.
Character Profiles > Karl Kennedy Alan Fletcher

Dr. Karl Raymond Marx Kennedy 1994-
Lives: 28 Ramsay Street
Lived: Karl's apartment
Born: 1955
Parents: Molly Kennedy and Ronald Davies-Smythe (biological); Tom Kennedy (adoptive)
Marital Status: Susan Smith
Children: Malcolm, Libby, Billy and Holly
Family Tree: Kennedy
Occupation: Doctor at Erinsborough Medical Centre and Erinsborough & District Hospital, Handyman

A traditional and sometimes arrogant man who knows what he likes and often wants only what he likes, Karl Kennedy was born and raised in the country and often clashed with his father, Tom - a staunch socialist, who named Karl after Karl Marx. The tension between father and son lay in the fact that they had differing political beliefs and Karl also set his sights on life beyond the countryside.

When Karl began studying medicine at university, he met and instantly fell in love with Susan Smith, who was studying to be a teacher. The couple married while still struggling university students, and within a year of their vows, Susan gave birth to a son, Malcolm. Upon graduating, Karl and Susan set up home in the small country town of Greendale where Karl became the local GP and Susan postponed her teaching career to raise Malcolm and their subsequent children, Libby and Billy.

After 17 years in the town, Karl suddenly found himself having to make a hasty exit when he faced alienation from the locals after he was suspecting of causing the death of a patient. Karl immediately began to look for property in the city, and bought a four-bedroom house in Ramsay Street, Erinsborough - without even discussing it with Susan or the kids first. The move to Erinsborough proved to be a difficult one for the Kennedys at first. The kids were totally unimpressed with city life, and Karl himself was initially disliked by the neighbours, due to his slightly off-handed manner - a trait that didn't fit in with the way things run in the tightly knit community. However, within a few months, the Kennedys had become an integral part of life in Erinsborough. Susan became a teacher at the local high school, and Karl went into partnership in a medical practice with Dr. Tamsin Caldo at the old Robinson Corporation offices at Lassiter's Hotel Complex.

With the kids all grown up, Karl began to feel old and asked Susan to have another child. But Susan refused to even consider such an option since she had just returned to her teaching career after raising the three children. The couple went through a bad patch as both tried to come to terms with the other's point of view until Karl eventually relented, and realised he was being selfish to ask Susan to make such a huge sacrifice to her career again. Meanwhile, Karl still had plenty of strife with the three children he already had to keep himself busy. Malcolm started dating wild child Danni Stark from No. 22, 16-year-old Libby infuriated Karl when she fell for college graduate Luke Handley, and Billy began getting up to all sorts of mischief around Erinsborough with his mate, Toadfish Rebecchi - who Karl loathed. Karl's short temper always caused problems with his children, and he would regularly call family meetings to work out punishment for them whenever any of the kids played up.

It was Mal, though, who gave Karl the toughest time. Karl and Malcolm had always had the more strained relationship within the family, mainly due to the fact that Mal was very like Karl deep down, and as a result, clashed with him on nearly all issues. When Mal started sleeping with Danni, Karl was disgusted and tried to break the couple up. But Mal - and Susan - pointed out to Karl that he couldn't force Mal and Danni apart, since Malcolm was approaching 18. Karl relented but made it clear to Mal that Danni would not be spending the night in his bed while under his roof, prompting Mal and Danni to decide to move out on their own. Karl decided to try reverse psychology on the couple as opposed to he heavy-handed routine, and stunned Mal and Danni by giving them his blessing. He even went so far as to agree to pay their bond, much to the shock of Malcolm. However, Karl had actually banked on the reality of paying bills and fending for themselves persuading Malcolm to move back home. But his plan backfired, and Mal and Danni made a great success of living on their own. A disgruntled Karl had to swallow his pride and accept the couple's living arrangements, although Mal eventually returned to the family fold after he and Danni agreed their relationship would work better if they lived apart.

When Karl accompanied his neighbours and good friends, Philip Martin and Lou Carpenter on an outdoors pursuits weekend in the country, he was less than impressed with the activities organised by the camp. But when he himself was promoted to team leader, Karl's attitude changed completely and he embraced the 'back to nature' way of life. The weekend left such an impression on Karl that he returned to Erinsborough wanting to explore this new side of himself further by renouncing technology and going primitive. The rest of the family was horrified by Karl's decision, and they desperately tried to persuade him to change his mind. But Karl pressed ahead with his plans and changed the ways things were done all around the house, including cutting the plug off the television so the kids couldn't watch television. However, Karl missed his home comforts just as much as the rest of the family, and started watching an old portable television in his surgery on the quiet. It was only when Susan walked in and caught him with his feet up, enjoying the television, that Karl gave up on the 'back to nature' idea once and for all. In fact, he ended up embracing new technology in the weeks that followed after he bought a home computer for the family, and became hooked on Magic Carpet, a computer game that came with the PC.

Karl faced a huge challenge to both his marriage and his position as a doctor when he began treating Kate Cornwall, a woman in her thirties who was dying of an incurable disease. He began to develop a close friendship with Kate, and when Susan went away on a school trip to Kenya, Karl and Kate spent most evenings together, having dinner or seeing a movie. Kate eventually decided to spend her final days with her parents in Cairns, and although Karl was pleased that she was going to be with her family, he admitted that she meant a lot to him. Before leaving, Kate thanked Karl for all his support and guidance, and kissed him goodbye. And Karl - hesitant to let Kate go - kissed her back. When Kate died a few weeks later, Karl struggled to come to terms with his grief and aroused Susan's suspicions. Susan's frustration with Karl reached breaking point as he made preparations to fly up to Cairns for Kate's funeral and she confronted him about the feelings he evidently had for Kate. Karl finally relented and confessed that he had been attracted to Kate. Susan was stunned by the revelation, and Karl desperately tried to assure her that he had no intention of acting on those feelings because he was married to her. But Susan remained uneasy about the admission, and an air of uncertainty was left hanging in the air between the couple as Karl packed for Cairns.

Karl returned from the funeral distant and aloof, and Susan felt awful when he failed to even remember that it was Valentines' Day. The tension between Karl and Susan eventually escalated into a blazing row, which culminated in Susan storming out of the house. The row aroused the suspicions of the children, and they pressed Karl for an explanation. Karl refused to speak to them about the situation and left the house himself in search of Susan. He eventually found her down at Chez Chez, where he sat down and spoke openly for the first time about his feelings for Kate. Despite the hurt it was causing her, Susan assured Karl that she wanted to save their marriage and Karl insisted that Susan and the children were the only things that mattered to him. Susan agreed to work on solving the rift between them, and they returned home. But while they were out, Mal had become so suspicious that there was more to his father's relationship with Kate than friendship that he began looking through Karl's diaries for clues. When Karl walked in on Mal, he hit the roof, but realised that he would have to sit the kids down and explain the nature of the friendship he had with Kate. Susan supported Karl throughout the meeting, and made it clear to the kids that she was behind Karl fully. Libby and Billy accepted Karl's explanation, but Mal remained unconvinced there wasn't more to it. However, the next day, Karl had a heart to heart with Mal and managed to convince him once and for all that he was fully committed to the family.

Karl received a massive blow a few months later when Tom came to stay with the Kennedy family. While the rest of the family loved having him visit, Karl wasn't as pleased to see his father. Tom was not shy about speaking his mind to Karl and passing his Communist views on to Libby. But Karl received a huge shock when Tom sat him down one afternoon to confess that he wasn't his real father. Tom explained to a stunned Karl that his late mother had had a brief affair with a family friend shortly after they married, and when she discovered she was pregnant, Tom had agreed to stand by her and raise Karl as his own son. Although Karl felt contempt towards both his parents for lying to him all his life, he finally made his peace with Tom before he returned to the country, and assured him that he would always consider him as his father. Karl managed to track his biological father, Ronald Davies-Smythe, down a few months later, and was delighted when Ronald expressed a desire to keep in touch. Although he visited the rest of the family once, Karl didn't see any more of Ron afterwards, and he received word that he had died soon after.

When Danni Stark's older brother, Darren, was released from jail and began seeing Libby, Karl was furious at the idea of his daughter dating an ex-con. Karl and Darren immediately clashed - Karl thought Darren's criminal past made him a totally unsuitable partner for his beloved daughter while Darren found Karl judgemental and prejudiced. Karl did all he could to persuade Libby not to see Darren, particularly since her HSC was fast approaching, but Libby was determined to carry on seeing him. As the weeks passed, a feud had developed between the Kennedys and the Starks - although the bulk of the feud was between Karl and Darren's mother, Cheryl. Libby and Darren, meanwhile, became so tired of the incessant fighting between their families that they decided to move out and live together in a grotty bed sit. This led Karl and Cheryl to finally realise the couple were in love and they couldn't bear to see them living in such squalor. A truce was called between the parents, and Libby and Darren agreed to move back to their family homes.

However, tragedy struck when Cheryl was out walking with her infant daughter, Louise, and stopped to discuss the kids' return home with Karl. When Louise ran out in front of an oncoming lorry, Cheryl tried to save her and ended up being knocked down by the lorry herself. Karl immediately tried to help Cheryl by administering painkillers but the hit had been fatal and Cheryl died. Later that night, Karl realised that Cheryl could have been allergic to the drugs he had given her, and struggled to cope with the possibility that he might have actually caused Cheryl's death. When Karl broke the news to Cheryl's mother Marlene Kratz, she assured him that she would not hold him responsible, but Darren freaked out when he heard, and stormed over to the Kennedy house in a violent rage. As a result of Darren's reaction to the news, Karl opted to stay away from Cheryl's funeral and shocked Susan by announcing afterwards that he was quitting medicine.

