Martin Fowler (EastEnders)
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This a TV-related article or section describes a fictional character in a primarily in-universe style. Please rewrite this article or section to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. |
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- This article is about the soap opera character. For the information technology author/speaker, see Martin Fowler.
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| Martin Fowler, played by James Alexandrou. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Martin Fowler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Jon Peyton Price (1985-1996) James Alexandrou (1996-2007) |
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| Duration | 1985–2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 30 July 1985 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 2 February 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profile | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 30 July 1985 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Engaged | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home | Touring USA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Market trader (fruit & veg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Martin Albert Fowler was a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. He was played by James Alexandrou from 1996 to 2007.
The role was previously played by Jon Peyton Price from early life as a baby in 1985 to 1996, just before Martin's teenage years began.
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[edit] History
Martin was the younger son of Pauline and Arthur Fowler, born in July 1985. His considerably older siblings are Mark and Michelle. Martin was the first baby to be born in the serial. His grandmother Lou was extremely fond of him, and insisted that he be named after her late husband Albert.
Pauline and Arthur were against this, and for several months the baby remained un-named, although Lou continued to refer to him as Albert. The baby's name was finally revealed as Martin Albert Fowler at his christening in October 1985, which satisfied Lou. His godparents were Angie Watts, Kathy Beale and Simon Wicks.
Martin grew up facing numerous family upsets, including his father's mental breakdown and imprisonment and his parents' temporary separation in 1993, which Martin took badly. As Martin aged he became surly and increasingly troublesome.
[edit] Delinquency
As a teenager, Martin led a somewhat deviant life, believed to be triggered by the premature death of his father. Martin was only eleven years old when his father died.
He befriended a small gang of young criminals from his local school. A series of petty thefts, burglaries and vandalism culminated in his being arrested and enraging various residents of Walford including Phil Mitchell.
Martin had a brief relationship with Nicky di Marco in 2000, but she dumped him when he pressured her to have sex with him. Martin ended up losing his virginity to Sonia Jackson directly after Nicky dumped him. Sonia was feeling vulnerable, and after copious amounts of alcohol, she agreed to sleep with Martin. However, to her horror their tryst left her pregnant.
Sonia eventually gave birth to surprise daughter Chloe in November 2000 and when she named Martin as the father a feud erupted between the Jacksons and the Fowlers, with Pauline adamant that she should be given custody of the baby. However, Sonia was eventually allowed to give the baby up for adoption when Martin admitted that he didn't want to be a father. Martin's deviancy continued when he took drugs provided by Nick Cotton, which led to Martin's brother Mark taking revenge and leaving Nick temporarily paralyzed.
Martin received a six-month prison sentence in February 2003 after driving the car that hit Sonia's fiancé Jamie Mitchell, leading to his death. However, he only served two months, being let out early for good behaviour. Once released, Martin resumed his criminal lifestyle by robbing a shop, blackmailing Kareena Ferreira and growing cannabis in the shed of his deceased father with the help of his best friend, Asif Malik. This led to family friend Derek Harkinson taking the blame when the police found out, as Martin could not risk being in trouble with the law, due to his previous convictions. It wasn't until Martin was confronted and forgiven by a bereaved Sonia that he finally began to feel remorse for his actions and he then attempted to reform himself.
[edit] Relationship with Sonia
After a few brief relationships, including a one night stand with Kelly Taylor, Martin began to grow close to Sonia. Despite their past animosity they ended up falling in love and after Sonia helped him come to terms with the death of his brother, Martin decided to propose marriage. Amidst an array of interference from Pauline, Martin and Sonia decided to elope and marry away from Walford in June 2004. The newlyweds moved in with Pauline, but their marriage was constantly put under strain by her meddling.
Several months later, Martin unwittingly put his marriage in jeopardy when he became involved with a barmaid named Sarah Cairns. After getting intoxicated, Martin was taken back to Sarah's where he passed out drunk. Sarah became obsessed with him, and after pretending that Martin had slept with her, she began stalking him. She threatened to tell Sonia about their imaginary tryst. When Martin physically threatened her, she contacted the police and got him arrested and then revealed their fabricated affair to Sonia. Sarah's plan was thwarted however, as Sonia refused to give her husband up. After admitting that their affair was a lie, an incensed Sarah stabbed Martin with a kitchen knife and only stopped her attack when Sonia hit her over the head with Pauline's fruit bowl. Sarah was committed to a mental institution and Martin and Sonia put the incident behind them.
Pauline's influence over Martin eventually became too much for Sonia to bear, and the two women began arguing regularly. Martin found it hard to take sides, and a rift began to grow between him and Sonia. Things worsened when Sonia discovered that Martin and Pauline had been seeing her adopted daughter against her wishes. Sonia began spending more and more time away from Martin and early in 2006, their marriage broke down, due to her lesbian affair with a fellow student, Naomi Julien. Sonia left Martin devastated, but she soon regretted it when Martin was given custody of their daughter following the death of her legal guardian. Sonia was frequently excluded from her daughter's life by Martin and Pauline.
