The conception of Vicki Fowler in 1985 was one of the first controversial storylines featured in "EastEnders" since its inception that February, as it involved the pregnancy of a schoolgirl, Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully). Exploiting a whodunnit angle, viewers were not initially told who was the father, and press interest in the fledgling show escalated as journalists attempted to guess. The audience finally discovered his identity in October 1985 on episode 66. Written by series co-creator/script-editor Tony Holland and directed by co-creator/producer Julia Smith, it was considered a landmark episode in the show's history. Four possible suspects were seen leaving the Square early in the episode: Tony Carpenter (Oscar James), Ali Osman (Nejdet Salih), Andy O'Brien (Ross Davidson), and Den Watts (Leslie Grantham). As Michelle waited by their rendezvous point, a car pulled up and the fluffy white legs of the soap landlord's poodle Roly leapt out of a car and gave it all away: Den Watts had fathered Michelle's baby. After this storyline the programme started to appear in newspaper cartoons as it moved more and more into the public mainstream.