Lisa Fowler
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| EastEnders character | |
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| Lisa Fowler | |
| Portrayed by | Lucy Benjamin |
| Duration | 1998–2002, 2003 |
| First appearance | 7 December 1998 |
| Last appearance | 28 November 2003 |
| Date of birth | 28 June 1970 |
| Marital status | Widowed |
| Occupation | Full-time mother |
| Family | Louise, Mark, Pauline |
Lisa Deborah Fowler (née Shaw) was a fictional character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was played by Lucy Benjamin.
Lisa was known as a bit of a hopeless individual in Albert Square. She frequently made wrong decisions and always seemed to be attracted to the wrong kind of men, which often had disastrous consequences.
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[edit] Lisa's beginning
Lisa arrived in Albert Square in December 1998 as the new assistant Market Inspector to Michael Rose. Although Michael was a married father, it wasn't long before he and Lisa embarked on a secret affair behind his wife's back. The fling went on for a while until Michael decided that he wanted to make a go of things with his wife away from Walford and promptly left, putting an end to their romance.
Lisa soon moved in with Mark Fowler and Garry Hobbs, and although Mark was obviously infatuated with her, Lisa seemed completely unaware of his feelings. Lisa developed a close friendship with Melanie Healy and Mel would often attempt to set her up with the eligible men of Walford, including Gianni di Marco; however, their brief fling fizzled out almost as quickly as it began. During this time, Lisa was a self-confident fun loving person, but that was soon about to change.
[edit] Life with Phil
Lisa had a soft spot for bad boys, and despite everyone around her advising her against it, she and local mechanic Phil Mitchell began a relationship in 1999. The couple were happy for a while, but whilst Lisa was falling in love with Phil, it was clear that her feelings weren't reciprocated.
In February 2000 Lisa fell pregnant, much to Phil's anger and he ordered her to abort it. He firmly told Lisa that he didn't want any more children as his first son Ben was estranged to him after his ex-wife Kathy moved abroad. Hurt by this, Lisa called off the relationship and decided to keep the baby anyway. She moped around Walford in a depressed stated for weeks, until Phil eventually came round to the idea of being a father. Lisa was persuaded to give the relationship another try. She moved in with him, but in April 2000 she suffered a miscarriage. Lisa was distraught by this and blamed the stress Phil had put her under for her baby's death. Phil initially responded by shouting abuse at her, but when he realised the gravity of the situation, he managed to offer his support and took her away for a few days to recuperate.
Their relationship continued, but it brought little happiness for Lisa. She lost her job after Ian Beale reported her for being absent from her post. Without a job Lisa lost part of her identity and Phil treated her as his possession, giving little thought to her needs or desires. Lisa became unstable in the following months and slowly started to lose her confidence. She became irrationally jealous of Phil's ex-wife and his son, hiding letters that were sent to him in the post and destroying a video message from Ben. Her insecurity only sought to irritate Phil even more and it wasn't long before he'd turned his attentions to Lisa's friend Mel.
On Christmas Day 2000 after heavy drinking she had a blazing row with Mel at the Queen Vic after she accused her of flirting with Phil earlier that day. A fight ensued and Lisa ended up throwing wine over Mel. Phil came to break up the fight. He berated Lisa and told Mel to go to his home to get herself cleaned up. He left Lisa at the Vic sobbing and wemt home to discover a drunken Mel drowning her sorrows. Phil offered his sympathy and even though Mel didn't particualarly like Phil for his treatment of Lisa, alcohol took effect and Phil and Mel ended up in bed together. Lisa arrived home and nearly caught the guilty pair in bed, but didn't suspect anything untoward and instead attacked Phil with a barrage of insults. Phil's response was to slap her and throw her out. Mel regretted her tryst with Phil instantly, feeling guilty that she had betrayed Lisa, but she was persuaded by Phil to keep it a secret.
Things between Phil and Lisa continued to deterioate in 2001 and as the arguments increased, a desperate Lisa looked to Phil's mum Peggy for advice. Unwisely, Peggy told Lisa that in order to make Phil happy, she needed to provide him with a child. Lisa stopped taking the pill. However Phil told Peggy that a baby with Lisa was the last thing he wanted and Mel overheard. She tried to persuade Lisa to finish with Phil and when Lisa remained defiant she confessed to their affair. Lisa was distraught but finally, after months of heartache, she left Phil although, unbeknown to him, she was already pregnant with his baby.
