Kirk Sutherland

Kirk Sutherland is a Coronation Street resident and the older brother of Maria Connor. He currently works at Underworld and is the husband of Beth Sutherland.

Storylines
Kirk first appeared in May 2000 when he was seen with his youngster sister Maria Sutherland by a jealous Tyrone Dobbs. She explained the mix-up when they next met. Kirk was next seen in October 2000 at the engagement party of Tyrone and Maria. After his arrival on the Street he quickly became friends with Les Battersby-Brown, with whom he later lived, acting as best man at his wedding to Cilla Brown. In December 2003, Kirk dumped Fiz Brown after he found out that she had spent the night at her ex-boyfriend Tyrone Dobbs' house.

In January 2005, Kirk met Thelma Clegg, who hired him to shampoo her poodle. She was so impressed that she asked him to call round to her house regularly. Fiz was suspicious and followed Kirk to Thelma’s house where she could see Kirk being entertained by Thelma belly-dancing in her living room. Kirk professed his innocence and said Thelma wouldn’t let him out of the house.

In May 2007, Kirk lost his job at Sutherland's Kennels when he accidentally allowed a pedigree dog to be castrated, an act which single-handedly collapsed the business. Within a week he proposed to his girlfriend, Fiz. She dumped him immediately, and told him that she no longer wanted to be with him. She left Kirk to be with her first lover, John Stape, leaving Kirk feeling broken and humiliated. Later that month, Kirk and Jamie Baldwin rescued Claire Peacock, Kirk's next door neighbour, from her burning house. As a reward, Claire's husband, Ashley gave Kirk a job at his butchers shop.

After Fiz's mother, Cilla, left the Street for Las Vegas on 12th October 2007, Kirk was left to look after her son, Chesney. Kirk failed to provide adequate care for Chesney, and he was subsequently taken into foster care. When Fiz returned from a holiday she went on, she was furious but forgave Kirk. She managed to get Chesney home but she had to move in with them, making Kirk believe she still had feelings for him.

In April 2008, Kirk left to visit their parents in Cyprus for a several weeks. In the days leading up to his return, Fiz dreaded him coming home, while she was providing a home for Chesney. On his return, he broke the news that he had a new girlfriend called Julie, who he fallen in love with in Cyprus. Fiz has taken a dislike to Julie, who lives with them at their house.

Quotes
"Hey, I bet you were heartbroken when some prat put that cladding up." (First line, to Jack and Vera Duckworth)

"Help! My girlfriend's a hypochondriac!" (Shouting for a Doctor when worried about his girlfriend Beth Tinker)

Background information

 * Before Andrew Whyment debuted in the role in October 2000, the character had appeared briefly several months earlier in a long-shot played by an unknown walk-on actor. In the following episode it was revealed the character was called Mark.
 * Mr Whyment quit the role in 2003 to work on a new Carry On movie entitled Carry On London. However due to script problems with the film and the rumour it would do poorly, Whyment pulled out and was offered to return to Coronation Street (the film would never see a release, due to constantly changing production and cast over the next several years before finally being cancelled in 2009).
 * The character featured in the online spin-off entitled What Would Kirk Do?. The first of five episodes was made available on the ITV website from 12th December, 2014.