Despite the family's attempts to talk him out of it, and even after the inquest into Cheryl's death found that she would have died from the injuries she sustained in the accident anyway, Karl stopped practising. Mal - who had been running a Handyman business with Darren - agreed to let Karl work with him on a job renovating the pub, but Karl proved himself to be unsuitable for the manual work required of him. However, Karl went on to save Mal's life by performing an emergency tracheotomy on him after a heavy plank of wood fell on him at the pub. The event demonstrated to Karl that he was still a capable doctor, and he agreed to return to practising medicine. He initially worked as a locum but after discovering that Dr. Caldo was selling the lease on the surgery at Lassiter's, Karl decided to take over the lease himself, and was soon back treating the ill of Erinsborough.

When Toadie Rebecchi's mother, Angie, announced that she was moving up north to run a roadhouse, Toadie was determined to stay behind in Erinsborough where all his friends were. Billy pleaded with his parents to let Toadie stay with them, but Karl was dead against the idea, especially after Toadie stayed on a previous occasion and caused various headaches for the family. But at the last minute, Karl had a change of heart, and agreed to let Toadie stay. A love/hate relationship developed between the two, with Toadie affectionately referring to him as 'The Doc'. In time, Karl grew to recognise that underneath his tough exterior, Toadie was actually a decent and caring young man, and as he matured, Karl increasingly came to look on Toadie as part of the family. Mal left Erinsborough in early 1997 to travel around Europe with his girlfriend, Catherine O'Brien, but his bedroom wasn't empty for long, as he later sent Joel Samuels, a friend he had met on his travels, to Erinsborough to stay with Karl and Susan.

Karl's marriage faced its biggest crisis when he became attracted to his receptionist, Sarah Beaumont - the sister of Mal's girlfriend Catherine. Having helped her with her plans to become a nurse, and partnered her on the hospital's golf team, Karl grew increasingly attracted to Sarah, and she sought comfort in him after the break up of her relationship with Matt Compton. As Karl comforted an upset Sarah at the surgery one afternoon, they kissed, and set in motion a chain of events that would have massive repercussions for the Kennedy family for years to come. Karl initially tried to distance himself from Sarah after the kiss, and she, too, agreed that it had been a huge mistake and nothing could come of it. But as the months went by, Sarah found herself falling in love with Karl, and she was forced to tell him about the extent of her feelings. Karl told Sarah that, although, he was attracted to her too, he couldn't contemplate embarking on a relationship with her because Susan meant so much to him. The situation was complicated further when Toadie, who had been sharing No. 30 with Sarah since starting uni, found out about the kiss between Karl and Sarah, and he furiously rejected Karl.

Unable to cope with the intensity of her feelings for Karl any longer, Sarah packed her things and left Erinsborough. Karl felt terrible after hearing she had left town on his account, and he went off in pursuit of her. After finding Sarah at a caravan park outside of town, Karl managed to persuade her to return to Erinsborough, and they stopped at a motel on the way home for dinner. Karl had some wine with his meal, and decided it would be better if he and Sarah stayed overnight - in separate rooms - as opposed to driving. Sarah reluctantly agreed, and as they said goodnight, both Sarah and Karl lingered a moment, before Karl made his way to his room. The next day, they returned to Erinsborough, but Karl's car broke down on the way, and they were late getting back for the wedding of Philip Martin and Ruth Wilkinson.

Unbeknown to Karl, Toadie had mistakenly thought that Karl and Sarah were resuming their affair after hearing that Karl was away for the night, and he told a disgusted Billy what he knew. Billy in turn broke the news to Susan, who was devastated by the revelation. Putting a brave face on for the wedding, Susan headed down to Lassiter's Lake alone, and was cold towards Karl, when he arrived just as the nuptials were starting. Karl figured Susan was simply angry with him for being late, but the truth was revealed to him back at the Kennedy house when Billy confronted Karl about his relationship with Sarah A horrified Karl scrambled to explain things to Billy, and was
faced with the impossible task of assuring a furious Susan that nothing was going on when she arrived home. Susan went into a seething rage when Karl admitted that he and Sarah had kissed, and she was further infuriated to learn that it had happened six months previous. Feeling like she had been played for a fool all along, Susan slapped Karl across the face, and demanded he get out of the house.

Karl was forced to rent a flat nearby, and desperately tried to convince his family that nothing was going on with him and Sarah. Susan didn't want to know him, and Libby rejected her father outright on discovering the news. Billy, however, was more sympathetic to Karl, and was the first Kennedy to forgive him for what had happened. The distance between Karl and Susan was widened when their old uni friend, Martin Chester, arrived in Erinsborough and comforted Susan as she coped with the separation. But after she kissed Martin, Susan realised that Karl was the only man for her, and she made moves to patch things up with him. In time, Susan invited Karl to move back into No. 28, and they reunited.

Sarah's presence next door proved to be a constant source of discomfort for the couple, and they were both relieved when she became engaged to Dr. Peter Hannay, and they made plans to move to Holland. As the day of the wedding drew nearer, Susan looked forward to finally being able to move on, and even agreed to go to the wedding to put closure on the animosity between her and Sarah. But when Sarah's ride to the church on the morning of the wedding was cancelled at the last minute, she was forced to ask Karl for a lift, since he was the only resident not yet gone to the church. Although reluctant, Karl wouldn't see Sarah stuck and drove her. Susan and Libby were furious when they saw Karl arrive at the church with Sarah in tow, but after he explained things to them, they realised it was all perfectly innocent. However, when Karl went to see Sarah alone out the back of the church and wish her the best of luck for the future, the attraction between the two resurfaced once more, and they kissed passionately, before Sarah and Peter left Erinsborough for good. Racked with guilt in the weeks after Sarah's wedding and departure, Karl's relationship with Susan became strained again, and Susan suggested they see a marriage guidance councillor. Although Karl was initially reluctant, he agreed to the sessions, and they succeeded in getting the marriage back on track.

When the Kennedys' long-time next door neighbours the Martins moved away, Karl was less than pleased with the Scully family, who moved in instead. He felt they were too brash and loud, and he was particularly unimpressed with the head of the household, Joe Scully. Builder Joe was the polar opposite of Karl, and they both developed a mutual dislike of each other straight away. Karl's nose was put out of joint when the cricket club voted for Joe as coach instead of him. And Karl was furious when Joe declared that the Kennedys were taking up 46cm of his land, resulting in a boundary dispute erupting between the two households. Susan and Joe's wife Lyn tried to find a way of getting Karl and Joe to sit down and discuss the dispute and decided to call a halt on their respective sex lives until they talked to each other. This led to a meeting being quickly called by both men, but it proved inconclusive with Joe insisting that the land was his and Karl claiming the council said it wasn't. The matter appeared to be resolved when Karl suggested selling the disputed land to Joe, and Joe agreed. But just after Joe gave Karl a cheque for the land, the Kennedys were shocked when Paul McClain told them that he had accidentally seen Joe's plans for a second residence on the property. Karl angrily confronted Joe over his plans to subdivide No. 26 and insisted that he take the cheque back for the land, but Joe refused. Karl then set about rallying the other neighbours against Joe's proposal. But the dispute finally ended when the land titles office informed Joe that all the houses in Ramsay Street from No. 30 round to No.22 were 46cm out - much to the delight of Karl, who took great pleasure in seeing Joe's plans to subdivide scuppered.

When Billy left Erinsborough to work as an apprentice cabinetmaker in Queensland, Karl and Susan were left with only Libby at No. 28. But Libby was also making plans to fly the nest after getting engaged to Drew Kirk. Karl was thrilled with Libby's choice of husband, however, and Drew became like a son to Karl. As the wedding plans got underway, however, Libby dreaded telling the notoriously tight with money Karl exactly how much the wedding was going to cost. But after pressure from Drew and Susan, she finally showed him the figures and was thrilled when Karl agreed to foot the bill. However, Karl confessed to Susan that he was beginning to fear how expensive the wedding was going to be. Ultimately, the wedding was not to be when only weeks before the big day, Libby was involved in a serious bike accident with Stephanie Scully. Luckily, Libby survived, but Karl was forced to break the devastating news to his daughter that she would most likely never be able to have children as a result of the accident. Libby took the news very badly, and even called off the wedding with Drew, thinking that he would not want to be lumbered with a wife who couldn't give him any children. However, in time, Libby came to realise that Drew loved her unconditionally, and they finally married in February 2001, with a proud Karl giving his precious daughter away. And despite Susan and Libby's concerns that he would stuff it up in the weeks leading up to the wedding, Karl also got to deliver a touching speech at the wedding reception in which he thanked Libby for the 22 years of joy she had given him and Susan, and welcomed Drew into the Kennedy family. Another wedding in the Kennedy family followed a few months later when Mal married Catherine in London, and Karl, Susan and Libby flew to the UK for the occasion. The trip did re-open some old wounds for Karl and Susan, however, because Sarah was also at the wedding.

When Karl started working as team doctor for the Eastside Dingoes, Paul McClain's footie team, he came into conflict with the coach, Pat Miller, after suspecting him of encouraging his players to use steroids. Karl's worst fears were confirmed when Pat tried to convince him not to have Nathan Tyson, the team's star player, take part in an impending series of blood tests for fear of blackening the name of the team. Karl agonised over what to do, and tried to persuade Nathan to start a rehabilitation programme. But Nathan proved to be a difficult patient for Karl and was less than willing to co-operate with him. Paul, meanwhile, was failing to get the chance to play as a result of Pat's fury over Paul and Karl's concerns about the steroid use, and Karl, having stood by and watched Pat's bullying tactics for long enough, accused him of being an unfit coach. Karl then handed in his resignation, along with a letter to the sporting authorities telling them about Pat's support of drug use among his players.

