Liam Pace

Liam Pace
Actor	Neil Hopkins
Alternate Casting	Zack Shada (child)
First	"The Moth"
Last	"Greatest Hits"
Episode Count	3
Place	Manchester, United Kingdom
Profession	Former lead singer of Drive Shaft
Family	Simon Pace - Father Megan Pace - Mother Karen Pace - Wife Charlie Pace - Brother Megan Pace - Daughter

Liam Pace is the lead singer of Drive Shaft, and Charlie's older brother.

Biography

Liam gives Charlie the DS ring. ("Greatest Hits")

Charlie and Liam formed a band called Drive Shaft. Early on in their musical career, the group were driving to a gig, when suddenly one tire of their van blew. Charlie explained that he had had enough of band-life and was ready to quit, much to Liam's dismay. Suddenly they heard "You All Everybody" on the radio for the first time, and celebrated. Charlie decided to stay with the band. ("Greatest Hits")

Liam became a drug addict while touring with Drive Shaft.

One Christmas, Liam gave Charlie his great-grandfather's DS ring, a Pace family heirloom that their mother had given to Liam. Charlie refused, but Liam explained that out of the two of them Charlie is the one who is going to have a family and live past 30. Charlie then said he would hold the ring for his brother but that he would not take it from him. ("Greatest Hits")

Drive Shaft ("The Moth")

Some time later, at a gig, Liam stole Charlie's lines. Charlie became angry with Liam when he saw him retire to the dressing room just after a show with a girl in one arm and a wrap of cocaine in the other. At another show, Charlie entered Liam's dressing room, ordering Liam's girls to get out. The main singer had missed the sound-check, and seeing his brother in the state that he was in, Charlie asked Liam to make good on his promise to walk away. Liam refused, saying that without the band, Charlie was nothing, and he stormed out of the room. Just afterward, Charlie saw Liam's heroin stash and took some of it, leading to his own addiction. ("The Moth")

Charlie leaves to catch his plane. ("The Moth")

Because of Liam's destructive habits, the band began to lose its magic, reduced to recording advertising jingles based on "You All Everybody", their one hit song. For example, "You All Every Butties" was recorded as a commercial for Butties Diapers. However, Liam's drug problems made even this impossible, as he was too wasted to be able to follow simple directions.

Liam married a woman named Karen with whom he a daughter Megan, named after his mother. He missed Megan's birth while out getting a fix, an event that seems to have been key to him realizing that he needed to get his life back together. In order to get as far away from temptation as possible, Liam quit the band and sold Charlie's piano (a gift of priceless emotional significance to Charlie) for plane ticket money to allow him to emigrate to Sydney. Karen's uncle promised him a job in Sydney, and he successfully underwent rehab while there. ("Fire + Water")

Liam refused Charlie's offer to reform the band for a comeback tour, but offered to help get Charlie off heroin. ("The Moth")

Cultural references

• The name Liam, as Charlie's brother in the band Drive Shaft parallels Liam Gallagher, the brother of Noel Gallagher, both members of the real life band Oasis, a group that had a strong influence on the conception of Drive Shaft. (Backstage with Drive Shaft)

Additional casting

Young Liam, depicted by Zack Shada, at Butlins ("Greatest Hits")

• Zack Shada played the role of Young Liam in "Fire + Water" and "Greatest Hits".