Martin Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The character was played by Jon Peyton-Price from the character's introduction 1985 until 1996, and by James Alexandrou from 1996 until 2007. When Alexandrou took over the role, the character was seen more regularly and was featured in prominent storylines such as sleeping with his neighbour Sonia Jackson (Natalie Cassidy) and getting her pregnant with their daughter Bex; killing his friend Jamie Mitchell (Jack Ryder) after running him over in his car, which results in Martin being imprisoned for Jamie's death and subsequently feuding with the latter's godfather Phil (Steve McFadden); enduring a problematic marriage with Sonia after their wedding; and coping with the deaths of both his brother Mark (Todd Carty) and their mother Pauline (Wendy Richard). Alexandrou quit the role in 2006, and Martin departed on 2 February 2007. In October 2014, it was announced that series producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins decided to reintroduce Martin, with the role being recast to James Bye and Martin returned on 5 December 2014. He took a break from the show on 2 August 2019 as part of Stacey's temporary exit storyline but returned on 4 October 2019. Since his return in 2014, Martin has divorced Sonia; married Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner); finding out that Stacey's baby Arthur is actually the son of his best friend Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami); surviving a bus crash; a brief stint in prison for assaulting a police officer, the premature birth of his daughter Hope Fowler; briefly separating from Stacey after discovering her one-night stand with her former father-in-law Max Branning (Jake Wood); feuding with Stacey's cousin Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) and his friend Kush over the custody of Arthur; dealing with Bex's disappearance and attempted suicide; being blackmailed by Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) into committing crimes for him, ending his marriage to Stacey in attempts to protect her and their children against the death threats made towards them by Ben, a one-night stand with Stacey's best friend Ruby Allen (Louisa Lytton), descending into crime, being involved in a hit-and-run accident, kidnapping Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) and faking his death with Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), briefly reuniting with his ex-wife Sonia and starting a relationship later marrying and being manipulated by Ruby.