Ruth Fowler
Encyclopedia
Ruth Fowler is a fictional character
from the popular British
BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, played by Caroline Paterson
from 1994 to 1999. Ruth was Mark Fowler
's second wife and she was far more comfortable with his HIV
status than many of his other girlfriends. However their marriage eventually disintegrated due to Mark's inability to provide Ruth with a child. They split and she strayed with Mark's cousin, Conor Flaherty
. Her betrayal deeply hurt Mark, but it also gave her the chance to be a mother, as she fell pregnant with Conor's child.
, Scotland
. She came from a strict Presbyterian family headed by a minister father. Ruth did not comply with her father's ideals, so she accompanied her friend Anna to London
in the early 1990s, where Anna contracted HIV.
, who had HIV. She and Mark bonded, and he comforted her when Anna died. She began a relationship with Mark and found work as a childminder.
In 1995, Ruth proposed to Mark and he accepted. Her father insistered that they marry in Scotland so they travelled there in April. But Ruth's family didn't welcome them warml when they discovered Mark's HIV status; they responded with trepidation and ignorance, refusing to distinguish between AIDS and HIV despite Mark's best efforts to explain. Believing he was contagious. they would not let him stay in their home, suggesting that he represented everything they'd spend their lives battling. Ultimately, Ruth and Mark had to marry without her parents' blessing.
The newlyweds soon started to argue. Ruth had persuaded herself and Mark that she was happy about never having children, but she realized this was not true. They visited a counsellor who told them they had 3 options: they could have unprotected sex on Ruth's most fertile days and hope for pregnancy with the minimal risk that she would get HIV; they could adopt; or Ruth could undergo artificial insemination
by a donor. After mulling it all over, they decided that having a child was not practical given Mark's short life-expectancy. But Ruth still wanted to be a parent, so in 1997 she and Mark applied to be foster parents.
That October they were given their first foster child, 6-year-old Jessie Moore. Her mother was in prison on remand for drug offenses, and the child was withdrawn and troubled and refused to speak at first. She also wet the bed. Mark and Ruth tried hard to get her to engage with and open up to them, and eventually they did make progress. Late that year Ruth had to return to Scotland to tend her father who had tended a stroke. While she was away, Jessie received a letter from her mother, saying she would be released. When Ruth returned after her father's death, she was furious that Jessie had visited her mother in prison and that the child would probably be returning to her mother soon. Ruth and Mark argued and Ruth grew closer to Mark's cousin, Conor Flaherty
, who was staying with them. Then Jessie's mother Nicole returned, declaring that she was taking steps to get Jessie back.
When Mark and Ruth tried to contest Nicole's decision, they were told that fostering was all about reuniting children with their parents. Both became depressed, and Mark's jealousy over Ruth's relationship with Conor made things worse. When Jessie returned to Nicole in March 1998, Mark and Ruth's relationship declined swiftly. Amidst constant rowing and jealousy, Mark moved out of the night of their wedding anniversary. Ruth drank heavily and tried to seduce Conor that night, but he turned her down; he admitted to fancying her, but he couldn't sleep with someone whose previous partner was HIV-positive; he berated her for being irresponsible. Ruth was deeply offended, and when Mark found out what had happened, he declared that their marriage was over.
Newly-single Ruth spent much time partying, clubbing, and enjoying her freedom. Her wild behavior attracted Welsh
barman, Huw Edwards
, but she rebuffed his advances. Eventually, Ruth's partying and neglect of her property caught up with her and she discovered that she couldn't pay her bills. Mark's mother Pauline
gave her money, hoping she and Mark would reconcile, but it eventually became clear that this wouldn't happen. Ruth began a secret affair with Conor but after they had unprotected sex, he became fearful that she had gotten pregnant and forced her to take a morning-after pill. Ruth protested and eventually lied that she'd taken it. The affair ended, but she had indeed become pregnant. When she discovered this in January 1999, she decided to keep the child. When Conor's daughter Mary
accidentally revealed this to Mark, he was furious and hurt and went after Conor, beating him up and informing him of the pregnancy. Conor offered to resume their relationship and bring up the child with Ruth, but she opted to be a single parent and left Walford for Scotland, rejecting Mark and Conor as she left. She last appeared in February 1999. Soon after, Conor and Mary left Walford in search of Ruth.
as a love-interest for Mark Fowler
(Todd Carty
), who was HIV positive in the serial. Her storyline focused upon the marriage of the couple, and in particular the difficulties that they faced due to Mark's HIV status (Ruth was HIV negative).