Karl feared for Libby's safety when she discovered she was pregnant and was told by her doctors that carrying the child to full term could kill her. Karl, Susan and Drew all initially tried to talk Libby out of her decision to continue with the pregnancy, but she was determined to take the risk. Karl eventually appreciated how much the baby would mean to Libby, and he agreed to support her through the pregnancy. The family's worst fears were realised when Libby flatlined after giving birth to a baby boy, but she was revived by the doctors and survived the ordeal and a delighted Karl was thrilled to be a grandfather for the first time. A scramble for a suitable name ensued, with Karl unsuccessfully trying to get his name in somewhere along the line. Libby and Drew eventually settled on Ben, and Karl was pleased that the Kennedy name was featured at least, when they agreed to give it to Ben as a middle name.

When Susan's nephew Darcy decided to settle in Erinsborough, Karl was thrilled at the idea. Darcy was also a doctor, and Karl was very fond of him, particularly since his own sons hadn't followed him into the medical profession. Karl quickly offered Darcy a job at the surgery with the possibility of him becoming a partner in the practice further down the line. However, Darcy's first day on the job proved problematic when he overcharged a patient for a consultancy, and the surgery was reported to the Medical Board. Karl assured Darcy that he didn't suspect him of impropriety, but nonetheless, the episode caused Karl to have some doubts about whether or not he should have offered Darcy the partnership after all. However, Darcy managed to persuade Susan to put pressure on Karl into going ahead with the partnership deal, and Karl eventually agreed to make Darcy a partner. Karl organised a celebratory meal at Lou's Place to celebrate the partnership, which Darcy's girlfriend, Dee Bliss saw as the perfect opportunity to expose Darcy as a lying cheat in front of everyone by revealing he had been seeing Tess Bell behind her back. Karl was furious with Darcy but Susan leaped to his defence and when Karl started reconsidering the partnership, Susan reminded Karl about Sarah. Karl was annoyed with Susan for throwing Sarah in his face, and she apologised to him, before Karl agreed to forget about the incident and agreed to keep the partnership with Darcy going.

Within weeks of becoming a partner, Darcy began trying to convince Karl to transform the practice into a state of the art super clinic, and he persuaded Karl to attend a seminar on the super clinic, and arranged for an old friend, Victor McMillan, to fill in as locum while he was away. Upon Karl's return, Darcy tried to convince him to add Victor to the practice as a third partner, but Karl objected to the idea. Meanwhile, Dee discovered that Darcy was planning to oust Karl from the surgery after she went on a date with Victor, and he told her all, not realising that she knew the Kennedys. Dee threatened to tell Karl and Susan about Darcy's plans, but he rushed to tell them first, and softened the blow by only telling them he was having talks with Total Cover Health - a massive super clinic chain - with a view to them buying the surgery for $1.6 million. While Susan was open to Darcy's idea, Karl was completely opposed to the idea because selling out to a private medical company was totally against his principles as a doctor. Karl offered to buy Darcy's half of the practice back to end any further moves by Darcy to sell out. But Karl was stunned when Darcy announced that he wanted $800,000 for his share of the practice since Total Cover Health had valued the surgery at $1.6 million. Karl was outraged by Darcy's demand because he had originally only invested $10,000 and accused Darcy of turning his back on his family and betraying the love and support he and Susan had always given him. Karl's fury increased when Dee told him that Darcy had been in negotiations with Total Cover Health about the sale of the surgery for months rather than over the last week as Darcy had led Karl and Susan to believe. Even more infuriated by Darcy on hearing the latest twist to the saga, Karl told Susan, who finally had to accept that her nephew wasn't the angel she had believed him to be. While Susan was stunned by his audacity and betrayal, Karl was more annoyed over Susan's refusal to accept his past suspicions about Darcy until that point. Susan apologised to Karl for being so blind to Darcy over all the months, and he forgave her, before admitting defeat and deciding to sell the surgery to Total Cover Health after all.

Darcy was thrilled when Karl told him that he had decided to give up the fight and agreed to sell and he immediately tried to get back into Karl and Susan's good books, proclaiming that it was going to be the best thing that had ever happened to them all. As a disgusted Karl and Susan watched as Darcy indulged himself with a flash car in anticipation of the sale, they ended up having the last laugh when Total Cover Health pulled out of the sale at the last minute having secured a cheaper surgery nearby. Karl then agreed to pay Darcy the $10,000 he had originally invested in the surgery, so that he could put the whole incident behind him once and for all. But as they drove to the solicitors to dissolve the partnership, Karl and Darcy witnessed a building collapse on a construction site, and rushed to save the workers trapped inside. As they pulled the men to safety, part of a wall fell on Karl, and Darcy pulled him to safety. The act had redeemed Darcy to some extent in Karl's eyes, and he agreed to let him stay on at the surgery. However, Karl never trusted Darcy in the same way again, and developed more of a love/hate relationship with him from then on.

The Kennedy family faced a massive upheaval when Susan slipped on some milk one afternoon and developed retrograde amnesia, which led her to lose thirty years of her memory. The drama began when Karl realised Susan was late for a party at the pub to launch a charity calendar for the church in which Karl had posed as a Roman senator. After she failed to show, Karl returned home to see what had happened, and Susan explained that she had slipped and hurt her head. Karl insisted on her going down to the hospital for a check-up as a precaution, and after Susan was given the all clear, she returned home and went to bed. But the next morning, Susan woke up with no idea of where she was, and failed to recognise any of her surroundings. When Steph Scully noticed her wandering around Ramsay Street in her pyjamas, she called Karl at work, and he rushed over to see what was going on. Karl was horrified when Susan had no idea who he was, and ran away from him in terror. After Libby showed up and managed to calm Susan down, she persuaded her to go to hospital, where the doctors diagnosed her as suffering from the rare form of retrograde amnesia which meant Susan thought she was 16 years of age again, and the year was 1972.

The rejection Karl suffered from Susan as a result of the amnesia was cruel and devastating. She couldn't bear to be in the same room as him and wouldn't trust him, and most upsetting for Karl, their whole marriage suddenly ceased to exist for Susan. And when Susan went missing for several weeks in search of her childhood sweetheart Craig Benson, Karl was even questioned by the police, who were considering him as a suspect in her possible murder. Susan finally showed up safe and well three weeks later, having tracked Craig down, and she stunned Karl by announcing she wanted to start her life from scratch, away from Karl. Karl was devastated as she even pleaded with Craig to take her back to his farm with him. Craig, however, realised that Susan belonged with Karl, and was only clinging to him because he was the only boyfriend she could remember, and left Erinsborough in the hope that Susan could focus on her present instead of her past. Karl then set about trying to help Susan remember as much as she could, and was thrilled when she started to experience some flashbacks.

However, just as Susan was beginning to trust Karl at last, she remembered slapping Karl across the face, and the feelings of hurt and anguish that had gone with it. When she questioned Karl about the memory, he was forced to tell her all about Sarah, which only served to renew Susan's mistrust of Karl. The new information led to Susan deciding she wanted a divorce from Karl, and Karl almost gave up completely when she started meeting with solicitors and talking about how to divide up their property. But another flashback changed things once again, when Susan remembered having sex with Karl, and experienced feelings of intense love for him. Karl instantly got his hopes up when Susan told him about this memory, but she later admitted that she only remembered being in love with him, and was not in love with him anymore. However, Susan's attitude towards Karl started to soften in the wake of this memory, and when he asked her to the Medical Ball, she gladly accepted. Karl managed to make the evening really special for Susan, and they finally looked set to get back on track.

But in the midst of the amnesia crisis, the Kennedy family was dealt another huge blow when Drew tragically died after falling from a horse while visiting his hometown of Oakey. Karl was faced with the daunting prospect of trying to comfort his heartbroken daughter in her hour of need - a time when Libby needed Susan most, and she wasn't fully there for her. Nonetheless, Karl supported Libby through the ordeal, and delivered a poignant eulogy to Drew at his funeral, in which Karl revealed he had proudly regarded him as a son. In the weeks that followed, Susan became more and more aware of her place in the lives of both Karl and Libby, and started to see more and more aspects of Karl's character that she liked. One evening, while they looked after Ben for Libby, they kissed, and Karl was thrilled when Susan agreed to start seeing him again. Susan eventually agreed to move back into the Kennedy house, although initially only into Billy's bedroom. Libby and Ben also moved back into No. 28 at the same time, making Karl a very happy man again, after months living alone. And when Susan and Karl started sleeping together again, Karl was hugely relieved that his wife had finally learnt to trust and love him again. Soon after, Karl asked Susan to remarry him again, and he was thrilled when she accepted.

