Martin Fowler (EastEnders)

Martin Albert Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders currently played by English actor James Bye. The role has been previously played by Jon Peyton Price, who portrayed the character from his birth in 1985 until 1996 and subsequently by James Alexandrou who carried him through from 1996 until 2007. The role was later recast and Bye brought Martin back to the screen on 5 December 2014.

Storylines

1985–96

Martin is the younger son of Pauline (Wendy Richard) and Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher), born in July 1985. His considerably older siblings are Mark (David Scarboro) and Michelle (Susan Tully). Martin is the first baby to be born in the serial. Martin grows up facing numerous family upsets, including the death of his grandmother Lou (Anna Wing), 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.

1996–2007

Only ten years old when his father dies, Martin becomes more difficult after this. He befriends a small gang of young criminals from his local school and a series of petty thefts, burglaries and vandalism culminates in him being arrested.

Martin has a brief relationship with Nicky di Marco (Carly Hillman) in 2000, but she refuses to have sex. Martin turns to Sonia Jackson (Natalie Cassidy) after Nicky dumps him. Sonia is feeling vulnerable, and after getting drunk, they sleep together and she becomes 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 demanding custody of the baby on learning of Sonia's plans to give her up for adoption. This leads to a court hearing where Sonia asks that baby Chloe be returned to her and she will raise her with her boyfriend, Jamie Mitchell, if Martin asks for custody with Pauline to support him. However, the judge rules that the adoption should go ahead when Martin admits that he does not want to be a father. Martin's deviancy continues when he takes drugs provided by Nick Cotton (John Altman), which leads to Martin's brother Mark (now Todd Carty) 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 (Jack Ryder), and causes 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 (Pooja Shah) and growing cannabis in his late father's shed, assisted by his best friend, Asif Malik (Ashvin Luximon). This leads to family friend Derek Harkinson (Ian Lavender) taking the blame when the police find out, as Martin cannot risk 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 attempts to reform himself.

After a few brief relationships, including a one-night stand with Kelly Taylor (Brooke Kinsella), Martin begins growing close to Sonia, and they fall in love. After Sonia helps him come to terms with the death of his brother, Martin decides to propose marriage. Amidst constant interference from Pauline, Martin and Sonia decide to elope in June 2004. The newlyweds move in with Pauline but she puts constant strain on their marriage with her meddling. Several months later, Martin unwittingly puts his marriage in jeopardy when he encounters Sarah Cairns (Alison Pargeter). After passing out drunk at Sarah's house, she claims that Martin slept with her and begins stalking him. When Martin physically threatens her, she calls the police and has him arrested before revealing their "affair" to Sonia. Sarah's plan is thwarted however, as Sonia refuses to leave her husband. After admitting that their affair is a lie, Sarah stabs Martin with a kitchen knife but 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 starts putting a real strain on his marriage. Things worsen when Sonia finds out that Martin and Pauline have been visiting her and Martin's daughter (now named Rebecca) against her wishes. Early in 2006, their marriage breaks down, due to Sonia's affair with a fellow student, Naomi Julien (Petra Letang). Martin is devastated but she soon regrets it when Martin is given custody of their daughter following the death of her legal guardian and they frequently exclude her from Rebecca's life. Martin tries to move on by dating Carly Wicks (Kellie Shirley) briefly, stirring up some jealousy in Sonia. Immediately after they divorce in October 2006, they begin to regret it and sleep together. They then secretly reunite and hope to keep it from Pauline but she eventually finds out and they argue. Pauline prepares to leave but the house catches fire, and Martin saves her. Pauline then claims 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. However, Martin is stunned when it is revealed that Pauline has been lying. 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. On Christmas Day, Martin proposes to Sonia again and she accepts, but later that day he discovers his mother's dead body in the Square. Martin believes Joe murdered her, but Sonia confesses that she is responsible, as she had hit her earlier. After they fight, the police arrive and Sonia is arrested on suspicion of murder. She is released and he forbids her to see Rebecca. Pauline's post-mortem results are announced and Martin is told that Pauline's death was caused by a severe blow to the head. Sonia goes on the run with Rebecca, leaving Martin devastated. Sonia and Rebecca soon return and Martin calls the police to arrest her. It is later revealed that Joe killed Pauline. When Pauline's will is read, she gives Martin possession of the house but only if he does not live with Sonia. Martin and Sonia reunite anyway and they, Rebecca and Pauline's dog, Betty, leave Walford together on 2 February 2007. It is later revealed they are touring the USA, staying with Martin's sister, Michelle.

Sonia returns to Walford alone in February 2010 for Bianca's wedding. Initially Sonia says that Martin and Rebecca are fine, but then tells her mother Carol that she and Martin are having problems in their marriage. Sonia reveals in 2011 that she and Rebecca are living in Dagenham and that Martin now has a new girlfriend in Manchester. Sonia returns to Walford in January 2014 and Martin returns on 5 December 2014. They still have marital problems.

