of Drippy in '' Ni no Kuni: Wrath of ...

), the father of Lewis (

Alexander Vlahos Alexander Vlahos (born 30 July 1988) is a Welsh actor, writer, and director best known for playing Philippe, Duke of Orléans, in the Canal+ television series ''Versailles''. In 2012, Vlahos took over from Asa Butterfield in the role of Mordre ...

), Jack's friend from university. He asks if Lewis can stay at their house over the Easter holidays, to which she accepts. Unknown to the Hollins family, Lewis has mental health issues. As the week continues, his problems become clear, but Lewis covers his tracks very easily. After Karen sees a knife mark in her kitchen table, she knows it was done by Lewis. Imogen then realises that her art project has been tampered with, by Lewis. Jack is called to a fake interview at the university, which is later revealed to be Lewis holding people hostage with a gun. Rob runs inside despite being warned not to, and helps Karen to defeat Lewis. When Karen becomes pregnant, she does not want to have the baby, unlike husband Rob ( Chris Walker), who wants another child. She informs him that she wants to have an abortion, which he disagrees with. She has the termination, and as a result, their relationship is initially strained. After Karen stays with her father for a while, she returns and tells Rob that she wants to reconcile their marriage. After Rob saves her from a burning building, they have a romantic meal and eventually reconcile. Karen's friend Angie Briggs (Den Woods) attempts to get her to see other men, but Karen refuses and stays with Rob. After Rob accidentally hits Karen with his car, she develops

. She forgets who Rob and her children are and believes that she is 18. After she has recovered her memories and their children move out to attend higher education, Rob and Karen decide to become foster parents. Due to feeling incapable to be a foster parent, Rob meets with social worker

Jane Fairweather '' Doctors'' is a British medical soap opera which began broadcasting on BBC One on 26 March 2000. Set in the fictional West Midlands town of Letherbridge, the soap follows the lives of the staff and patients of the Mill Health Centre, a fictio ...

(

Patricia Potter Patricia Caroline Potter (born 3 March 1975) is an English actress, known for her role as Diane Lloyd in the BBC medical drama series '' Holby City''. From 2016 to 2017, she appeared in the BBC soap opera '' Doctors'' as Jane Fairweather. Per ...

) and lies to her by saying that Karen is unable to foster due to her amnesia. Jane informs Karen of this who is angry with Rob due to feeling responsible for his inabilities. When the pair foster

Jayden Hunt Jayden Hunt (born 3 April 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL), having previously played for the Melbourne Football Club. A defender, tall and weighing , ...

(Ciaran Stow), a 14-year-old with epilepsy, they look into getting him medical aid for his seizures. They discover that Jayden has been using Karen's money to buy marijuana, since it eases his condition. Rob warns him not to do it again due to his police career being put at stake, but Karen disagrees. She meets with Iris Nicholson (Jenny Stokes), a local drug dealer, to buy Jayden marijuana. She is stopped by Rob's colleague, Pat Dyson (Dawn Butler), who states that she will not tell Rob. However, Karen later confesses to Rob what she has done; he is angry with her decision to go behind his back.

Development

Casting and characterisation

When Pearson was cast in the role of Karen, she was aware that her character was set to be given a husband and children. Producers asked Pearson for suggestions on who should play Karen's husband, but she left it to the casting director, joking that it was like an arranged marriage. The Hollins became the first large family unit in the series; Pearson revealed that the writers had resisted their urges to give them problems, instead making them a healthy and functional family. Pearson grew up in

Wollaston, West Midlands Wollaston is a village on the outskirts of Stourbridge in the English West Midlands. It is located in the south of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, one mile from Stourbridge town centre. History Until 1974 when the West Midlands Metropolitan ...

, and was keen to represent their regional accent on television. She hoped people would not confuse her

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

accent for a Birmingham accent, but acknowledged that people outside of the West Midlands may not realise the difference. She added that she chose to tone down her accent when playing Karen due to fears of people not understanding her. Karen's

...
profile noted that while she is great with the patients at the surgery, she is a "complete

hypochondriac Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. An old concept, the meaning of hypochondria has repeatedly changed. It has been claimed that this debilitating cond ...