The couple remarried in a beautiful ceremony at Lassiter’s Hotel, made even more special by Susan regaining her memory half way through the vows. But just as the Kennedys were putting the horrors of the past six months behind them and starting off all over again, a blast from the past threw a spanner in the works. Karl was horrified when, on the evening of their wedding, he answered the phone and heard Sarah’s voice on the other end. Panicked, he hung up and told Susan it had been a wrong number. But when Susan answered the phone the next time it rang and discovered it was Sarah wanting to speak to Karl, Susan realised it must have been her the first time and told Sarah Karl wasn’t there. Karl scrambled to assure Susan he had no idea why Sarah was calling him, and apologised for lying beforehand about who had called. The honeymoon period quickly soured, Susan told Karl to phone Sarah back so that they could find out what she wanted and put it all behind them as quickly as possible. There was relief all round when Karl discovered Sarah had simply been phoning for a reference from Karl, since she had split up with Peter and needed to return to the workforce. Feeling somewhat guilty for immediately coming down hard on Karl when Sarah called, Susan decided to try and make light of the situation by making some humorous adjustments to the reference Karl typed up for Sarah. Adding in references to a drink problem and poor time keeping, Susan thought her jokes would assure Karl she didn't have a problem with him giving his former receptionist a reference. But Karl didn’t bother reading over the reference one last time before he posted it, and it ended up arriving in England complete with Susan's additions. Karl was furious with Susan when he realised what she had done, and he was forced to call Sarah to explain, as well as send the proper reference immediately afterwards. Luckily, Sarah saw the funny side to the joke, and sent several bags of manure to the Kennedy household a few days later to have her revenge.

Karl and Susan were delighted when Libby agreed to move back in with them at No.28, because it meant that they would get to spend plenty of time with their grandson. However, Libby quickly tired of her parents interference in her life when they expressed their concern over her growing closeness to Stuart Parker, Drew’s mate from Oakey. The problem started when Stuart told Karl about an eternity ring Drew had put on lay by for Libby in advance of her next birthday, and Stuart wanted to pay it off and give it to Libby - from Drew - for her birthday. Karl disagreed with the idea, thinking it would be too traumatic for Libby to deal with, and he voiced his disapproval to Stuart. But Stuart was sure it was the right thing to do, and wet ahead and presented the ring to Libby on her birthday. Although Libby was upset, she was also hugely comforted by the gift and was thrilled with Stuart for doing it. Karl, on the other hand, was disgusted with Stuart for going against his wishes and angrily confronted him. When Libby got wind of the situation, she was furious with Karl for trying to decide what was right for her. Although nothing ever actually happened between her and Stuart, Libby warned Karl and Susan that if they interfered again in her life, she would move out.

When Karl innocently wagered a bet with Susan that he could go a fortnight without drinking alcohol, little did either of them realise the enormous ramifications it would have on their lives. To start with, Karl ended up being fined for drink-driving after he had a few glasses of wine at a medical conference one afternoon. Unwilling to tell Susan he had given in on their wager, he opted not to tell her and foolishly got behind the wheel of his car to pick her and Libby up. After they came across a police checkpoint, Karl was breathalysed and charged with drink-driving. Although he was embarrassed and ashamed to have been caught under the influence, he was also annoyed because it meant he had lost his bet with Susan and had proved he couldn’t last a week without a drop of wine. However, that was the least of Karl’s problems when he realised he was facing a six month driving ban, too. Unable to handle the shame, Karl only told Susan and Libby about the fine - until he lost his temper with Susan in the midst of an argument and admitted he faced a ban. Susan was more shocked by Karl’s readiness to lie to cover his apparent reliance on alcohol, but they eventually both put it down to stress and Karl’s decision to go on a health drive and give up alcohol altogether looked like the end of the matter.

Meanwhile, the court case resulted in Karl being banned for six months as predicted and his fine doubled. It took him a few weeks to adjust to having no car, as well as cope with the local gossips having a field day at the predicament the supposed pillar of the community found himself in. Karl soon found himself with more pressing matters, however, when word reached him that his beloved Aunt Enid was dying. At her request, Karl flew out to New Jersey to be with her in her final weeks, and it came as a huge shock to Karl after her death to learn she had bequeathed him jewellery worth nearly $100,000. Karl and Susan were soon making plans to buy their much dreamed of holiday home out of the money, but unbeknown to them Darcy was experiencing severe financial difficulties after falling into debt through a gambling addiction. In a moment of sheer desperation, Darcy broke into the Kennedy house and stole the jewels, seeing it as his only way out of the hole he had dug for himself. In order to make it look like a ‘normal’ burglary, Darcy also stole Susan’s wedding and engagement rings that she had left by the sink, and messed the house up a bit, even breaking a vase that had belonged to his own grandmother.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later that Karl and Susan realised Darcy had been the burglar when they invited him over to dinner and he tried to use it as a chance to in some way return Susan’s rings to her. After Karl accidentally spilt some wine as he was topping up Darcy’s glass, Darcy reached for a tissue in his pocket and pulled out the wedding ring by mistake. As it landed in the centre of the kitchen table, Karl and Susan looked on in shock as the penny dropped. Darcy struggled to explain himself to Susan and Karl, insisting he had no other choice and was insane at the time, but Susan wouldn’t hear any of it and demanded Darcy just got out. He was arrested as he left the Kennedy house, because Dee had reported him to the police after he had confessed all to her a few days before. Karl and Susan visited him a few days later, in the hope that they could find closure on the situation. Susan broke down and ran out in tears at the sight of her nephew being led out of his cell by prison officers - leaving a truly disgusted Karl with the chance to give Darcy a piece of his mind once and for all, venting all the anger and frustration he felt towards him since the days when Darcy plotted to sell the surgery out from under him. Karl and Susan clashed over Darcy one final time when his trial began a few months later and Carmel began calling them, pleading with them to go easy in their testimonies. Karl was furious at Carmel’s cheek after everything Darcy had done to them, but Susan - as always with Darcy - began to feel sorry for him.

Always happy to take in a stray teen in need, the Kennedys offered Lori Lee a room when she discovered her boyfriend Jack Scully had been two-timing her with Nina Tucker. Karl and Susan eventually asked Lori to consider making her stay with them more permanent, but she had second thoughts after stumbling across a naked Karl in the kitchen in the middle of the night. Embarrassed by the incident, Karl avoided mentioning it to Lori at the breakfast table the next day, although he was even more embarrassed when he saw Lori obviously joking with Joe about it later. Lori finally agreed to stay after Susan promised to have a word with Karl about the importance of wearing pyjamas when wandering around the house at night. Karl proved to be of huge support to Lori a few months later, meanwhile, when she discovered she was pregnant after a one-night stand with Connor O’Neill.

On top of Karl’s ever increasing habit of having the odd drink behind Susan’s back, the arrival of Isabelle Hoyland in Erinsborough put a huge strain on the Kennedy’s marriage. Izzy was flirty, seductive, confident and extremely attractive, and wasted no time in making her presence felt around Ramsay Street, having moved in with her brother Max and his kids at No.32. Susan took an immediate dislike to her, but Karl was instantly smitten. And with Izzy working at the Coffee Shop as well as living two doors down, she was to become a regular feature in the lives of Karl and Susan. Susan proved herself to be still insecure about her husband’s fidelity when she began to suspect Karl of having an affair with Izzy. Her suspicions arose when Karl skipped a medical conference to make chocolates with Izzy at the Coffee Shop all day, and then lied to Susan about his whereabouts. And when Karl began to use breath freshener a lot, and arrive home at odd hours, Susan - unaware that this was due to his secret drinking - was sure he was seeing someone else. She finally confronted Karl when an anonymous note was posted under the Kennedys door asking her if she knew what her husband was up to. Karl was furious when Susan asked him if he and Izzy were having an affair, and Susan was made to feel awful when it emerged the note had come from Harold’s granddaughter Sky, who had suspected Karl and Izzy were seeing each other after overhearing Izzy calling someone ‘Doctor Love’ on the phone. Susan was forced to apologise to both Karl and Izzy when the truth about Sky was uncovered, although a dark cloud of suspicion continued to plague Susan that Karl was up to something he shouldn’t have been.

After Lori returned to her family in New Zealand, the next local teen to be taken in by the Kennedys was Taj Coppin. Susan offered Taj a room at No.28 after his parents moved inter-state so that he could stay on at Erinsborough High in the final months leading up to his final exams. Karl, however, had issues with Taj moving in given the history he had with Libby. Taj had fallen in love with Libby while she was his teacher at Erinsborough High, and it had culminated in the pair sleeping together. Although Karl had understood and supported Libby throughout the ordeal, it had resulted in Libby moving to Adelaide to take up another teaching post, and Karl found it hard to not hold Taj partly responsible for his daughter and grandson moving away. However, Karl’s real problem with Taj lay in the fact that Taj had stumbled upon Karl’s growing alcoholism. Having seen his own father battle alcohol addiction years before, Taj knew all the signs and after catching Karl having a sly glass of wine one too many times, he confronted him about his problem. Karl, however, was convinced he had no problem, and told Taj to keep his nose out of matters that didn’t concern him. The tension between the pair resulted in Taj moving in with Toadie and Connor next door, leaving Susan puzzled as to what had gone wrong.

Susan was delighted when Karl whisked her off for a weekend retreat to their old hometown of Greendale, and it seemed that whatever had been bothering Karl in recent weeks had faded away. But Karl was soon plagued with a slight depression and dissatisfaction with his life after being reminded how great things were in Greendale and meeting up with the now very successful GP who had taken over his old practice. And still unable to avoid having a drink, Karl spent a few hours in the local tavern having a few glasses of wine while Susan thought he was out having a jog. Karl was shocked when Izzy appeared in the pub - and he feared she would tell Susan she had seen him drinking. But when Karl discovered that Izzy was in Greendale for the weekend with her secret young lover Jack Scully, both Karl and Izzy agreed to keep each other’s secrets.

