EastEnders created the Beale and Fowler family, drawing on his own background. His mother, Ethel Holland, was one of four sisters raised in Walthamstow. Her eldest sister, Lou, had married a man named Albert Beale and had two children, named Peter and Pauline. These family members were the basis for Lou Beale, Pete Beale and Pauline Fowler. Holland also created Pauline's unemployed husband Arthur Fowler, their children Mark Fowler and Michelle Fowler, Pete's wife Kathy Beale and their son Ian Beale. Smith used her personal memories of East End residents she met when researching Victorian squares. Ethel Skinner was based on
Pauline Fowler own a Cairn: "When EastEnders asked if Pauline should have a dog I said it had to be a Cairn Terrier—and Betty joined us! She's wonderful, she loves me and I love her." In the on-screen story, the dog is named after Pauline's aunt Betty, but in reality, Wendy Richard named her after Mollie Sugden's fictional character Betty Slocombe, who appeared along with Richard's Shirley Brahms in the sitcom, "Are You Being Served?" Several eligible bachelors are shown to express their interest in Pauline over the years, including the characters Derek Taylor in 1987, Danny Taurus in 1993, Jeff Healy