" who "won't hesitate to pester the doctors for a diagnosis". It added that while she is dedicated to her role in the surgery, she prioritises her family, so if there were to be a family emergency, Karen will be "straight out the door". On Karen becoming a

, the profile explained that although she appears confident while her job responsibilities increase, she does not have complete faith in her abilities, and if she feels it necessary she will seek advice from a more experienced colleague. Pearson initially found it difficult to portray the comedic side to the character, for she had not played a comedic role prior to ''Doctors''. She also appreciated how "comedic and camp" ''Doctors'' can be and noted how often she gets to dress up on the soap, with costumes including the

Mad Hatter The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Car ...

and a black PVC bondage suit. Pearson joked that although she loved it, she missed her nurse uniform from her time appearing as Kath Fox on ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

''.

Marriage to Rob and memory loss

Walker and Pearson spoke to

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

about their onscreen chemistry. Talking about their first scenes together, Walker said: "First day on set, in fact first scene it was, 'Hi I'm Chris', 'Hi I'm Jan', right get into bed. So that broke the ice." When asked why they work so well together on the soap, he explained: "I think that we're not precious with our own stuff and we always want to give and help each other and that's nice, and we do row very well." After Karen's abortion, her BBC profile explained that Rob's "uncompromising stance" on the decision to terminate the baby pushed Karen away from him emotionally. In 2021, Walker spoke again about their relationship to ''

Inside Soap ''Inside Soap'' is a weekly magazine published in the United Kingdom, released every Tuesday. It covers current and future storylines in soap operas in the United Kingdom, including '' Coronation Street'', ''Doctors'', ''EastEnders'', ''Emmerdal ...

'' after the pair had become experienced foster parents. While dealing with a difficult case involving a child with anger management issues, Karen hides details from Rob about the incidents. Walker stated that the situation would "cause friction" in their relationship, and compared the "different skills and different ways" that the pair deal with problems. However, Walker explained that despite the situation, they are still "so strong as a couple" and that with Rob and Karen, "you always get the feeling that they'll get through it somehow". After Karen becomes involved in a memory loss storyline, Pearson revealed that Walker had devised the storyline. Speaking to Digital Spy at the launch of Pentahotel Birmingham, Pearson explained: "The story has been hugely long and it's still going on. I've been filming it for a year now. It was very exciting because it was Chris's idea. I think his original idea was that Karen would be run over by some ex of Rob's. The producers didn't run with that, but they did run with the accident and the memory loss. I was utterly delighted that Chris was responsible for running me over! We now have a very playful banter over who's to blame for the situation!" Pearson also added: "We always knew that Karen and Rob were going to get back together in the end, but the break-up made a nice change from what we normally do. Because it was Chris's storyline and his idea, I really wanted to give it my best shot. What Chris came up with was very detailed - it was extraordinary. If the acting career doesn't work out for him, I think he's got a really good shot as a storyliner".

Reception

Alongside Walker, Pearson won the award for Best On-Screen Partnership at the

British Soap Awards The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV and has been presented by Phillip Schofield since 2006. The trophies give ...

. A year later, she was nominated for Best Storyline and Best Single Episode for her portrayal of Karen going through her pregnancy and eventual abortion storyline. Pearson was also nominated for Best Comedy Performance at the 2012 British Soap Awards. In 2014, Pearson received a nomination for Best Female Acting Performance at the

. As well as these nominations, Pearson has been longlisted for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

at the British Soap Awards four times; 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018. Following a change to Pearson's hair, Jane Corscadden of ''The Focus'' wrote that "she looks fantastic", with viewers echoing the comment. In 2022, Pearson was nominated for the

, as well as herself and Walker receiving another nomination for Best On-Screen Partnership.

References

External links

Karen Hollins
at

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollins, Karen Doctors (2000 TV series) characters Fictional receptionists Fictional characters with amnesia Female characters in television Television characters introduced in 2009