But Karl’s drinking problem was finally discovered by Susan when she came home unexpectedly one night just as Karl had finished a whole bottle of red wine. What bothered Susan most about the discovery that Karl was drinking was the fact that he felt he couldn’t simply be honest with her and tell her he fancied a drink of wine. But after Karl assured Susan that it was the first time he had ‘fallen off the wagon’ since he had given up drink, she calmed down, and Karl felt hugely relieved that he could now enjoy a glass of wine with Susan again. But when Jack bumped into Susan in the Coffee Shop and mentioned he had seen Karl in the pub in Greendale, Susan was shocked. She stormed home to confront Karl about his lies, and a flustered Karl knocked over the decanter of scotch that rested on the sideboard in the midst of the argument. This innocent accident revealed to Susan the extent of Karl’s problem when she realised the scotch that had spilled all over the floor wasn’t scotch at all - it was tea, which Karl had cunningly filled the decanter with after drinking all the scotch.

This revelation led to Susan really questioning what was going on with Karl, and she decided it would be best if they spent some time apart. Karl agreed, and opted to stay in Erinsborough while Susan went up to Adelaide for a family Christmas with the kids. In her absence, Karl relied on Izzy for company and the two began to spend more and more time together. This led to suspicion throughout the neighbourhood that the two were having an affair, and matters weren’t helped when Mal travelled down from Adelaide to see why Karl hadn’t accompanied Susan to the family reunion. Mal was disgusted to observe Izzy waltz in the front door of the Kennedy house without knocking, and with his suspicions aroused, he followed Karl out later that night, only to find him meeting Izzy for drinks in a bar. When Mal finally confronted Karl about his relationship with Izzy, he insisted that they were simply friends. Susan’s returned a few days later, but a distance remained evident between her and Karl. It was only when Audrey was accidentally run over by Mal that the couple were brought closer together again, and by the time Mal was leaving for London once again, it seemed that all was well with his parents’ marriage as they had begun to engage in their traditional banter-filled exchanges. But no sooner was Mal on the airplane than Karl announced to a devastated Susan that he hadn’t missed her over the holidays and had actually enjoyed the space and time to himself. And he stunned Susan by telling her he wanted a trial separation.

In a last ditch attempt at salvaging their marriage, Karl agreed to attend counselling sessions. But while Susan was filled with enthusiasm about the sessions, Karl’s heart simply wasn’t in it and he begun to try and avoid them as much as possible. Matters came to a head when Karl finally admitted at one of the sessions that he didn’t love Susan anymore. Within weeks, Karl had moved out of the family home and rented a flat nearby and although he was devastated at saying goodbye to his wife of almost thirty years, he couldn’t help but love the new found freedom that had been afforded to him. His flat quickly became something of a bachelor pad, where he could play his guitar and write his music as much as he wanted. As time passed, it looked as though he and Susan would never get together again, especially with Isabelle Hoyland around.

Although Izzy rejected a pass from Karl one night, she changed her mind about him when she discovered she was pregnant with Gus Cleary’s child. Gus was a real psycho, and Izzy had broken up with him by the time she realised she was expecting, but she knew she had to keep the baby because her doctors had told her she may never conceive again. So, Izzy decided to let Karl think he was the father of the baby because she knew he would love and support her. She quickly put her plan into action by calling into the flat and having a few bottles of wine with Karl, which ended with them sleeping together. Before too long, Izzy was professing her love for Karl and once sufficient time had passed, announced that she was pregnant.

Although a little shocked by the news, Karl quickly came around to the idea of starting a family with Izzy. But word soon started to filter out about the couple's news after Max and Steph found out and they in turn told Boyd, who told Sky. Realising he would have to break the news to Susan before she heard from someone else; Karl called over to No.28 and told her about the pregnancy. Susan was stunned, but Karl mistook her silence for understanding and left thinking she was fine about things. But Susan followed Karl out into the middle of Ramsay Street in full view of all the neighbours and erupted in a ferocious rage, reminding him of his reluctance to have any more kids when she had wanted more a few years before. Karl felt awful, and he was hurt further when Libby, Malcolm and Billy reacted similarly to the news. And as if things weren't bad enough, Izzy decided she couldn't handle being viewed as the neighbourhood harlot anymore and left town.

Karl eventually tracked her down in Castlemaine working as a waitress at a hotel that Max had mentioned he and Izzy used to go to on family holidays. Karl persuaded her to return to Erinsborough with him and give things another go, and their reunion prompted Susan to bite the bullet and file for divorce. Despite the bad ending to their marriage, Karl and Susan were both keen on a straight forward divorce, with Karl happy enough to see Susan retain the family home and live on at No.28. But Izzy had other ideas and managed to persuade Karl to be less generous in the division of the couple's assets. But when Izzy nastily told Susan that she, Karl and the baby would be living at No.28, Susan was determined to prevent such an event ever occurring and hired the unscrupulous Tim Collins as her lawyer. Initial attempts at reaching a settlement through a mediation session ended in farce when Izzy eavesdropped outside and burst in demanding Karl stick up for himself and get more money. With mediation a failure, the divorce hearing had to be finalised in court, much to the dismay of Libby, who was becoming increasingly saddened at the bitter end to her parents' marriage. The courtroom drama got off to a tricky start for Susan when Tim was called away, leaving Toadie to represent her in court – a position neither Susan nor Karl had ever wanted to put him in. And as the Kennedy's assets were listed off in the courtroom, Libby finally snapped at Izzy and broke down in tears – which finally made Karl and Susan take stock of what was going on. They both asked for a pause to proceedings and went off to a room to sort the settlement out privately. Both admitted they were ashamed at how silly they had let things get, and after sorting the division of assets out free of interference from lawyers and Izzy, they shared a bittersweet kiss, marking the end of almost thirty years of marriage. And in the wake of the settlement, Karl and Susan managed to become firm friends again, especially since they had started attending the same mature education classes together.

Meanwhile, Izzy's deceit over the real parentage of her baby was constantly on the verge of being revealed. When she went for her first ultra sound and received a copy of it on video tape, she threw the tape away as soon as she had watched it for fear of Karl seeing it and working out the dates of the child's conception. Karl almost saw the tape though when he found it in the bin but Max called into the flat by chance and interrupted him. Izzy then destroyed the tape, putting it down to the shoddy VCR but placated Karl to a certain extent by having a picture of the ultra sound framed for him.

A far bigger threat to the Karl and Izzy's future happiness together arrived when Darcy was granted day release from prison to work as an orderly at the hospital and became instantly suspicious of the new woman in Karl's life. Determined to make things up to Karl and Susan for robbing them in the past, Darcy sought to find out what Izzy was hiding and broke into her files at the hospital where he discovered that Karl was not the father of her baby. But when he confronted Izzy about it, an argument ensued and he fell down a flight of stairs. Izzy seized the opportunity to make it look like he had robbed her by stuffing his pockets full of her money and jewellery. She also thrashed Karl's flat to make it look like Darcy had done it, and Karl was furious that his nephew had returned to his old ways. Even as Darcy slipped into a coma, Karl couldn't feel any sympathy for him and was further annoyed at him when Izzy started sleep walking and having nightmares as a result of the ordeal.

After the harrowing couple of months they had been through, Karl decided the time was right to propose to Izzy. He brought her out for a champagne picnic in a rowing boat in the middle of a lake and stunned Izzy by presenting her with an engagement ring. Izzy was thrilled by the proposal, so much so that she fell overboard in the midst of her excitement. Karl managed to swim her to shore and revive her, and there was relief all round when Izzy was checked over at the hospital afterwards and told she and the baby would be fine. But as they were going down the hospital stairs – the same ones where Darcy had fallen – Izzy started to have flashbacks and fell down the steps herself. This time, she wasn't to be so lucky and she lost the baby. While Izzy dealt with the miscarriage by staying out at night partying and flirting with old flame Jack Scully, Karl hit the bottle to deal with his sadness. However, Susan was on hand to comfort Karl and get him to pull himself together, a true indication that there was still a very strong bond between the two. Libby also helped her father through the aftermath of the miscarriage and Karl was delighted that they were able to make their peace before Libby moved to Shepparton for a reconciliation with Darren Stark.

Meanwhile, Karl and Izzy vowed to press ahead with their wedding plans despite everything that had happened, and Karl was happy to indulge Izzy in her desire for a grand wedding with all the trimmings. But the wedding appeared to be doomed from the outset. Karl was disappointed that none of his children were going to attend the ceremony, and then the reception had to be moved to Lassiter's – the site of his second marriage to Susan two years previously – when the original venue was flooded. But the biggest obstacle came when Gus Cleary returned hours before the wedding and sent Izzy over the edge. Fleeing town, Izzy almost ran into Susan, and a stand-off erupted between the two women in the middle of the street as Susan urged her to keep going and leave the rest of Erinsborough in peace. Although Izzy did eventually return to Lassiter's, it was too late for the wedding but Karl was forgiving of her as always, and they gave the local busybody's plenty to talk about by having a party in the pub that night anyway.

The party came to an abrupt halt when a fire swept through the Lassiter's Complex, destroying the pub, coffee shop and Karl's medical practice in the process. Moreover, as the debris was cleared in the days that followed, the dead body of Gus was recovered and all eyes were on Karl and Izzy when it was discovered he had been murdered prior to the fire. After some questioning by the police, both were cleared of any involvement although the mystery of who killed Gus was never solved. Meanwhile, Karl focused his energies on rebuilding his surgery and, to the dismay of the rest of the community, working on a charity song with Izzy to commemorate the recent fire.

