Martin Albert Fowler was the youngest son of Arthur and Pauline Fowler. He was the brother of Mark and Michelle Fowler and was the father of Bex, Hope and Roman Fowler, as well as being the adoptive-father of Lily Slater and Arthur Fowler. He was also the ex-husband of Sonia Fowler, Ruby Allen and Stacey Slater, also the late fiancé of Stacey. He made his first appearance on 6 August 1985 and last on 20 February 2025.
Backstory[]
In February 1985, Pauline visits Doctor Harold Legg where it is confirmed that she is pregnant again. Being forty years old, Pauline was criticised by her mother Lou Beale for having another baby, but Pauline insisted that she wanted the child. Martin was born (off-screen) on 30th July 1985.
Storylines[]
1985-1990: Birth and gastroenteritis[]
After giving birth in July 1985, Martin is brought to the family home on 6 August 1985. The first christening is postponed when he is diagnosed with gastroenteritis and Lou is delighted when he is finally christened Martin Albert Fowler.
1991-1996: Childhood issues[]
In 1993, Pauline discovers that Arthur had an affair with Christine Hewitt and she bans Arthur from seeing Martin. However, they reconcile.
Arthur is wrongly accused and imprisoned of theft in 1995. Upon his release in May 1996, Arthur dies dies after sustaining a head injury whilst in prison. Martin is only ten at the time but loved and missed Arthur dearly.
1997-2002: Relationships, becoming a father and killing Jamie[]
A series of petty thefts, burglaries and vandalism culminates in his being arrested.
Martin has a brief relationship with Nicky di Marco, but she refuses to have sex with him. Sonia is feeling vulnerable and, after getting drunk, they lose their virginity to each other. She becomes pregnant and, in September 2000, she gives birth to daughter Chloe Jackson. Sonia decides to give Chloe up for adoption.
Martin's deviancy continues when he takes drugs provided by Nick Cotton, which leads to Martin's brother Mark Fowler taking revenge and leaving Nick temporarily paralysed.
2003-2007: Marrying Sonia, feud with Pauline and getting Rebecca back[]
Martin receives a six-month prison sentence after driving the car that hit Jamie, causing his death.
After Sonia helps him come to terms with the death of his brother, Martin decides to propose marriage. Martin and Sonia marry on 10 June 2004.
In September 2004, Martin unwittingly puts his marriage in jeopardy when he encounters Sarah Cairns.
Things worsen when Sonia finds out that Pauline has been visiting her and Martin's daughter Rebecca Fowler against her wishes.
In 2005, their marriage breaks down, due to Sonia's affair with a fellow student, Naomi Julien. Martin is devastated but Sonia soon regrets it when Martin is given custody of their daughter following the death of her legal guardian and he and Pauline frequently exclude her from Rebecca's life.
The couple divorce on 17 October 2006. Immediately after, they begin to regret it and sleep together.
It is later revealed that it was Joe who killed Pauline. Martin and Sonia reunite anyway and they, Rebecca and Pauline's dog, Betty, leave Walford together on 2 February 2007.
When Sonia returns to Walford alone for her sister Bianca Jackson's wedding in 2010, Sonia initially says that Martin and Rebecca are fine, but then tells her mother Carol Jackson that she and Martin are having problems in their marriage.
2014-2019: Return to Walford, marrying Stacey and friendship with Kush[]
On 19 February 2015, Martin Stacey Branning and Kush Kazemi discover Nick's dead body at 23 Albert Square.
He manages to convince his and Sonia's daughter to come to Walford, where Bex reveals her new look as a goth.
He attends Donna Yates' birthday party with Kush and their friends from football.
She discovers that he is planning to propose and says that she 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 failed to repair properly so Martin punches him and threatens to kill him if the baby dies as a result. At the hospital, Martin finds out that she is okay and that the baby is a boy. When Stacey is discharged, Martin tells everyone in the Vic that the baby is a boy and invites Lee and Whitney Dean to join him, Stacey, Kush, and Shabnam Masood for lunch.
A nurse hands him a letter which Stacey had left behind and he reads it at home, discovering that Arthur is Kush's son.
Following Peggy Mitchell's death, Stacey tells Martin that she cannot get married, but she changes her mind. Martin and Stacey marry at the registry office on 20 May 2016.
He tells Stacey that he loves her, presuming he will not survive, but is rescued by a group of people who lift the bus so he can be moved.
The police then arrive and reveal the news that Bex also had topless selfies of herself on her phone, which she thought she had deleted and not shared.
They eventually get Arthur back, but Stacey is enraged when she finds out that Carmel phoned Social Services and this leads to the premature birth of their daughter, Hope Fowler, on 13 October 2017.
A dejected Martin ends up spending New Year's Eve 2017 alone in his house. Martin confronts Max about sleeping with Stacey but declines to punch him, saying revenge doesn't help. He is hurt as Stacey does not regard Lily and Arthur as his children, but he angrily throws her out and exposes her affair with Max. Martin meets with Stacey to attempt to fix their marriage, but Martin decides to give up, but offers Stacey contact and Stacey contacts Lily's dad, Ryan Malloy, to help her. However, she decides to call Whitney and asking her help.
