| Martin Fowler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| James Alexandrou as Martin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Jon Peyton Price (1985–96) James Alexandrou (1996–2007) |
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| Introduced by | Julia Smith | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1985–2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 30 July 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 2 February 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 30 July 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Market trader (fruit & veg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alternative image(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jon Peyton Price as Martin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Martin Albert Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, 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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Martin is the younger son of Pauline and Arthur Fowler, born in July 1985. His considerably older siblings are Mark and Michelle. Martin is the first baby to be born in the serial. His grandmother Lou is extremely fond of him, and insists that he is named after her late husband Albert. Pauline and Arthur are against this, and for several months the baby remains unnamed, although Lou continues to refer to him as Albert. The baby's name is finally revealed as Martin Albert Fowler at his christening in October 1985, which satisfies Lou. His godparents are Angie Watts, Kathy Beale and Simon Wicks. Martin grows up facing numerous family upsets, including his father's mental breakdown and imprisonment and his parents' temporary separation in 1993, which Martin takes badly. As Martin ages he becomes surly and increasingly troublesome.
As a teenager, Martin leads a somewhat deviant life, believed to be triggered by the premature death of his father. Martin is only eleven years old when his father dies. He befriends a small gang of young criminals from his local school. A series of petty thefts, burglaries and vandalism culminates in his being arrested and enraging various residents of Walford including Phil Mitchell. Martin has a brief relationship with Nicky di Marco in 2000, but she dumpes him when he pressures her to have sex with him. Martin ends up losing his virginity to Sonia Jackson directly after Nicky dumps him. Sonia is feeling vulnerable, and after copious amounts of alcohol, she agrees to sleep with Martin. Their tryst leaves her pregnant.
Sonia gives birth to daughter Chloe on 26 October 2000 and when she names Martin as the father, a feud erupts between the Jacksons and the Fowlers, with Pauline adamant that she should be given custody of the baby. However, Sonia is eventually allowed to give the baby up for adoption when Martin admits that he does not want to be a father. Martin's deviancy continues when he takes drugs provided by Nick Cotton, which leads to Martin's brother Mark taking revenge and leaving Nick temporarily paralyzed.
Martin receives 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 serves two months, being let out early for good behaviour. Once released, Martin resumes 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 leads to family friend Derek Harkinson taking the blame when the police find out, as Martin cannot risk being in trouble with the law, due to his previous convictions. It is not until Martin is confronted and forgiven by a bereaved Sonia that he finally begins to feel remorse for his actions and he then attempts to reform himself.
After a few brief relationships, including a one-night stand with Kelly Taylor, Martin begins to grow close to Sonia. Despite their past animosity they end up falling in love and after Sonia helps him come to terms with the death of his brother, Martin decides to propose marriage. Amidst an array of interference from Pauline, Martin and Sonia decide to elope and marry away from Walford in June 2004. The newlyweds move in with Pauline, but their marriage is constantly put under strain by her meddling.
Several months later, Martin unwittingly puts his marriage in jeopardy when he becomes involved with a barmaid named Sarah Cairns. After getting intoxicated, Martin is taken back to Sarah's where he passes out drunk. Sarah becomes obsessed with him, and after pretending that Martin slept with her, she begins stalking him. She threatens to tell Sonia about their imaginary tryst. When Martin physically threatens her, she contacts the police and gets him arrested and then reveals their fabricated affair to Sonia. Sarah's plan is thwarted however, as Sonia refuses to give her husband up. After admitting that their affair is a lie, an incensed Sarah stabs Martin with a kitchen knife and only stops her attack when Sonia hits her over the head with Pauline's fruit bowl. Sarah is committed to a mental institution and Martin and Sonia put the incident behind them.
Pauline's influence over Martin eventually becomes too much for Sonia to bear, and the two women began arguing regularly. Martin finds it hard to take sides, and a rift begins to grow between him and Sonia. Things worsen when Sonia discovers that Martin and Pauline have been seeing her adopted daughter (now named Rebecca) against her wishes. Sonia begins spending more and more time away from Martin and early in 2006, their marriage breaks down, due to her lesbian affair with a fellow student, Naomi Julien. Sonia leaves Martin devastated, but she soon regrets it when Martin is given custody of their daughter following the death of her legal guardian. Sonia is frequently excluded from her daughter's life by Martin and Pauline.
After a while brooding, Martin attempts to move on by dating Carly Wicks, which stirs up some jealousy in Sonia. Martin takes the relationship more seriously than Carly does and she eventually ends it. Immediately after Martin and Sonia's divorce is finalised in October 2006, they begin to regret their separation. A heartfelt toast to the end of their marriage leads to them sleeping together. They secretly reunite and hoped to keep it from Pauline, whose hostility towards Sonia has only increased. However, Pauline eventually finds out about their reunion when she overhears Martin venting his frustrations in the Fowler household. Martin confesses that he is losing his love for Pauline because of her stubbornness. After they leave, Pauline prepares to leave Walford but the house catches on fire after her cigarette falls out of the ashtray. Martin realises she is in the house and manages to save her. Martin is confused as to why Pauline did not call out to him during the fire. He is devastated when she tells him that she is dying from a brain tumour. In fact, she is faking it to make sure that Martin ends his relationship with Sonia, which he eventually does. Martin decides to devote himself to caring for his mother.