Meanwhile, the return of former Ramsay Street resident and local business tycoon Paul Robinson to Erinsborough around the same time irked Karl enormously. Aside from the stories about Paul's devious side Karl had heard from Phil Martin, who had been Paul's brother-in-law, Paul's flirting with Izzy and fondness for throwing his money around the place to curry favours, including lending money to Izzy for a stake in the rebuilt pub with Max, incensed Karl. A dinner evening at the flat with Paul ended disastrously when Karl lashed out at him by pointing out he hadn't been around when his kids had needed a father growing up. Things stepped up a gear when Karl went away to spend some time with his father and Izzy started an affair with Paul. When Karl returned earlier than expected, he almost walked in on the pair in bed together but Paul managed to hide under the bed in the nick of time. There was a further close call, however, when Karl found Izzy trying to hide Paul's mislaid watch but when she told him it was a gift for him that she had been trying to hide, Karl fell for her story and was chuffed with the rather expensive new watch – even going so far as to brag about it, and the stability of his relationship with Izzy, to a seething Paul.

But as the weeks passed, Karl finally started to suspect something was going on when Izzy returned from a trip to Sydney to visit 'a sick friend' with some aftershave for Karl. Karl only became suspicious after Harold commented in passing that it was a similar scent to Paul's, and after Karl confronted Izzy, she threw him out of the flat, such was her disgust at his theory. Karl sought solace at Susan's and she agreed to him sleeping on the sofa. The two ended up having a great evening laughing and joking about old times but when Karl made a pass at her, Susan declined and suggested he leave. Izzy was waiting out on Ramsay Street as he left, and caused a huge scene in front of the neighbours before demanding he not see Susan again as she was the cause of all their problems. To get away from the stresses and complexities of his feelings for Izzy and Susan, Karl went to the country for the weekend but he suffered a massive heart attack as he was changing a tyre on his car. After calling the paramedics, Karl – believing he was minutes from death - called Susan to profess his love for her. A devastated Susan broke down as Karl told her how sorry he was for everything he had done and wished her every happiness in the future. He then placed a call to Izzy, but she was painting her nails and too busy to answer. Karl left a message on her voicemail before passing out on the side of the road just as the paramedics arrived. By the time Karl regained consciousness again, he was in Erinsborough Hospital – with Susan by his bedside. But due to the domineering presence of Izzy, it was a few days before Susan got a chance to spend a moment alone with Karl. As Karl told her about his near death experience and the intense feelings of happiness and love he had felt as he suffered flashbacks to being back at home on Ramsay Street with Susan, waiting for the kids to arrive for dinner, he revealed that he had now realised what he wanted from Susan – to be the best of friends with her. Susan was relieved at Karl's admission, and they agreed to be firm friends from that point on.

Karl hadn't given up on his relationship with Izzy in the wake of his health scare but did insist on them spending some time apart. During that time, Izzy cooled things with Paul considerably and after a lot of attempts at brokering a full reconciliation with Karl, she finally moved back into the flat. Buoyed on by his second chance at life, Karl made plans to fulfil one of his long-held ambitions – volunteering as a doctor with Medicins Sans Frontieres. Although it meant being away from Izzy for a number of weeks, Karl knew it was something he had to do and spent a month working in Africa. When he returned, Karl delighted Izzy by suggesting they take a trip overseas to Europe but the past was about to come back to throw a spanner in the works when Darcy suddenly woke up from his coma. Susan enraged Karl by showing her support for her nephew and nursing him back to health while Karl blamed Darcy's awakening for sending Izzy into a state of edginess. But Izzy was, of course, worried that Darcy would reveal the truth about the baby's father as well as the fact that she had fabricated the story about being burgled by him. However, Darcy agreed to keep her secret in return for her giving him a glowing testimony at his trial for the robbery, as well as $70,000 so he could start a new life away from Erinsborough. Once Darcy had been granted a 12 month good behaviour bond, he bid Erinsborough goodbye for good, although left Susan with a letter telling her everything about Izzy's lies.

Appalled at what she read, Susan agonised over whether or not she should tell Karl the truth, but held back just in case Darcy had got it wrong. But Susan had it confirmed when she was left alone at a hospital computer during a check-up and searched for Izzy's file on the hospital database. Once she found it, Susan realised that Darcy had been right – Izzy had gotten pregnant one month prior to becoming involved with Karl. A furious Susan opted to confront Izzy about the lies she had spun for so long and gave her 24 hours to confess all to Karl. After the deadline had passed, Susan paid Karl a visit to comfort him. But she was shocked to find Izzy was still in the flat, having told Karl one further lie – that she had been raped by Gus and that was the reason she had lied to him about being the baby's father. Susan was further taken aback when Karl directed his anger towards her instead of Izzy and lambasted her for landing Izzy with ultimatums and deadlines. But the truth won out a few days later when Karl overheard Izzy admitting to Max that she had lied about the rape in order to hold onto him, and a devastated and disgusted Karl washed his hands of her. Despite the way Karl had reacted to her, Susan was on hand to console him, but was stunned when Karl responded by asking Susan to accompany him on a trip to Europe which he had been planning to go on with Izzy. Susan made no bones about telling Karl that such an idea was ludicrous, and he later apologised to her for even suggesting it.

Karl began trying to get on with his life post Izzy by throwing himself into his part-time work at Erinsborough High as school counsellor. But he found himself in trouble when 16-year-old Janae Timmins, who had been receiving regular counselling sessions from him about how much she missed her errant father, became overly dependent on him and began to manufacture situations so that she would see a lot of him outside of school too. After she invited Karl to see her play netball and he failed to show up, an angry confrontation loomed between the pair when they next saw each other – witnessed by Janae's mum Janelle. When Janae ran away from home in the wake of the incident, Janelle was convinced that Karl had been mucking around with her daughter and Susan was forced to suspend Karl from counselling duties pending a disciplinary hearing. Karl was at a loss to come to terms with all that had happened – he had simply been trying to help the troubled Janae come to terms with her own father's absence from her life and had never for a second envisaged claims of improper conduct with a patient. Luckily, Janae's brothers Dylan and Stingray tracked her down to the family's hometown of Colac and persuaded her to come back to Erinsborough just in time to clear Karl's name at his hearing. Needing a break from the traumatic events of recent months, Karl then decide to travel to London to stay with Mal and Catherine for a while.

Upon his return, Karl was greeted with the news that Susan had become engaged to a widowed university lecturer who had recently moved to the area with his teenage kids, Rachel and Zeke. Although Karl was a little disappointed by Susan's news, he was happy to see her move on with her life and looked forward to meeting the new man in her life. But he was shocked when he came face to face with him and realised it was Alex Kinski, a patient he was treating for cancer and who he had recently given a fairly bleak diagnosis to. Having realised Susan was completely unaware that Alex was gravely ill, Karl left abruptly and was later tracked down by Alex who made it clear that he would sue Karl if he broke confidentiality and told Susan the truth. But Karl warned Alex that if he didn't say something, then confidentiality would be the least of his concerns. Having consulted with Harold over the pros and cons of breaking his oath and Harold likening it to that of a relationship between a clergyman and his parishioner, Karl decided he couldn't live with not telling Susan the truth and broke the devastating news to her. Stunned by the revelation, Susan was then met with Alex breaking the news to her himself and she decided not to tell him that Karl had told her. Things weren't quite right for the couple in the aftermath of the revelation and they opted to be just good friends. But Karl could see how much Susan loved Alex and he urged her not to throw away this second chance of happiness, however short-lived it would be.

The couple reunited and Karl offered them his tickets on the Lassiter's 20th anniversary plane trip to Tasmania as a gesture of his good will towards them. But when the plane went down over the Bass Straits, Karl was overcome with worry as no sign of Susan emerged from the wreckage. And when word reached the few Ramsay Street residents who hadn't been aboard the flight that Izzy had survived, Karl lashed out in rage and it fell to Lyn, who had never really forgiven Karl for leaving Susan, to put the past behind them and console him. When Alex returned to Erinsborough, he and Karl found comfort in each other's grief as it looked more and more like Susan would never be found. However, when word reached them that there was a survivor matching Susan's description arriving at Erinsborugh Hospital, their hopes were raised and there was relief all around when they reached the hospital to find Susan alive and well. As Susan was surrounded by the love and affection from Alex and the Kinski kids, Karl suddenly felt isolated and alone, and although thrilled that Susan was alive, he realised that her life had moved on just as he had fallen in love with her again.

In an effort to find love elsewhere, Karl turned to the internet and joined a dating service where he met the slightly cooky government advisor Jenny McKenna. Their first date didn't go to plan when Karl had to tend to a medical emergency involving the ever-present Izzy and Paul Robinson, who she had moved in with. Karl and Jenny's second date turned out to be more enjoyable and they agreed to see each other again. Anxious to prove to his friends that he had moved on, Karl invited Jenny to a dinner party at Susan's where she and Susan unfortunately locked horns over politics. Jenny then stunned the assembled couples into silence when she suggested they indulge in some key-ring swapping. Although she quickly explained she had been joking, most of the couples remained unsure (even Karl looked slightly bemused) and Jenny and Karl made an early exit. Despite this faux pas, Karl saw something in Jenny that he liked and they continued to date. But Jenny started to realise that Karl still held a torch for Susan and the final straw came when she observed Karl rushing to offer Susan a shoulder to cry on at a fundraiser where Susan and Alex had a row. Afterwards, Jenny broke up with Karl, explaining that she couldn't continue dating someone who was still in love with his ex-wife.

