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 producer and battled, successfully, for Pauline to keep the "Fowler" surname. However, in July 2006, Wendy Richard announced that she was leaving "EastEnders"; she quit due to "creative differences" with the show's producers regarding Pauline's remarriage, which she felt was "disloyal" to her character's beloved first husband, Arthur. According to an interview in "The Sun", Richard commented, "I think it's the most terrible shame, I really do. I thought in my heart of hearts it was wrong ... I just couldn't believe that Pauline would remarry—anybody ... I would have stayed a bit longer if Pauline hadn't got married." Richard