Other storylines included Ian Gallagher's homosexuality and his affair with shopkeeper Kash, Kev and Veronica's fake wedding, Sheila attempting to overcome her agoraphobia, and Frank's strained relationship with most of his kids.

The series concluded with a two-part story, featuring the return of the Gallaghers' absent mother Monica, played by Annabelle Apsion, and Frank's growing debts.

The series begins with a New Year's Day special where Debbie convinces everyone Liam has cancer to stop him getting expelled from school but things slowly get out of hand.

Alongside Tina Malone (Mimi), Sean Gilder (Paddy) and Samantha Siddall (Mandy), new members of the Maguire family were introduced.

All the Gallagher family returned, with Annabelle Apsion reprising her role again as absentee mother Monica, which ultimately led to the departure of Maggie O'Neill's character Sheila Jackson.

Maxine Donnelly, played by Joanna Higson, a spirited young auxiliary nurse, befriends both Carl and Debbie, and moves in with the Gallaghers.

Ben Batt joins the cast as villainous Joe Pritchard, the captain of the local football team, who begins a relationship with Mandy which ends in him becoming abusive.

Maddison gets a boyfriend as Kash Karib for a single episode towards the end of the series, with his character being killed off in a fireworks explosion at the shop as his and Yvonne's lies became apparent to their children, Chesney and Meena.

Paddy is held hostage by a mystery woman who gets him addicted to heroin, but things take a sinister turn when she gets Mandy involved, ultimately resulting in tragedy.

Samantha Siddall left her role as Mandy Maguire in this series after being killed off in an explosion, coinciding with her father Paddy's heroin addiction storyline.

Series 7 saw the arrivals of Libby Croker, played by Pauline McLynn, the next serious love interest for Frank, and her battleaxe mother, Patty, who uses a wheelchair, with Valerie Lilley taking on the role.

Karen's bipolar disorder and her affair with Joe, Carl and Chesney being on the run for murder, and the wedding of Shane and Kelly are all prominent storylines to feature in the seventh series.

Also, Libby and Patty's relative, Aidan Croker, played by Robbie Conway, arrived to fill the hole left by Liam, following his departure in episode 2 of the series.

Billy Tutton returned and is revealed as the father of Mimi's baby, Cilla, while Aysha Kala took on the role of Chesney's cousin, Sita Desai, however the character departed midway through the series.

Annabelle Apsion reprised her role as Monica Gallagher for the early episodes of the series, to coincide with a storyline featuring Frank and Libby and the departure of Liam.

Prominent storylines for this series include Mickey being the victim of a homophobic attack, and Frank, Jamie, Shane, Ruby and Aidan being trapped underground when a plan to rob lottery tickets goes dramatically wrong.

The final episode of the tenth series saw three prominent characters depart: Emmanuel Ighodaro left his role as Jackson Powell when he and Avril's mounting debts and fractured marriage become too much, Kari Corbett's character Ruby Hepburn was killed off when she took Mimi hostage which resulted in her falling out of a window to her death, and Valerie Lilley made her exit as Patty Croker, when she was told that she was dying and wanted Frank to take her to the beach to see Ireland one last time, however Frank left her to go to the pub, allowing the tide to take her away.

A variety of new characters made their first appearances in the final series, including Jacqueline Boatswain as Avril's older sister Patreesha St. Rose and her daughter Mary-Mae, who would begin a relationship with Chesney.

A new family, the Blancos, arrived consisting of Kassi, played by Jalaal Hartley, Esther, portrayed by Isy Suttie, and their three children: Tam (Rhys Cadman), Thalia (Jade Kilduff) and Saul (Lewis Hardaker).

[2] Originally the show was filmed on location on the corner of Wenlock way and Clowes Street in West Gorton in East Manchester and at the Pie Factory Studios in Salford.

After Series 5, the show was filmed at a purpose-built set on the Roundthorn Industrial Estate in South Manchester, on the site of an old Umbro warehouse, and around Wythenshawe and Sale.

[3] The programme has been sold overseas, where it airs on channels such as SBS One (Australia),[4] UKTV (New Zealand), Acht (Belgium), I.Sat (Argentina), Showcase (Canada), Virgin 17 (France), Nederland 3 (Netherlands), YLE FST5 (Finland), SIC Radical (Portugal), RTÉ Two (Ireland), BBC America (only aired the first series) and Sundance Channel (United States), yes+ (Israel), I.Sat (Latin America), Jimmy (Italy), and Netflix.

Set in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, it stars William H. Macy in the Frank Gallagher role.

[6] Allison Janney was cast as a romantic interest for Frank, but left after taking a job on Matthew Perry's Mr. Sunshine and was unable to be a part of both series.

Joan Cusack joined the cast as the new Sheila Jackson, along with Emmy Rossum as Frank's sensible and feisty eldest daughter, and Justin Chatwin as a car thief who falls for her.

[7] Showtime's Shameless cast also includes Jeremy Allen White, Cameron Monaghan, Emma Kenney, Ethan Cutkosky, Noel Fisher, Steve Howey and Shanola Hampton.