Martin Fowler

Martin Fowler made his first appearance on the 6th August 1985 and he is the son of Arthur Fowler and Pauline Fowler and the father of Bex Fowler and Hope Fowler. He is also the husband of Stacey Fowler and adoptive father to her son Arthur, who was at first believed to be Martin's son as well as the step father to her daughter Lily.

Kill Count
Jamie Mitchell-December 2002 - Died from a ruptured spleen after being ran down by Martin.

Total: 1

Background
Martin is the youngest son of Arthur and Pauline Fowler, born considerably later than their other children in 1985. 40 year old Pauline was criticised by her mother Lou Beale for having another baby but she insisted that she wanted the child and once Martin was born, Lou came to love him as well. During his early years, Martin was raised with his niece Vicki. As a child, Martin wet the bed until he was 12. In 1996, he discovered his much loved older brother Mark was HIV+.

Michelle Fowler and her friend Rachel took Martin Fowler and Vicki Fowler to the seaside for paddling, to visit the pier, for ice cream and to build sandcastles. When it was time to go home Michelle asked if they wanted to say another day and she'd secretly booked a caravan. Martin and Vicki slept in bunk beds are Martin told Michelle that he wished she was his mum.

Storylines
Teenage tearaway Martin Fowler was the spoiled spawn of Arthur and Pauline. The surprise baby of the Fowler clan (Pauline was in her forties when she conceived him) and the first tot to be born in EastEnders. Martin proved to be a bad boy, just like his brother – wouldn't you feel the need to rebel if you had to live with Pauline Fowler?

In spite of his special status as baby of the Fowler family, Martin wasn't cushioned from the harsh realities of life. He grew up in the shadow of his father's mental breakdown and imprisonment, his parents' temporary separation, the premature death of his father and later his brother's death from a AIDS related illness. Indeed, it was Arthur's death that sent Martin over the edge, taking him down the path of petty crime.

Martin was best friends with Asif Malik at school. Martin lost his virginity to Sonia Jackson. Their tryst left her pregnant with baby Chloe – a fact that Sonia didn't realise until she was in the throes of labour. Too young for parenthood, the pair put Chloe up for adoption.

In a cruel twist of fate, it was Martin, the father of her child, who knocked down and killed Sonia's one true love, Jamie Mitchell. Fortunately, Martin proved to be her second true love. In spite of his mother's opposition, his love for Sonia reformed Martin. However, the path of their love was bumpy to say the least. The pair eloped and Martin involuntarily got involved with a barmaid called Sarah who lied about them sleeping together then stalked and stabbed him... Sonia had a lesbian lover... they got their daughter back (now named Rebecca) and they went through a divorce then got back together again.

Pauline faked a brain tumour to keep them apart… Martin accused Sonia of killing his mother… and finally they reconciled and moved to Manchester with Rebecca, where they continue their turbulent relationship until Sonia left him and moved to Dagenham with Rebecca.

In December 2014, Sonia collapses in The Queen Victoria after having a gastric band operation. As she is loaded into the ambulance, Martin arrives.

In 2015, Stacey gives birth to a baby boy named Arthur Brian Fowler, born on the 24th December 2015, conceived after a one-night stand with Kush Kazemi a month before Stacey slept with Martin. It was believed his father was Martin until Stacey was told during one of her scans that she was 4 weeks more pregnant than she thought she was, meaning that she was already pregnant by the time she was dating Martin. When she found out that Martin wasn't the father of her baby and Kush was she told Shabnam Masood, but not that Kush was the father, as Shabnam was dating him. Shabnam confides in Kush before their wedding that Martin isn't the father to Stacey's baby, this leads Kush to realise that he must be the father to Stacey's baby. On his wedding day, Kush confronts Stacey demanding to know who the father is; she denies it's him, making up that it was someone else - even going so far as to say that she met the father in Stratford and that he had "2 arms and 2 legs, 1 of those things that you call a head." Kush sees through her lies and begs to know the truth. Stacey doesn't answer him, confirming that he is the father to her baby. She tells a shocked Kush that it's just DNA and doesn't mean anything and that Martin is going to be her son's father. Kush demands to know why he wasn't told and Stacey answers by telling him that he had made his choice when he had chosen Shabnam over her, and she didn't want this to change his mind and force him to be with her. Furthermore, she didn't want to upset Shabnam because she had lost Zaair Kazemi (Kush and Shabnam's still born son). Stacey explains that she had to move on, admitting at first her relationship with Martin was a rebound to distract her from the fact she couldn't have Kush, but it developed into a real relationship. Kush questions that Stacey would be lying to both Martin and the baby for the rest of their lives, but she argues that as soon as Martin holds the baby he'll love him and raise him as his own. Kush and Stacey agree that they'll keep it a secret to protect Shabnam and Martin. When Martin found out the baby wasn't his, he decided to adopt him and he and Stacey named him after their fathers Arthur Fowler and Brian Slater.