Stacey is devastated when Mo Harris returns to Walford with the news Kat is dead and Martin sets up a crowdfunding page for Kat's funeral as Stacey cannot afford it.
On 30 July 2019, a drunk Kat mouths off to Phil about the money (which her ex, Alfie Moon, stole from him) so he threatens to harm her son, Tommy Moon. Kat follows him to the Arches and pleads with him not to hurt her children. Martin follows them and when Phil insults Stacey, Martin tries to attack him but Phil knocks him down and pins him down by the throat with a crowbar. Stacey then hits Phil over the head with a spanner. Phil falls into the car inspection pit with blood pouring from his head. Phil's son, Ben Mitchell, arrives at the Arches and forces Martin to work for him and get Stacey to leave the Square in exchange for not telling Phil who hit him.
Over the next few months, Martin would be subjected to uncomfortable situations with criminal jobs Ben has lined up. When it is revealed that Keanu Taylor had been cheating with Sharon Mitchell, Ben orders Martin to kill Keanu on Christmas Day 2019. A flashback to Christmas is shown on 1 January 2020, revealing that Martin had not in fact shot Keanu and had covered it up with Linda Carter (who inadvertently got involved when she fell asleep drunk in the back of his van).
2020-2025: Marriage to Ruby, reunion and engagement to Stacey and death[]
On 10 September 2020, Martin was left for dead when Vinny Panesar staged a robbery to help Ruby get her insurance and Martin sees and chases him. When Martin is close to Vinny, he is hit from behind with a fire extinguisher. Martin and Ruby got married whilst on holiday.
On Christmas Day 2020 he gives Stacey the wrong present. Stacey thinks that Martin still loves her. After that, the ex-couple share a kiss. Martin gets close to Stacey again which led to Ruby lying about being pregnant. Martin did not want a child initially, until he talked with Sharon Beale about what she thought about having Albie Watts. After his talk with Sharon, he decided he wanted to have the baby which led to Ruby having to get pregnant.
On 19 February 2021, much to Ruby's shock, she found out she really was pregnant after Stacey forced her to take a pregnancy test due to her suspicions that Ruby was lying.
Martin discovers that Ruby is the reason that Stacey went to prison along with all of Ruby's other lies when he discoverers that the police called Ruby about Stacey's arrest, Martin visits Stacey in prison and tells her that he's messed up, Stacey tells him to get Ruby out of their lives. Martin then confronts Ruby and she admits to all her lies. It is then revealed that Martin has called the police on Ruby for the drugs In Jean's garage. Ruby tries to tell Martin that she is pregnant for real, however Martin ignores her as she is taken away by the police. Ruby has Martin fired from her nightclub, sells her house, leaving Martin homeless and divorces Martin as revenge for getting her sent to prison.
Martin moves in to 43 Albert Square with Sharon and Albie and has regular contact with Stacey and the kids.
Kill count[]
Murders/manslaughter victims[]
- Jamie Mitchell (25 December 2002 - Part 2) (manslaughter) - Died from a ruptured spleen, After being accidentally struck by a car driven by Martin, Martin was very grief stricken.
Attempted murder victims[]
- Joe Macer (4 January 2007) - Attempted to strangle Joe with his bare hands for Pauline Fowler's death however stopped when Sonia Jackson told Martin that she killed Pauline.
Residence history[]
Fight count[]
Punches[]
- Ashley Cotton (7 December 2000)
- Ian Beale (7 June 2005)
- Bert Atkinson (24 March 2006)
- Lee Carter (30 October 2015)
- Kush Kazemi (16 February 2016) (x6) (during a fight with Kush)
- Kush Kazemi (17 March 2016 - Part 2)
- Preston Cooper (28 March 2017)
- Max Branning (1 January 2018)
- Unknown person (22 March 2018 - Part 2)
- Matt Clarkson (22 March 2019)
- Stuart Highway (30 May 2019) (during a fight with Stuart)
- Ben Mitchell (11 October 2019) (x5)
- Thug (17 October 2019) (x3)
- Ben Mitchell (22 November 2019)
- Keanu Taylor (1 January 2020) (during a fight with Keanu)
- Kush Kazemi (2 March 2021)
- Zack Hudson (20 May 2021)
- Ben Mitchell (24 April 2023) (x11) (during boxing)
- Mike (25 July 2023) (during a fight with Mike)
- Jack Branning (19 March 2024) (x3) (during a fight with Jack)
Total: 20
Individual characters punched: 16
Total punches: 43
Slaps[]
- Linda Carter (1 January 2020) (accidental)
Total: 1
Individual characters slapped: 1
Total slaps: 1
Kicks[]
- Mark Fowler (7 February 2003) (during a fight with Mark)
- Keanu Taylor (1 January 2020) (during a fight with Keanu)
- Jack Branning (19 March 2024) (during a fight with Jack)
Total: 3
Individual characters kicked: 3
Total kicks: 3