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 Keith Boak) was chosen by writer Colin Brake as the episode of the year in "EastEnders: The First Ten Years" and is described by Wendy Richard as "Pauline's crowning moment." For a while it seems that "EastEnders"' "most solid" marriage is over, but Arthur spends the rest of 1993 trying to convince Pauline that it is worth saving and they eventually reconcile. However, more tragedy follows, when Arthur is framed by a conman, Willy Roper (dubbed "Wicked Willy" by the British press), and wrongfully imprisoned for embezzlement in 1995. The storyline captured the public's imagination and a nationwide "Free Arthur