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 "Pauline Fowler deserves a Golden Cardie Award for her performance in "EastEnders". The way which she extracted a confession from Willy Roper over the money he stole was nothing short of brilliant." Arthur is exonerated, but his joyful reunion with Pauline is brief, as an injury he sustained in prison leads to a brain haemorrhage and he dies shortly after his release. His death ends an 11-year screen marriage, the longest run of any marriage in the serial. Pauline remains a family-oriented character throughout the course of the show. A "fiercely loyal, but overbearing mother"; sheltering and taking on the