In 1998, executive producer Matthew Robinson axed a large number of characters from EastEnders, among them Ruth Fowler. An EastEnders spokeswoman said, "In any long-running drama there are going to be changes from time to time. We have some powerful storylines coming up this autumn, and some characters will not have a role in them."
Ruth's exit storyline surrounded the break-up of her marriage to Mark Fowler
(Todd Carty
). In the storyline, Ruth had an affair with Mark's cousin Connor Flaherty (Sean Gleeson
), which left her pregnant. The character departed in February 1999 to be a single mother, with Paterson saying she was relieved to be leaving. At the time she commented, "I was doing EastEnders and being a mother. It felt like I wasn't fully there for either, which was awful." Paterson has since claimed it was her decision to quit the soap and that producers wanted her to sign another two year contract when her son was born in 1998 but she declined and would only sign one. In 1999 she added, "EastEnders wasn't just about acting in a soap opera. You had to deal with the media and your social life was non-existent because you were so busy. I left because of my son. He made me realise the type of life I was leading. I felt guilty about leaving Louis after three months to go back to work."
(Pam St Clement) was dressed in clothing with "Scotland
" pprinted on it, to signify her support of the Scottish football team's participation in the tournament. An EastEnders spokeswoman said, "Pam is not Scottish but thinks she is descended from the Scots. She asked to wear the Scotland top and will be supporting Scotland." However, the use of Pat, a cockney
character, as the Scottish supporter in this storyline instead of Ruth, whose actress is Scottish, provoked criticism from the media and the Tartan Army
(a name given to fans of the Scotland national football team).
Rick Fulton of the Daily Record was critical of the charcater. He stated, "Unfortunately, because she's a Scottish actress in a prime-time soap, no one likes or cares about Ruth. She's a moaning pinched-faced bore whose voice can grate the neighbour's cheese. [...] She is the one character in British soap who is annoying for all the wrong reasons. She is no Mrs Mangel
[from Neighbours
] or Mrs Mack [from Take the High Road
], characters we love to hate. We just hate poor Ruth." He suggested that Ruth had very few "strong" stroylines. He called for the character to be killed-off so that she would not return again and stated that like viewers, Ruth's husband Mark "deserves a break, a nicer woman who doesn't make us Scots sound like moaning minnies."
Actress Caroline Paterson was also critical of her character upon leaving, denouncing her as dreary and saying "Good riddance, Ruth."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the popular British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, played by Caroline Paterson
Caroline Paterson
Caroline Paterson is a Scottish actress who has appeared in many Scottish television shows such as one-off STV drama, The Steamie and the BBC's Rab C. Nesbitt. However, she is most recognized for her role in EastEnders as Mark Fowler's wife, Ruth...
from 1994 to 1999. Ruth was Mark Fowler
Mark Fowler
Mark Albert Fowler is a fictional character from the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders. Mark was an original regular character in the series starting February 1985 but became a semi-regular after his original portrayer David Scarboro was written out of the role in April 1985. Scarboro made...
's second wife and she was far more comfortable with his HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
status than many of his other girlfriends. However their marriage eventually disintegrated due to Mark's inability to provide Ruth with a child. They split and she strayed with Mark's cousin, Conor Flaherty
Conor Flaherty
Conor Flaherty is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Seán Gleeson.He first appeared in 1997 when his aunt Pauline Fowler tracked him and his mother Maggie Flaherty down in Ireland after she discovered Maggie was the sister she had never known about...
