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
EastEnders episodes in Ireland and Martin Fowler (James Alexandrou), Mark's wife Ruth Fowler (Caroline Paterson), nephew Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and his daughter Lucy Beale (Casey Anne Rothery). Speaking about their trip to Dublin, actress Wendy Richard who played Pauline said "It's nice to be in Dublin for a change. It's not like London at all, where they take you a little bit for granted", and Todd Carty, who played her screen son Mark, said "It's also really nice to get out of Albert Square for a while to do something different." A number of Irish actors were cast as Pauline's long-lost relatives, many