Karen Hollins
| Karen Hollins | |||||||||||||||||
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| Doctors character | |||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Jan Pearson | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2009– | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 23 February 2009 | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Peter Eryl Lloyd | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
Receptionist Healthcare Assistant | ||||||||||||||||
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Karen Nicola Jane Hollins (née Teale) is a fictional character in the BBC soap opera Doctors, played by Jan Pearson. Karen is introduced as the Receptionist and Healthcare Assistant at The Mill, Karen was created by series producer Peter Eryl Lloyd as a replacement for former receptionist Vivien March (Anita Carey). She made her first on-screen appearance on 23 February 2009.
Karen is the wife of Letherbridge police Sergeant Rob Hollins (Chris Walker). She is the mother of Imogen Hollins (Charlie Clemmow) and Jack Hollins (Nicolas Woodman).
Storylines
Karen tried to call her colleague, Cherry Clay (Sophie Abelson) to tell her information about her boyfriend, Scott Nielson (Sam Heughan). However, he had died, with Cherry at his apartment. The situation escalated into a fight in Reception. Karen was suspended by Dr. Heston Carter but returned the following week. The next day, after Jack told her that he saw Zara 'shooting up'. Karen went round to Zara's house and after an argument found out Zara was injecting herself with testosterone to combat her early onset menopause.
However, as he covered his tracks very easily, he was able to conceal what was happening, leading each of the characters to believe they were imagining the situation. When Ellie confided in Sia that Lewis had attempted to attack her in the Hollins' kitchen with a carving knife, she informed Karen's colleague, Dr. Simon Bond (David Sturzaker), and later went round to the Hollins' house to inform Lewis that she would be telling the police about his actions. However, Lewis denied his attack, and as there was no evidence and Ellie would not talk to the police, nothing could be done. However, she did not act on this. Meanwhile, Rob Hollins informed his son that the police would be keeping an eye on Lewis, as his name had been mentioned too many times for them to be comfortable. The storyline culminated when Imogen then realised that her art project, containing photos of each of the victims of gun crime in the last year was tampered with, with the addition of photos of Jack, Sia and Ellie. She told her mum, who came home and then attempted to contact Jack and her husband.
After Karen had stayed with her father for a while, she came back and told Rob she wanted to have another go at their marriage. After Rob saved her from a burning building, Rob came over for a romantic meal, which was constantly disrupted, however, Rob and Karen slept in the same bed that night. Even though Karen's friend Angie Briggs (Den Woods) tried to get her to see other men, Karen refused and stuck by Rob. Rob accidentally hit Karen with his car, causing her to suffer amnesia. She thereafter cannot remember anything after and believes she is 18, and acts accordingly. She leaves her husband and does not recognise her children.
Creation
Background
Karen Hollins was born in 1966 and is the head Receptionist at The Mill Health Centre and the Campus Surgery at the Letherbridge University. She took over as head Receptionist from Vivien March in March 2009. Karen is married to Sgt. Rob Hollins of Letherbridge Police.
Since her arrival, she has gone away to spend time with her dad, but that is all that is known about her father. It was also confirmed that Karen has two middle names; Nicola and Jane. Violet had left for Karen, her large home in the Kingsvale area of Letherbridge, which to Karen's delight has a conservatory.
Development
Relationships
Jan Pearson and Chris Walker who play Karen and her husband Rob spoke about their on-screen chemistry to website Digital Spy, describing their first scenes together, Walker said: "First day on set, in fact first scene it was, 'Hi I'm Chris', 'Hi I'm Jan', right get into bed. So that broke the ice." When asked why they work so well together on the serial, he explained: "I think that we're not precious with our own stuff and we always want to give and help each other and that's nice, and we do row very well."[1]
Memory loss
Karen became involved in a memory loss storyline, actress Jan Pearson revealed that Walker had come up with that storyline. Speaking to Digital Spy at the launch of Pentahotel Birmingham, Pearson explained: "The story has been hugely long and it's still going on. I've been filming it for a year now. It was very exciting because it was Chris's idea. I think his original idea was that Karen would be run over by some ex of Rob's. The producers didn't run with that, but they did run with the accident and the memory loss. I was utterly delighted that Chris was responsible for running me over! We now have a very playful banter over who's to blame for the situation!" Pearson also added: "We always knew that Karen and Rob were going to get back together in the end, but the break-up made a nice change from what we normally do. Because it was Chris's storyline and his idea, I really wanted to give it my best shot. What Chris came up with was very detailed - it was extraordinary. If the acting career doesn't work out for him, I think he's got a really good shot as a storyliner"[2]
Reception
Since her arrival in February 2009, Pearson has been praised at the 2010, 2011 and 2012 British Soap Awards. Along with co-star Chris Walker who plays her husband Rob, Pearson won the award for Best On-screen Partnership. In 2011, she was nominated for "Best Storyline" and "Best Single Episode" for her portrayal of Karen, going through her pregnancy and later abortion storyline. Furthermore, Pearson has been nominated for 'Best Comedy Performance' at the 2012 British Soap Awards. She will be up against; Tameka Empson (Kim Fox) of EastEnders, Joe Tracini (Dennis Savage) of Hollyoaks and Stephanie Cole (Sylvia Goodwin) from Coronation Street. Pearson is only the second ever Doctors star to be nominated for "Best Comedy Performance" award in the soaps history, Martha Howe-Douglas being nominated in 2007.