Coronation Street Elsie and Bet. Other recurring archetypes include the war veteran such as Albert Tatlock (Jack Howarth), Percy Sugden (Bill Waddington) and Gary Windass (Mikey North), the bumbling retail manager like Leonard Swindley (Arthur Lowe), Reg Holdsworth (Ken Morley), Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden), quick-tempered, tough tradesmen like Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson), Jim McDonald (Charles Lawson), Tommy Harris (Thomas Craig) and Owen Armstrong (Ian Puleston-Davies), and the perennial losers such as Stan and Hilda, Jack and Vera, Les Battersby (Bruce Jones), Beth Tinker (Lisa George) and Kirk Sutherland (Andrew Whyment). Villains are also common character types such as Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford),
Steve McDonald (Coronation Street) (who plays the lead character in the comedy). Craig Charles has played Lloyd Mullaney in Coronation Street since 2005. In September 2015, it was announced that Gregson had taken an extended break from the show for "personal reasons" and that Steve would be off-screen for several months. He would also not appear in the upcoming live episode, but would feature in the episodes either sides of it. Steve departed in November 2015, but returned in April 2016. Steve began a relationship with Karen Phillips played by Suranne Jones. Rick Fulton of the "Daily Record" noted that Karen vows to be