. Her betrayal deeply hurt Mark, but it also gave her the chance to be a mother, as she fell pregnant with Conor's child.
Backstory
Ruth was from EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. She came from a strict Presbyterian family headed by a minister father. Ruth did not comply with her father's ideals, so she accompanied her friend Anna to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in the early 1990s, where Anna contracted HIV.
1994-1999
Ruth was first seen in July 1994 visiting her terminally-ill friend Anna at a hospice; while there she met Mark FowlerMark Fowler
Mark Albert Fowler is a fictional character from the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders. Mark was an original regular character in the series starting February 1985 but became a semi-regular after his original portrayer David Scarboro was written out of the role in April 1985. Scarboro made...
, who had HIV. She and Mark bonded, and he comforted her when Anna died. She began a relationship with Mark and found work as a childminder.
In 1995, Ruth proposed to Mark and he accepted. Her father insistered that they marry in Scotland so they travelled there in April. But Ruth's family didn't welcome them warml when they discovered Mark's HIV status; they responded with trepidation and ignorance, refusing to distinguish between AIDS and HIV despite Mark's best efforts to explain. Believing he was contagious. they would not let him stay in their home, suggesting that he represented everything they'd spend their lives battling. Ultimately, Ruth and Mark had to marry without her parents' blessing.
The newlyweds soon started to argue. Ruth had persuaded herself and Mark that she was happy about never having children, but she realized this was not true. They visited a counsellor who told them they had 3 options: they could have unprotected sex on Ruth's most fertile days and hope for pregnancy with the minimal risk that she would get HIV; they could adopt; or Ruth could undergo artificial insemination
Artificial insemination
Artificial insemination, or AI, is the process by which sperm is placed into the reproductive tract of a female for the purpose of impregnating the female by using means other than sexual intercourse or natural insemination...
by a donor. After mulling it all over, they decided that having a child was not practical given Mark's short life-expectancy. But Ruth still wanted to be a parent, so in 1997 she and Mark applied to be foster parents.
That October they were given their first foster child, 6-year-old Jessie Moore. Her mother was in prison on remand for drug offenses, and the child was withdrawn and troubled and refused to speak at first. She also wet the bed. Mark and Ruth tried hard to get her to engage with and open up to them, and eventually they did make progress. Late that year Ruth had to return to Scotland to tend her father who had tended a stroke. While she was away, Jessie received a letter from her mother, saying she would be released. When Ruth returned after her father's death, she was furious that Jessie had visited her mother in prison and that the child would probably be returning to her mother soon. Ruth and Mark argued and Ruth grew closer to Mark's cousin, Conor Flaherty
Conor Flaherty
Conor Flaherty is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Seán Gleeson.He first appeared in 1997 when his aunt Pauline Fowler tracked him and his mother Maggie Flaherty down in Ireland after she discovered Maggie was the sister she had never known about...
, who was staying with them. Then Jessie's mother Nicole returned, declaring that she was taking steps to get Jessie back.
When Mark and Ruth tried to contest Nicole's decision, they were told that fostering was all about reuniting children with their parents. Both became depressed, and Mark's jealousy over Ruth's relationship with Conor made things worse. When Jessie returned to Nicole in March 1998, Mark and Ruth's relationship declined swiftly. Amidst constant rowing and jealousy, Mark moved out of the night of their wedding anniversary. Ruth drank heavily and tried to seduce Conor that night, but he turned her down; he admitted to fancying her, but he couldn't sleep with someone whose previous partner was HIV-positive; he berated her for being irresponsible. Ruth was deeply offended, and when Mark found out what had happened, he declared that their marriage was over.
Newly-single Ruth spent much time partying, clubbing, and enjoying her freedom. Her wild behavior attracted Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
barman, Huw Edwards
Huw Edwards (EastEnders)
Huw Edwards is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Richard Elis. Huw was introduced in 1996 and remained on-screen till 1999.-Storylines:...