Martin has a hard time coming to terms with the fact that his mother will die, and cannot stand to hear Peggy Mitchell slandering her. In order to silence her, he stuns everyone in The Queen Victoria public house by announcing that his mother is seriously sick with a brain tumour, and everyone, including Peggy, is deeply saddened by the news. Pauline's second husband Joe Macer inquires into her treatment for her illness and finds out that she is lying. Pauline admits everything to Martin, who along with Joe and Rebecca leave the house to stay with Sonia, Dot Branning and her husband Jim. When the residents of Walford begin to raise money for Pauline on Peggy's request, Martin is shocked and feels that everybody has a right to know the truth. He reveals everything to Peggy who in turn reveals it to a crowded pub. Everyone turns against Pauline, so she stuns Martin by deciding to sell the family's market stall back to the council.
When Martin discovers that his mother is leaving for the United States on Christmas Day, he tries to persuade her to stay, but her decision is final. He leaves the house in tears. On Christmas Day, Martin proposes to Sonia again and she accepts. Dot tries to convince him to make up with his mother but he realises it is no use. After a night of fun in The Queen Victoria, the residents go outside to enjoy the snow but to Dot's horror she finds Pauline's lifeless body under the Christmas tree. Martin rushes over to his mother and desperately tries to wake her up but realises that she is dead. Initially, Martin shows little grief over Pauline's death, but when he listens to a message that she left on his phone minutes before her death, apologising for everything including her treatment of Sonia, Martin is moved to tears.
He is devastated when the funeral is interrupted by the police after Dot rings them, telling them she believes that Pauline had been murdered. Martin believes it was Joe, but when he attacks him, Sonia confesses that she killed Pauline. After a much heated argument with Martin, with revelations of keeping Rebecca quiet so she will not tell, and Martin trying to get Sonia to show him how she hit Pauline, Sonia tries to keep matters under control, after Jim interrupts the fight. Whilst Sonia makes some tea for them, Martin slips out and takes Rebecca from the Brannings'. On his way there he calls the police. Sonia finds Rebecca missing from her bedroom, only to then find her and Martin back in the Fowler household.
Martin tells Sonia that since she took someone away from him (Pauline), he will take someone away from her (Rebecca). In a blind rage, Sonia finally slaps Martin, who takes 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 arrive and Sonia is arrested on suspicion of murder. Most of the residents feel that Sonia is innocent but Martin is convinced that she is guilty. When she is released he forbids her to see Rebecca and argues with Phil because he provided her with the lawyer that enabled her to be released. Pauline's post-mortem results are announced and Martin, in the presence of Phil, is told that Pauline's death was caused by a severe blow to the head. Martin rushes to the Brannings (where the police were searching for Sonia) and demands to see Sonia. Phil in the meantime phones her and tells her that she is being charged with murder. He hides her in his garage and makes preparations for her to leave Walford.
The next day Martin, Ian Beale, Dot and Jim go to Pauline's funeral while Rebecca and Jane Beale remain behind. Sonia uses this as an opportunity to meet Rebecca one last time as she is going to hand herself in. Martin returns from the funeral to get Rebecca but she is not there. Jane tells him that Sonia was there. Martin runs after Sonia and Rebecca who jump in a car but he is too late and watches helplessly as the car speeds off out of sight. While Phil celebrates his birthday on 19 January 2007, the alarm on his car sounds twice during the day. The second time,he goes to turn the alarm off and finds the windscreen smashed with a hole showing up on the passenger side. Shortly after, Martin shows up accusing Phil of letting Sonia off, before running away.
Out of desperation Martin kidnaps Phil's son Ben and takes him to the railway bridge. He demands that Phil give him any information of Sonia and Rebecca's whereabouts. He eventually lets Ben go but Martin is left a broken man. Sonia returns the same day with Rebecca, so Martin calls the police to arrest her. It is later revealed that Joe was the one who killed Pauline. After seeking forgiveness from Sonia he asks her to consider them getting back together. Martin, Ian and Sonia are present when Pauline's will is read. She gives Martin possession of the house but he has to forfeit it if he chooses to live with Sonia.
Sonia decides to leave Walford for good thinking it will be better for Martin and Rebecca. Just as Sonia is leaving in the taxi, she sees Martin and Rebecca sitting on the road in front of it. After some convincing and tears, the three, with Pauline's dog Betty, leave Walford together on 2 February 2007. It is later revealed they are touring the USA.
In January 2010, Sonia's sister Bianca invites Martin and Sonia to her wedding. Sonia confirms they will attend the wedding, by a text message. Sonia returns to Walford without Martin and Rebecca in February 2010. Sonia says Martin and Rebecca are fine, but she rejects a call from Martin later on after Bianca's hen party. Sonia later confides in Carol and Phil that she and Martin are having problems in their marriage. Martin does not attend Bianca's wedding, but Sonia returns home to him to give things another shot for Rebecca, as advised by Carol. Off screen, Martin and Sonia split up and Sonia moves to London with Rebecca.[1]
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