After a while brooding, Martin attempted to move on by dating Carly Wicks, which stirred up some jealousy in Sonia. Martin took the relationship more seriously than Carly did and she eventually ended it. Immediately after Martin and Sonia's divorce was finalised in October 2006, they began to regret their separation. A heartfelt toast to the end of their marriage led to them sleeping together. They secretly reunited and hoped to keep it from Pauline, whose hostility towards Sonia had only increased. However, Pauline eventually found out about their reunion when she overheard Martin venting his frustrations in the Fowler household. Martin confessed that he was losing his love for Pauline because of her stubbornness. After they left, Pauline prepared to leave Walford but the house caught on fire after her cigarette fell out of the ashtray. Martin realised she was in the house and managed to save her. Martin was confused as to why Pauline did not call out to him during the fire. He was devastated when she told him that she was dying from a brain tumour. In fact, she was faking it to make sure that Martin ended his relationship with Sonia, which he eventually did. Martin decided to devote himself to caring for his mother.
Martin was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that his mother would die, and couldn't stand to hear Peggy slandering her. In order to silence her, he stunned everyone in The Queen Victoria by announcing that his mother was seriously sick with a brain tumour, and everyone, including Peggy, was deeply saddened by the news. Joe later inquired into her treatment for her illness and found out that she was lying. Pauline admitted everything to Martin, who along with Joe and Rebecca left the house to stay with Sonia, Dot and Jim.
When the residents of Walford began to raise money for Pauline (on Peggy's request), Martin was shocked and felt that everybody had a right to know the truth. He revealed everything to Peggy who in turn revealed the truth to a crowded Queen Vic. The whole Square turned against Pauline, so she stunned Martin by deciding to sell the stall back to the council.
[edit] Pauline's death
When he found out that his mother was leaving for the United States on Christmas Day, he tried to persuade her to stay, but her decision was final. He left the house in tears. On Christmas Day, Martin proposed to Sonia again and she accepted. Dot tried to convince him to make up with his mother but he realised it was no use. After a night of fun at the Vic, the residents went outside to enjoy the snow but to Dot's horror she found Pauline's lifeless body under the Christmas tree. Martin rushed over to his mother and desperately tried to wake her up but realised that she was dead. Initially, Martin showed little grief over Pauline's death. But when he listened to a message that his mum had left on his phone minutes before her death, apologising for everything including her treatment of Sonia, Martin was moved to tears.
He was devastated when the funeral was interrupted by the police after Dot rang them, telling them she believed that Pauline had been murdered. Martin believed it was Joe, but when he attacked him, Sonia confessed that she killed Pauline.
After a much heated argument with Martin, with revelations of keeping Rebecca quiet so she wouldn't tell, and Martin trying to get Sonia to show him how she hit Pauline, Sonia tried to keep matters under control, after Jim interrupted the fight. Whilst Sonia made some tea for them Martin slipped out and took Rebecca from Brannings. On his way there he made a call to the police. Sonia found Rebecca missing from her bedroom, only to then find her and Martin back in the Fowler household.
Martin told Sonia that since she took someone away from him (Pauline), he would take someone away from her (Rebecca). In a blind rage, Sonia finally slapped Martin, who took this to be the amount of force used on Pauline, then resulting in Martin lunging at Sonia and throwing her out into the street. The police arrived and Sonia was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Most of the residents felt that Sonia was innocent but Martin was convinced that she was guilty. When she was released he forbade her to see Rebecca and argued with Phil because he provided her with the lawyer which enabled her to be released. On 11 January 2007, Pauline's post-mortem results were announced. Martin in the presence of Phil was told that Pauline's death was caused by a severe blow to the head. Martin rushed to the Brannings (where the police were searching for Sonia) and demanded to see Sonia. Phil in the meantime phoned her and told her that she was being charged with murder. He hid her in the Arches and made preparations for her to leave Walford.
The next day Martin, Ian, Dot and Jim went to Pauline's funeral whilst Rebecca and Jane remained behind. Sonia used this to meet Rebecca one last time as she was going to hand herself in. Martin returned from the funeral to get Rebecca but she was not there. Jane told him that Sonia was here. Martin ran after Sonia and Rebecca who jumped in a car but he was too late and watched helplessly whilst the car sped off out of sight.
While Phil Mitchell was celebrating his birthday on 19 January 2007, the alarm on his car sounded twice during the day. The second time he went to turn the alarm off the windscreen was smashed with a hole showing up on the passenger side. Shortly after, Martin showed up accusing Phil of letting Sonia off, before running away.
Out of desperation Martin kidnapped Phil's son Ben and took him to the railway bridge. He demanded that Phil give him any information of Sonia and Rebecca's whereabouts. He eventually let Ben go but Martin was left a broken man. Sonia returned the same day with Rebecca, so Martin called the police to arrest her. It was later revealed that Joe was the one who killed Pauline. After seeking forgiveness from Sonia he asked her to consider them getting back together. Martin, Ian and Sonia were present when Pauline's will was being read. She gave Martin possession of the house but he had to forfeit his right if he chose to live with Sonia.
Sonia then decided to leave Walford for good thinking it would be better for Martin and Rebecca. Just as Sonia was leaving in the taxi, she saw Martin and Rebecca sitting on the road in front of it. After some convincing and tears the three, with Pauline's dog Betty, left Walford together on 2 February 2007.
On 11 June 2007, Bianca told Dot that Martin and Sonia had gone to Florida with Rebecca to visit Michelle and decided to tour the USA.
In September 2007, when Dot bought a computer, Dot talked to Martin and Sonia through an instant messaging application.
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