She moved back in with Mark Fowler and eventually came to forgive Mel, but their friendship was never quite the same again. Meanwhile Lisa was continuously subjected to insults and abuse from Phil, and she became angry and desperate to rid him from her life. The final straw came on the night of Mel's wedding to Steve Owen in March 2001. Phil gatecrashed and humiliated Lisa by saying he never really loved her and suggested that Mel should give her some tips in the bedroom department. This eventually culminated in her attempting to shoot and kill Phil with a gun she stole from Steve Owen's club, the E20, later that night (see Who Shot Phil? for more details). Phil survived the shooting and confronted a terrified Lisa when he was released from hospital, but realising that he had pushed her to the brink of insanity, he decided to let her off the hook. Phil decided to frame his nemesis Dan Sullivan for the deed instead.
[edit] Relationship of convenience
Lisa no longer wanted anything to do with Phil and she knew that if she had his child she would be under his control once again. In order to stop this from happening, Lisa's housemate Mark concocted a plan whereby he and Lisa pretended that they were romantically involved and later announce that Lisa was pregnant with his baby, leaving Mark to bring it up as his own. Everyone believed their tale and their fake romance soon evolved into a real one.
Lisa gave birth to baby Louise in 2001. However, it was Phil that held Lisa's hand through the birth and not Mark. Directly after giving birth, an emotional Lisa put her 'secret' in jeopardy when she foolishly admitted to Phil's girlfriend Sharon Watts that Phil was Louise's real father (although Mark did manage to persuade her to keep their secret).
Lisa and Mark were soon married, and despite interference from Mark's mother Pauline they remained happy for a while. Their happiness was not to last though, as on Christmas Day 2001, Sharon told Phil that Louise was in fact his. Once Phil knew the truth, he went out of his way to make life difficult for the newlyweds. Mark and Lisa had to resign themselves to the fact that Phil was now going to be involved in Louise's life.
[edit] Reunited with Phil
Lisa soon began to accept Phil as Louise's father and once she saw how loving he was towards her, old feelings began to resurface. Lisa and Phil soon began an affair behind Mark's back and it wasn't long before Lisa had left Mark (who she never really loved) and returned to Phil, severely breaking Mark's heart in the process. However, it was Louise and not Lisa that Phil really wanted, and with Lisa now living with the Mitchells, she began to be sidelined and increasingly shut out of her daughter's life.
Realising that she had made a grave mistake going back to Phil, Lisa made plans to flee Walford and in 2002, she took Louise and fled to Portugal to stay with Mel, who now lived there. However, Phil tracked her down and brought Louise back. Lisa was missing and suspected dead and Phil was prime suspect; no one could believe that such a devoted mother would allow her baby to be taken from her willingly. Phil kept what happened with Lisa quiet for months, until an undercover police woman Kate Morton (who was acting as his girlfriend to gain a confession) finally teased the truth out of him. It was revealed in flashback episodes that after tracking Lisa down in Portugal, Phil had convinced an unstable Lisa that she was an unfit, irresponsible mother, and had allowed him to take Louise from her.He also said that if she ever returned into their lives he would tell the police it was her that had shot him the year previously.He left a suicidal Lisa standing near the edge of a cliff with a handful of money and that was the last he saw of her. It was unknown whether Lisa had taken her own life or not.
[edit] Lisa's return and revenge
The investigation into Lisa's murder was dropped and Phil went on to marry Kate in September 2003. However, on that same day a very much alive Lisa returned to Albert Square with a sophisticated new look and a plan to get Louise back.
Under the pretence that she was a reformed character, Lisa made a plea to Phil to be part of her daughter's life again. It turned out that Lisa was actually planning to do away with Phil once and for all and repay him for some of the hurt he'd caused. She attempted to shoot Phil for a second time, but again failed when Den Watts discovered her plan and convinced her it was the wrong way of going about things. With Phil now banning her from any access to Louise, Lisa reverted back to being an emotional wreck and began to turn to alcohol for comfort, continuously getting drunk to help deaden her pain.
It was then that Den Watts took Lisa under his wing and promised her that he would help her get Louise back, as well as set his enemy Phil up in the process. Den, with the help of his son Dennis Rickman, framed Phil for the armed robbery of a warehouse. With Phil arrested and being held in prison, Kate had no choice but to give Louise back to Lisa, after which the reunited mother and daughter left Walford for a second time. Their whereabouts are currently unknown.
[edit] Family
- Husband: Mark Fowler (deceased)
- Daughter: Louise Mitchell
