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
Hermann Loves Pauline people, such as "They Died Too Young" book series. The band had trouble playing the track live and stopped playing it altogether until the "Phantom Power" tour when they realised that trying to play along to a click track was the cause of the problem. "Hermann ♥'s Pauline" was released on CD, cassette and 7" on 12 May 1997 and reached number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. The cover art is the first in a series of five Pete Fowler paintings commissioned by the band for "Radiator" and its singles. Fowler's art was inspired by "Hermann ♥'s Pauline" and