Stacey is once sectioned once again and her daughter Lily is left in the care of Martin, whom has been acting as a father figure to her. At this time Lily's auntie Whitney Dean calls Lily's dad Ryan Malloy who returns to Walford to try and reconnect with his daughter. However, this doesn't go according to plan when Ryan tries to kidnap her. Lily and Ryan quickly bond and Lily is happy to have her daddy back in her life but Ryan wants what's best for his daughter so he tells her he has to go away for a little while and finally decides to hand himself into the police and leaves Lily with Martin.

Stacey then recovers and her and Martin look after Lily and Arthur together. Stacey then decides to change Lily's name from "Branning" to "Fowler" as Martin is the main father figure in Lily's life. Lily gets upset when Arthur gets to give his Dad a card for Father’s Day. Her mother Stacey thinks she is upset because she heard her and Martin talking about the new baby. However, this was not the case Lily just wanted to send her Dad a card. Later she gets to phone him.

In December 2017, at Lily's Christmas play, Stacey goes home as she claims she has "forgotten something" and this leads her to sleeping with Max Branning. In the morning, Martin sees Stacey's lost phone, which contains evidence of Max killing Steven Beale, charging on the table and asks where it came from. Stacey explains it came through the door. Martin notices the abundance of messages, and notifies Stacey, who says she will listen to them later.

Martin is alarmed when Stacey leaves the house and he hears sirens in the Square. He phones Stacey, only to discover her phone in the kitchen. Distressed, he leaves the house to find Stacey. Martin is even more alarmed as he sees a stretcher being wheeled across the Square, however he sees Max's youngest daughter Abi Branning's face in the stretcher and he is relieved Stacey is okay. Later that night, he tries to soothe Stacey, however she is being incredibly shifty. She repeatedly tells him she wants to talk, however he shushes her and tells her to relax.

In 2018, Martin and Stacey have a huge fall out as Stacey cheated on Martin with Max Branning. She then went to visit her mum in Brighton, taking the kids with her, however she returned two weeks later with Martin telling her that he wants custody of the kids. Martin then throws Stacey out of the house and refuses to give her any access to the children. A couple of days later, Lily goes upstairs as she can hear Hope crying, she then picks Hope out of her cot and holds her out of the window shouting to Stacey "Hope wants you Mummy". Martin then talks Lily away from the window and tells her she did a good job of staying calm. Lily then runs outside to see Stacey along with Martin, who is carrying Hope. Stacey then phones Ryan who plans to help Stacey by sending someone out to change the locks on her doors. When Martin goes to work, he leaves Whitney and her younger sister Tiffany to look after the kids, however Whitney allows Stacey to come in just as Martin's daughter Bex realises what Stacey is doing and shouts of her Dad, Stacey then locks all the doors in the house as the locks have been changed and tells an angry and devastated Martin that he isn't allowed to see the kids, however she decides to let Martin have access Lily and her siblings as she can see just how much they mean to him.

Stacey is seen by and Martin's sister Michelle Fowler and Stacey's cousin Hayley Slater putting Arthur and Hope in a taxi. Michelle runs to Martin to tell him she is taking the kids. He stops the taxi by jumping in front of it, Stacey gets out of the car and Martin forbids her from taking the kids anywhere. Stacey explains that they are going to pick Lily up from school and then go back to Brighton to see Stacey's mother Jean for the weekend. He again tells her no and that she can't make decisions like that without his consent. The Ahmeds get involved after hearing Stacey and Martin argue; Arshad Ahmed then tells Martin, after being told to back-off, that he won't. He accuses Stacey and Martin of abusing their children, Martin apologises and Stacey goes to pick Lily up from school. All of this is filmed by Hayley. She decides to flirt with Martin. When asked by Stacey who she is, she explains that she is her cousin and that Kat sent her. Martin decides that he has had enough of Stacey and sends an email to a solicitor to get custody of Hope and Arthur, however, he changes his mind and (when round Stacey's house) hacks into her email and tries to delete an email from his solicitor. Stacey catches him and after he explains himself, she calls a solicitor when he leaves. Martin spends time with Hayley and she encourages him to take Hope and Arthur longer than it was agreed with Stacey. Hayley invites Martin, Arthur and Hope to her home and makes them a dinner of nuggets, chips and jelly. She explains that she feeds this to her son, Tyler, all the time and it's fine. However unknown to Martin, Tyler does not exist. She then starts a jelly fight with Martin in front of Arthur and Hope and Arthur laughs. Stacey then calls the police on Martin for not returning the children on the time agreed. Stacey admits to Hayley later that she felt guilty at calling the police because of the look on Arthur's face after it happened, but Hayley reminds her that she shouldn't go soft - Slaters stick together. Stacey's nan Mo then comes down after changing Hope and says you can tell she’s a Slater because of how much and how quickly she’s filled her nappy. Stacey decides to let Martin see the kids after seeing how much they mean to him. Martin is invited back into the house to talk about arrangements for the kids with Stacey.

