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"GERTI's staying with me, so up yours, baldy. Yes, it IS a business message; it’s in code."
―Carolyn, Fitton

Carolyn Knapp-Shappey-Shipwright (Stephanie Cole) is the owner and CEO of MJN Air.

Character[]

"Tell you what, why don’t you write it down, put it in an envelope, tear it in half, throw it away and shut your face?"
―Carolyn, Ipswich

Carolyn Knapp-Shappey is at last, at 64, free of her awful husband, pleasingly not free of his private jet, and ready to show the world what she's made of by running the slickest, most successful, most profitable charter air firm ever seen. And were it not for her crew, plane, and passengers, she would do!

An ex-stewardess, and a woman of formidable energy, formidable competence, and formidable formidableness, she is continually frustrated by the incompetence or irresponsibility of the sort of pilots who are prepared to work for the money she's prepared to pay. She owns a slightly hyperactive cockapoo (a cross between a poodle and a cocker spaniel) who was named Snoopadoop by her son Arthur.

At the start of the series, she has been twice married and divorced: once to a man called Ian (who, it is implied in Helsinki, cheated on her with her sister Ruth); and later to Australian Gordon Shappey.

Carolyn once described the Sahara Desert as being "hot".[1]

In the Show[]

Carolyn embodies the archetype of the brusque boss, handing out assignments to provide the impetus for each episode's plot. Her relationship with her pilots in earlier series is tense and antagonistic, and her attitude towards her son Arthur is one of continual irritation (though affection does sometimes shine through). As the series progresses, she becomes warmer towards her employees, and while barbed comments and sarcasm are still the norm, she tones down her contempt for her pilots noticeably.

Every year, first mentioned in Fitton, her ex-husband Gordon Shappey calls her to try to buy back his old plane. Gordon's attempts to get back Gerti form the cores of the episodes St. Petersburg and Zürich.

She finds a romantic interest in Hercules Shipwright, beginning in Newcastle, with their favourite activities being bickering and mutual denigration of each other's interests. The relationship shows a more vulnerable side of Carolyn as she struggles with the idea of committing to Herc. She faces a dilemma when Herc is asked to move to Zurich or face redudancy; he is willing to stay in England for her, but she doesn't want to be the reason he loses his job. She ultimately confesses her love for Herc and marries him before the series' final scene.

Behind the Scenes[]

In the original version of Cabin Pressure, Carolyn was a Polish woman called Katazina. John Finnemore revised this when he realised that this might have got 'a bit stale' over the course of the series.[2]

References[]

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