Meanwhile, as Susan and Alex prepared to marry, Karl was faced with the difficult task of breaking the news to Alex that his health was deteriorating for the worst and time was short. The couple brought the wedding date forward and Karl acted as witness, along with Alex's estranged eldest daughter Katya, as Susan was pronounced Mrs Kinski in the living room of what was once the Kennedy home. Sadly, Alex wasn't to last much longer and passed away during the night – leaving Susan to bring up Zeke and Rachel alone. Karl was on hand to help out whenever she needed him, particularly with Zeke who was desperately in need of a father figure and reacted to Alex's death by refusing to speak for several weeks. However, Katya wasn't overly happy with the level of involvement Karl was having in the kids' upbringing and was furious when she discovered the history between Susan and Karl, having previously thought Karl was simply a friend of the family. Katya accused Karl of using Zeke to get closer to Susan and matters were made worse when Katya realised Karl had broken his medical oath to tell Susan about Alex's illness which led to Katya initiating court proceedings to win legal guardianship of Rachel and Zeke. A bitter custody battle ensued, during which Katya played dirty and brought up several encounters since her arrival which led her to believe Susan hadn't completely shut Karl out of her life. In the end, Susan opted not to drag the kids through a messy court battle and she agreed to let Katya raise them.

Meanwhile, Karl moved on with his life by rekindling his romance with Jenny, kicking things off with a date at a naturist pool party. When Conor O’Neill, who had recently begun working as a private investigator, appeared at the pool and was found to be spying on Jenny, he revealed that a political opponent of Jenny's had hired him to spy on her. It transpired that Jenny was seen as being too liberal for her party and strutting around naked at a naturist party wasn't going to help her standing within the organisation. To prove her enemies wrong, Jenny stunned Karl by announcing their engagement during a live radio interview with Sky Mangel on Uni FM. Although Jenny assured Karl that she wasn't serious about the engagement, he ploughed ahead with the relationship and asked Jenny to move into the flat with him. Jenny's first task upon moving in was to have Karl erase any reminders of Izzy's time spent there, including him getting rid of a watch Izzy had bought him by passing it onto her nephew, Boyd. But it was only after he had given it away that Karl realised the watch wasn't a fake as he had thought and was actually worth thousands. He desperately tried to reclaim it but Boyd had already sold it on and used the money to buy Janae an engagement ring.

Meanwhile, Jenny's burgeoning political career saw her spend more and more time flitting between Erinsborough and Canberra, and things began to take their toll on the couple. Never far from Karl's life, of course, was Susan, who having regained custody of Rachel and Zeke, and opening her home to Katya too, asked Karl to act as a male role model to Zeke. Karl was happy to oblige and began coaching Zeke in football. And when Steph and Max asked Karl and Susan to be godparents to their new baby son Charlie, the Kennedys were once again thrust together. The death of the beloved family pet, Cassie the sheep, united Karl and Susan in grief and they remembered old times as they buried Cassie in the back yard of No.28. The renewed closeness between the two led Susan to believe there might still be something between them, and when Karl invited her to dinner at the flat while Jenny was away, Susan was convinced it was a signal that Karl wanted to get back together. However, Jenny had asked Karl to think about setting up a permanent base in Canberra with her and he was torn between what was left of his life in Erinsborough and the prospect of a new beginning with Jenny.

In the midst of this drama, Karl was faced with an even bigger crisis when his ageing father began showing signs of dementia. Tom had taken to calling Karl at odd hours and rambling about events and people from long ago. Karl eventually decided to head up to the farm to see Tom for himself, and he was shocked by what he found. The farm had run into an awful state of disrepair and Tom's mental state had deteriorated rapidly. Karl's immediate instinct on seeing his father was to call Susan for support, and she hurried up to be with him, forfeiting her plans to spend Alex's birthday with the Kinski kids in the process. Karl was thrilled with Susan's arrival, and as they began to tidy the farm up, they shared a touching moment when they came across an old fence post outside where they had measured all the kids' heights growing up, and were delighted to see that Libby was continuing the tradition with Ben. But things took a more dramatic turn overnight as Tom started rambling about Libby still being a little girl, couldn't remember who Ben was and tried to light a fire in the middle of the living room. It became clear to Karl and Susan that Tom was going senile and would need round the clock care. A devastated Karl arranged a place for Tom at the local nursing home the following day and after settling him in, returned to the farm with Susan for one last look around. When they came across a lamb cornered by a snake, the pair managed to scare the snake off and comforted the lamb before christening it Chop and deciding to take it home as a replacement for Cassie. The moment resulted in Susan and Karl kissing and they continued into the farmhouse before Susan pulled away, blaming the emotion of the past few days and fleeing back to Erinsborough.

Karl, meanwhile, decided to break up with Jenny upon his return but was beaten to it by Jenny herself, who revealed she had fallen for a political associate in Canberra. After giving Karl his keys back, Jenny left the flat but returned to get her mobile phone. While Karl was looking for it in the bedroom, Susan arrived but began to retreat once she saw Jenny there. However, Jenny revealed to Susan that she and Karl had just broken up and that she should stay since it was blindingly obvious to everyone that they were made for each other. Karl was surprised to emerge from his bedroom and find Susan there, and was thrilled when she declared her love for him. They re-ignited their relationship straight away, although opted to keep things quiet initially out of deference to the kids. Susan also wanted to be sure that their relationship was rock solid this time and when Lyn suggested that she was perhaps worried about Karl straying again, Susan told Karl that when she saw him at the Scarlet Bar talking to some nurses he worked with, she was reminded of Sarah and Izzy. Karl assured Susan that in the past, he had wanted out of their marriage because he had wanted to feel young again but his experience with Izzy had made him realise how foolish he had been.

Always keen to push on with his long-held ambition of becoming a music superstar, Karl joined forces with Stuart Parker's younger brother Ned to form KenNEDy for a talent night at The Scarlet Bar which quickly opened up some doors for the duo. Things developed onto a more formal footing when Ned invited Karl to make up the other half of Oodles O’ Noodles, a children’s party entertainment act. Ned was a budding singer himself, and had a couple of stints in amateur theatre productions under his belt, while Karl – already believing himself to be an accomplished performer – thrust himself into the role of songwriter for the duo too. Having penned their signature tune "Pop, Pop, Pop", Karl was hard at work on further material when Justine Spensley entered the equation and talked Ned into letting her take on the position of manager for Oodles O' Noodles. As her power gradually increased, Justine started writing some of their songs herself and wormed her way into the act as a guitarist. The final straw came when, having given Karl the wrong address to a kids' party they were due to play at, she then told Karl that she felt they no longer needed him in the group and instead offered him a new role – that of mascot. Karl quit in protest and after Ned's eyes were subsequently opened to Justine's manipulative behaviour, he went solo. However, Karl had had a similar plan and things got out of hand when they started competing against each other for the limited amount of childrens' gigs around Erinsborough. Eventually, Karl and Ned made their peace and reformed as Oodles O' Noodles for a few more gigs.

When the Kinski kids found out about Karl and Susan’s secret relationship, they found it extremely hard to accept, with Zeke even accusing Susan of never truly loving their father. Rachel, meanwhile, was exposed for conducting a secret affair of her own around the same time with Stingray - a romance that raised eyebrows on account of the fact that she was only 15 while Stingray was 18. Susan tried to call a halt to the romance but Rachel lashed out at Susan over the relationship with Karl and moved in with Stingray's family next door. Karl, meanwhile, had more cause for concern over Rachel and Stingray when he, as GP to the pregnant Sky Mangel, discovered that Stingray and Sky had had a one night stand and there was now confusion over whether Stingray or Sky's boyfriend – and Stingray's brother – Dylan was the father. Karl eventually confirmed that Stingray was indeed the father when he realised he had got the dates of conception wrong and he broke the news to Sky, who put him into an incredibly difficult position by asking him to keep the truth about the baby’s parentage to himself and not even tell Stingray. Karl unhappily went along with Sky's wishes, but a throwaway comment to Susan about Stingray while they were discussing his relationship with Rachel one afternoon led to Susan putting two and two together and twigging that Stingray was the father of Sky’s unborn child. Susan decided he had a right to know but she backed out at the last minute and opted to write him a letter instead. When Karl found out what she had done, he raced over to No.26 to intercept it. After spotting the unopened letter on the coffee table, Karl told budding film maker Stingray that he wanted him to create an instructional health video for his waiting room in order to distract him so he could get a chance to grab it. But Stingray caught him and as he, Janelle, and Rachel tried to find out what was going on, Karl snatched the letter off them and escaped out of the back door. After climbing over the fence to number 28, Karl lashed out at Susan for her actions and reminded her that it was up to Sky to tell Stingray, not her. The next day, the Timmins clan set about trying to find out what the letter was about, and after hearing from Zeke that Karl & Susan had argued the previous night, Rachel checked Susan's notepad and discovered that she had written the letter, but could only make out "Dear Stingray" imprinted in the next page. The kids then concluded that the letter was an attempt from Susan to break up Rachel and Stingray, and Karl had disagreed with what Susan had done. However, when Janelle pressed Karl for a full explanation on the matter, Karl was forced to lie and tell her that the letter was to Stingray asking advice on what to do over his feelings for her, much to the dismay of a baffled Janelle, who let the matter rest from that point onwards.