2014–

Martin returns to Walford to support Sonia on the evening of her Fat Blasters' Christmas party, but arrives late and discovers she has collapsed due to complications with a gastric band implementation she got in Bulgaria, which she kept secret from him. Sonia tells Martin that she had the operation as she felt like he was not attracted to her any longer, and he later recognises that they do not love each other and they separate, with Martin returning to Dagenham. Martin returns to Walford for the wedding of his cousin Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). He, along with Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) and Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) discover Nick's dead body at number 23 (recreating the first ever scene in EastEnders). After agreeing not to speak of the matter, they soon discover that his mother Dot has called the police confessing that she has killed him and she is then taken away. After walking Stacey home, he attempts to kiss her, only for her to reject him. He later returns while Ian and his wife Jane (Laurie Brett) are on their honeymoon. He stays at their house and discovers that Ian's adoptive daughter, Cindy Williams (Mimi Keene), has been sleeping with Bianca's son Liam Butcher (James Forde), so decides to keep an eye on her. He manages to convince his and Sonia's daughter Rebecca (Jasmine Armfield) to come back to Walford, where she reveals her new look as a Goth. He also attends Donna Yates's (Lisa Hammond) birthday party with Kush and their friends from football. He tries to kiss Donna for a bet but ends up getting into a fight with Fatboy (Ricky Norwood). He also confides in Kush that he thinks he and Sonia could get their marriage back on track although these hopes are dashed when he spots Sonia kissing her new girlfriend, Tina Carter (Luisa Bradshaw-White). He later argues with Sonia in The Vic after revealing the truth about her and Tina. He then tells Rebecca that Sonia is a lesbian, which causes her to reject Sonia. After Martin and Sonia have a meaningful conversation about their relationship, he sends Rebecca to live with Sonia in order to spend more time with her mother. It is later revealed that Martin is homeless and sleeping in the back of his van. Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) informs Ian of Martin's troubles and Martin moves in with Ian, and later reveals to Sonia that he has lost their house in Dagenham. After filing for divorce from Sonia, Martin later rents a flat with Stacey and her daughter Lily Branning (Aine Garvey) and starts a relationship with Stacey, which gets serious despite Stacey's lingering feelings for Kush. Their relationship progresses as Martin and Sonia's divorce is finalised, and Martin researches about Stacey's bipolar disorder.

When Martin finds out that Stacey is pregnant, he initially wants her to book a termination as it is too soon, but later supports her decision to keep the baby. She discovers he is planning to propose and says does not want to marry again, so he proposes a commitment without marriage, and she accepts. Stacey is electrocuted by a faulty socket that Lee Carter (Danny-Boy Hatchard) failed to repair properly, so Martin punches him and threatens to kill him if the baby dies from the incident. At the hospital, Martin finds out she is okay and that the baby is a boy. When Stacey is discharged, Martin announces to guests in the Queen Vic that his baby is a boy and invites Lee and Whitney to join him, Stacey, Kush, and Shabnam Masood (Rakhee Thakrar) for lunch. He apologises for hitting Lee and forgives him for the incident. Shabnam discovers that Martin is not the father of Stacey's baby, but she and Kush decide not to tell Martin. When Stacey's son is born on Christmas Eve, Martin, unaware of the baby's true paternity, names him Arthur Fowler, after his father. Two weeks later, Stacey's cousin Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) discovers that Martin is not Arthur's father, and when Stacey goes missing with Arthur shortly after, Martin and Kush grow concerned and try to find her. Martin eventually finds Stacey on the roof of the Queen Victoria. She claims that Arthur is the son of God, and says that God will rescue them from what she thinks are demons. Martin, believing it is a symptom of her unmedicated bipolar, goes along with what she says and convinces her to come home with him. On the day of Charlie's funeral, Stacey is upset that she didn't get to the church so God could give her a message. She doesn't allow Martin near Arthur and smashes glass cups to protect them. When Stacey goes to Kush and Shabnam's for safety, Martin talks to her and persuades her that she is safe with him. He takes her to hospital and after Stacey speaks to a psychologist, Martin learns that there are no mother and baby units and Martin is also told that Stacey will have to be sectioned. Martin breaks the news to Stacey and he is later informed Stacey is suffering from postpartum psychosis. When Martin visits Stacey, he realises that she needs to see Arthur, so tries to find a hospital with a mother and baby unit.

Development

On 12 October 2014, it was announced that James Bye has taken over the role.^[1] Executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins explained that the recast took place with Alexandrou's blessing.^[1] He also said, "Our casting executive Julia Crampsie has found a genuine relatable London bloke in the talented James Bye—we are sure that viewers old and new will soon warm to Martin Fowler's charms as he returns home to Walford."^[1][1]

See also

• List of soap opera recasts

References

External links

• Martin Fowler at BBC Online