James "Jim" McDonald is the father of Steve and Andy and ex-husband of Liz. Before moving to Coronation Street in 1989, Jim served with the Royal Engineers. On civvy street, he worked as a builder, mechanic and repairman and briefly managed The Queens pub with Liz in 1993. Jim hails from Northern Ireland and was noted for his usage of Irish sayings like finishing his sentences with "so it is" and calling people by their full forenames.