Hayley introduces herself to Martin at his stall on Bridge Street and helps herself to an apple. Later in the café, Hayley distracts Martin when he is looking after his daughter, Hope and Stacey catches Hayley kissing Martin. In Martin's absence, Hayley whispers to Stacey her identity as it was unknown to Stacey that Hayley was in fact her cousin. Martin meets up with Hayley whilst he is looking after Hope and Arthur while Stacey collects Lily up from school. Hayley encourages Martin to keep the children out for longer, disobeying Stacey's instructions. Hayley pretends to defend Martin in front of Stacey when she collects Arthur and Hope with police presence due to Martin not returning them at the time agreed.

Stacey open's a letter, which was posted through the door and to their surprise, it is the key's to her uncle Charlie Slater's old cab, with a note telling them that Charlie's friend had the cab and he promised Charlie that when he retired he had to give the cab to the Slater's. Hayley tells Stacey she can fix it but she doesn't believe her so Hayley goes to see fellow mechanic Keanu Taylor where she asks if there is any jobs, however she didn't really want a job and was just trying to distract him while she stole some tools to fix her Uncle Charlie's cab. Later on she uses Tiffany's laptop so she can go online and see if anyone is interested in buying the cab. Tiffany spots her and this causes them to argue. Stacey pulls the pair apart but Tiffany goes to slap Hayley which causes another fight to break out. Stacey pulls them apart once again and while Tiffany's back is turned, Hayley eats her piece toast - which makes Tiffany mad. Since the Slater Family house is a bit over crowded, Martin gets annoyed with everyone. He then gets ready to go in the shower but realizes Tiffany is in. When Martin asks her is she is done, she replies "in washing my hair". Martin then comes down stairs and Tiffany comes out the shower, just as Mo runs up the stairs to use the bathroom. When the Bathroom is finally free, Martin goes in the shower but is disturbed when Jean walks in. She then runs down stairs and Martin goes after her. Jean runs into the kitchen where everyone is and Martin explains what has just happened. Tiffany laughs, as does everyone but Jean says "To be fair Martin, I didn't see much". Everyone laughs again and Kat replies "Poor Stacey". Martin goes to turn away and Kat pulls down his towel, which is covering his body. Everyone screams and Tiffany covers her eyes but Stacey grabs the cloth and puts it over Tiffany's eyes. Martin goes up stairs to resume his shower and get ready. When he comes down stairs into the Kitchen he spots Lily on Tiffany's ipad and tells her she should play outside and get some air in her lungs because she looks pasty. A few minutes later, Lily comes downstairs tanned as Tiffany covered her in fake tan because Martin said she looked pasty. Martin then promises to take Lily to the pictures after he is been to work but later gets robbed. Lily over hears Martin talking to the rest of the family about it and decides to make her own movie, with the help of Hayley handing out the 'tickets'.

Jean then begins to take Hope, Lily and Arthur to church, hoping to convince Lily to get christened. However once Jean confronts Stacey about this, Stacey disagrees. Jean then decides to see Martin and Kush to see how they would feel about having the children christened. She asks Kush if he would like to see Arthur christened but Kush replies saying that he is a Muslim. Jean then asks Martin but he says that he isn't really religious and doesn't know how Stacey would feel about having Hope christened. Jean then mentions it to Stacey about having Lily christened and when Stacey asks Lily about this, she says she doesn't want to have one. Martin then begins to see how much a christening would mean to Jean after Jean confides in him that it would be the perfect idea for a big family gathering. Martin agrees as long as Jean manages to talk Stacey round. However Stacey tells her that she has three kids and she ain't treating one different from the rest butt Jean talks her round and eventually, Stacey agrees. Jean shows Stacey the dress she wore for her christening and she smiles. On the day of Hope's christening, Martin is drunk after a lads night out for his birthday with Kush and Robbie. The start of the day turns out to be a disaster when no body can find Hope's christening dress. Stacey picks Kat as hopes godmother and Martin picks Robbie as her godfather. Kat then goes a wall and tries to phone her husband Alfie so she can talk to her kids. Hayley then discovers that Hope's christening dress is inside the towel on her head and takes it to the church. With Kat being missing, Stacey needs to decide on a godmother for Hope and suggests Mo but Martin says her doesn't want Mo to be a godmother to his daughter and everybody laughs. Tiffany then says she will do it but her cousin Bex Fowler says she is to young. The vicar then says that these decisions can not be rushed just as Hayley walks in the room. Hayley is then forces to get Hope changed into her christening dress and Jean talks her round into becoming Hope's godmother. Hope is about to be christened when Kat walks in the room. Hayley then hands over Hope to Kat and walks off. Jean then goes after her and Hayley confides in her that she is pregnant.