After Rachel finally broke up with Stingray and moved home to No.28, she gave Karl and Susan her blessing to see each other, as did Zeke who even began bonding with Karl when they came face to face in a local chess competition. Things got a little ropey when Karl tried to curry favour by letting Zeke beat him, with the teenager pointing out that his real dad would never have done such a thing. But after they shared stories of playing chess with their fathers, the pair had a rematch with Karl playing fair and square this time around. With the approval of the Kinski kids secure, Karl and Susan were finally free to officially, and publicly, declare themselves an item once again. Things were going smoothly until Izzy once again entered the equation and upset the applecart. Karl had been having trouble sleeping and had taken a sample of some sleeping syrup from his colleague Jeremy Levi before going to the Scarlet Bar for a nightcap. While there, he descended into a drowsy state and bumped into Izzy, who had recently broken up with Paul. Izzy escorted Karl back to his flat, where she accidentally gave him even more of the sleeping aid, which caused him to mistake her for Susan. After a kiss, a vulnerable Izzy spent the night with Karl and when they woke up the next morning, both realised they had made a big mistake. After overhearing Karl on the phone to Susan and realizing how happy they were to be back together, Izzy resolved not to rock the boat any further and assured Karl that nothing had happened between them, insisting she had spent the night on the couch. Although relieved, Karl had a niggling feeling that something had happened between them and when he started to have flashbacks of Izzy in his bed, he was convinced he had slept with her. Feeling guilty, Karl owned up to Susan and even admitted he didn't believe Izzy’s story that she had been on the sofa. But Susan believed Izzy and told Karl not to worry any further about the matter. However, when Susan was cleaning up at the flat a few weeks later, she found one of Izzy's earrings in Karl's bed and instantly realised something had happened between the pair. She confronted Izzy, who eventually admitted the truth to Susan, but rather than tell Karl about what had really happened, Susan resolved not to let Izzy come between them again and kept quiet on the matter. And Susan went one step further in re-establishing her relationship with Karl by asking him to move back into the Kennedy house.

Karl initially found it very difficult settling back into his old home. Rachel & Zeke had several conditions, such as not being disciplined by him, while Audrey – the once lovable terrier – had turned on him and snarled at her former master at every opportunity. Susan tried to defuse the tension between Karl and Audrey by bringing in pet therapist Dr. Dorothy Little to work on helping Karl regain the canine's trust. But at $90 an hour, the notoriously tight Karl wasn't happy with Dr. Little, particularly when she diagnosed that the dog's problem was due to Karl’s philandering ways and bad treatment of Susan in recent years. Fed up of the Audrey debacle, Karl suggested they send her to live with Libby, but Susan made another appointment with the pet therapist in which they seemed to make real progress, with Karl on all fours growling like a dog to communicate with Audrey. Meanwhile, shocked at the $200 an hour emergency call out fee, Karl made a deal with Dr. Little that if one of his friends made an appointment and mentioned his name she would give him a 17.5% discount and he quickly set about encouraging his old nemesis Paul Robinson to avail of her services in order to qualify for his discount.

Karl's medical career suffered a severe blow when he realised he had made a mistake in the paternity tests which had determined that Stingray was the father of Sky’s child, and it was actually Dylan who was the father. This discovery rocked Karl to the core and, once again, led to him questioning his abilities as a doctor. To add to his woes, an incensed Janelle threatened to sue Karl for negligence and when Sky announced she was going to put a complaint into the medical board against him, Karl decided he had no alternative but to quit medicine for good. His decision resulted in Susan becoming the sole breadwinner in the household, and to offset the effects of his decreased income, Karl decided to become self-sufficient and began by planting an organic veggie farm in the back garden. Susan – and the entire neighbourhood – felt he went one step too far, however, when he filled the backyard with chickens and a rooster named Springsteen who began to wake the entire street up with his crowing at the crack of dawn each morning. Karl also began to adopt a fairly lazy approach to life – he became slack around the house, wore the same clothes for days on end and much to the disdain of Susan, grew a hideous beard. When the beard became infested with lice, forcing Susan and the kids to camp out in the back yard, Susan insisted the rooster go when it emerged that Springsteen had been the cause of the lice infestation. Susan then turned her attention to the beard itself, and tried everything from shaving it off while Karl slept to manufacturing conversations between the two new next door neighbours at No.30, Rosetta Cammeniti and Pepper Steiger, in which they talked of how attractive they found Karl with the beard, in a fatherly way. It was only when Karl's pride was dented that he finally shaved it off, after one of Zeke's school friends mistook him for Zeke's grandfather.

Shortly after Katya had left Erinsborough to work as a medic with the Adelaide Crows, Rachel and Zeke began to suspect Karl of having an affair after Zeke caught Karl making a number of secretive phone calls and acting strangely. But all became clear when Karl told them he was making arrangements to remarry Susan and was delighted when the kids gave him their full approval. Susan was delighted when Karl told her he had booked a trip to London for them, and was completely oblivious to what he had planned for them once they got there. With Mal and Catherine on an overseas trip of their own at the time of Karl and Susan's visit, Susan was thrilled when Karl booked them into The Ritz. However, upon arriving in London, she was disgusted to find that it wasn't the famed hotel he had booked, but The Ritz Hostel – a rundown backpacker-filled hostel in a rough part of town. But she quickly calmed down, and even got to enjoy the venue when she befriended a crowd of Aussie students who were sharing their room.

As the couple began to enjoy the sights of London, Karl decided to propose to Susan while they were taking a tour of the city on an open topped bus. But just as he pulled the engagement ring out, it flew out of his hands and into the street. Susan thought Karl had lost his marbles when he raced off the bus and she had to hurry after him. Unable to find the ring, a forlorn Karl sat on the side of the pavement - only for Spice Girl Emma Bunton to appear with the engagement ring in her hands. Karl was so delighted that she had recovered the ring that he failed to notice who she was, and it was only when Susan arrived on the scene and became immediately starstruck that he realised who he was in the presence of. Emma helped Karl out by pretending he had come running off the bus when he spotted her in the street so he could get her autograph for Susan.

The next day, Susan and Karl were enjoying the sights of London when Susan spotted a homeless woman lying on a bench along the Thames. Since the woman was pregnant, Susan insisted on giving her some money, despite objections from the notoriously tight Karl – but with a newspaper across her face, Karl and Susan failed to notice that the 'homeless' person was none other than Izzy. Far from being homeless, Izzy had settled in London and fallen madly in love with professional footballer Pete Gartside. The only problem was that Pete had been married and Izzy was now a tabloid sensation in the UK for breaking up a high profile celebrity marriage. Karl and Susan eventually realised that Izzy was causing a media storm in London when they noticed her on the front page of a newspaper and felt a certain sense of déjà vu when they read all about Izzy's apparent tawdry affair with a married man. However, when Susan bumped into Izzy the following day, she was surprised to learn from her former nemesis that Pete hadn't cheated on his wife and had in fact, left her after she had been unfaithful to him on a number of occasions during their marriage. Susan tried to persuade Izzy to tell the press her side of the story, but Izzy reasoned it would only make things worse. Before Susan could persuade her further, Karl arrived and his surprise at seeing Izzy was quickly extended when he realised she was pregnant. Karl bitterly asked if she had lied to him about her inability to have children, too, and to prevent any further squabbling between the former lovers, Susan dragged Karl away and explained to him that the father of the child was a guy she had met at Lassiter's, before resolving to do something to help Izzy. Karl was taken aback by Susan's dogged determination to help Izzy, but Susan reasoned that since Izzy was being honest for the first time in her life and genuinely in love with Pete, they should do whatever they could to get her life back on track. Susan contacted Pete and quickly managed to persuade him to follow his heart and put aside whatever negative reaction his relationship with Izzy might have in the press, and the couple reunited.

Meanwhile, Karl surprised Susan by arranging a private pod for the couple on the London Eye and when they reached the top, he finally got to propose to her. After apologising for all of his previous misdemeanors, Karl was thrilled when Susan accepted. There was an even bigger surprise to come for Susan though as a few days later, Karl whisked her off to a mini cruise boat on the River Thames where he had organised a minister, two witnesses, a Puccini & Hill wedding gown that she had been admiring and a beautiful, romantic wedding ceremony. A tearful exchange of vows followed, as Karl and Susan finally put the traumatic few years they had each experienced behind them and remarried.

But within moments of being pronounced husband and wife once again, the nuptials were interrupted by Izzy, who had been on the boat and was waiting to admit the truth to Karl about the parentage of her unborn child. But if the Kennedys thought her timing was bad, there was worse to come as before she could even say what she had come to say, Izzy's water broke and she went into labour on the boat in the middle of the Thames. It fell to Karl to deliver the baby, a little girl who Izzy named Holly, and in the wake of everything that had happened, Izzy opted not to ruin Karl and Susan's fresh start and kept the truth about baby Holly's father to herself. But just as Karl and Susan finally prepared to put Izzy behind them once and for all and depart for their honeymoon night at the real Ritz, Susan noticed that Izzy had left her handbag behind and went to the ambulance to return it to her. However, she overheard Izzy and Pete discussing the shocking fact that Karl was the father of Holly and a stunned Susan left the handbag with the paramedics before returning to Karl, unsure of what to do with the bombshell that had just been dropped on her.

It was only after they were back in Erinsborough a few days that Karl learnt the truth. Karl was stunned by Susan's confession, and initially lashed out at her for not telling him as soon as she found out. But he quickly realised how difficult it must have been for her, and after calming down, he contacted Izzy, who told him she felt it would be better if he didn't have any involvement in Holly's upbringing at this stage of her life. But a few days later, Izzy had a change of heart and told Karl she had reconsidered her position. Karl then shocked Susan by announcing his intention to fly back over to London to spend some time with his new daughter, and before he left, he also had to break the news to Rachel and Zeke. They were initially furious with Karl for what they saw as another betrayal of Susan, but after Susan assured them she fully supported Karl, the kids came to accept what happened and Karl left for London.

Trivia Notes
• Before landing the role of Karl, actor Alan Fletcher appeared as a guest on Neighbours in 1987, in the role of Greg Cooper
• Karl would play a game of chess with his father every night before going to bed
• As a child, Karl polished and named all his pennies and put on regular concerts for his ant farm
• On the day Susan and Karl got engaged the first time, they could only share a glass of champagne together as Karl had a medical exam to go to
• Karl celebrated his birthday on 25 June 2007
• He takes his coffee white with one sugar
• Karl's university band was called The Right Prescription
• Karl loves rollmop herrings