, but she rebuffed his advances. Eventually, Ruth's partying and neglect of her property caught up with her and she discovered that she couldn't pay her bills. Mark's mother Pauline
Pauline Fowler
Pauline Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, a long-running serial drama about working class life in the fictional London borough of Walford. She was played by actress Wendy Richard between 1985 and 2006. Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland and producer...
gave her money, hoping she and Mark would reconcile, but it eventually became clear that this wouldn't happen. Ruth began a secret affair with Conor but after they had unprotected sex, he became fearful that she had gotten pregnant and forced her to take a morning-after pill. Ruth protested and eventually lied that she'd taken it. The affair ended, but she had indeed become pregnant. When she discovered this in January 1999, she decided to keep the child. When Conor's daughter Mary
Mary Flaherty (EastEnders)
Mary Flaherty is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Melanie Clark Pullen.Mary is the granddaughter of Maggie Flaherty, Pauline Fowler's long-lost sister. Her parents are Conor and Geraldine Flaherty...
accidentally revealed this to Mark, he was furious and hurt and went after Conor, beating him up and informing him of the pregnancy. Conor offered to resume their relationship and bring up the child with Ruth, but she opted to be a single parent and left Walford for Scotland, rejecting Mark and Conor as she left. She last appeared in February 1999. Soon after, Conor and Mary left Walford in search of Ruth.
Development
Ruth was introduced in 1994 by Series Producer Barbara EmileBarbara Emile
Barbara Emile is a British television producer. Emile contributed to the BBC soap opera EastEnders for several years. She first started working on the serial as script editor underneath producer Leonard Lewis, and she began producing the programme in 1992. Following the departure of Lewis in 1994,...
as a love-interest for Mark Fowler
Mark Fowler
Mark Albert Fowler is a fictional character from the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders. Mark was an original regular character in the series starting February 1985 but became a semi-regular after his original portrayer David Scarboro was written out of the role in April 1985. Scarboro made...
(Todd Carty
Todd Carty
Todd Carty is an Irish actor and director, who has grown up on television screens in a variety of roles. His stage work has varied from pantomime to serious drama, as well as radio plays, voiceovers, commercials, narrations, and films...
), who was HIV positive in the serial. Her storyline focused upon the marriage of the couple, and in particular the difficulties that they faced due to Mark's HIV status (Ruth was HIV negative).
In 1998, executive producer Matthew Robinson axed a large number of characters from EastEnders, among them Ruth Fowler. An EastEnders spokeswoman said, "In any long-running drama there are going to be changes from time to time. We have some powerful storylines coming up this autumn, and some characters will not have a role in them."
Ruth's exit storyline surrounded the break-up of her marriage to Mark Fowler
Mark Fowler
Mark Albert Fowler is a fictional character from the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders. Mark was an original regular character in the series starting February 1985 but became a semi-regular after his original portrayer David Scarboro was written out of the role in April 1985. Scarboro made...
(Todd Carty
Todd Carty
Todd Carty is an Irish actor and director, who has grown up on television screens in a variety of roles. His stage work has varied from pantomime to serious drama, as well as radio plays, voiceovers, commercials, narrations, and films...
). In the storyline, Ruth had an affair with Mark's cousin Connor Flaherty (Sean Gleeson
Seán Gleeson
Seán Gleeson is an English actor and director, best known for playing the roles of Conor Flaherty in EastEnders and lawyer Ronnie Woodson in the day time soap opera, Doctors, for which he has also directed a number of episodes...
), which left her pregnant. The character departed in February 1999 to be a single mother, with Paterson saying she was relieved to be leaving. At the time she commented, "I was doing EastEnders and being a mother. It felt like I wasn't fully there for either, which was awful." Paterson has since claimed it was her decision to quit the soap and that producers wanted her to sign another two year contract when her son was born in 1998 but she declined and would only sign one. In 1999 she added, "EastEnders wasn't just about acting in a soap opera. You had to deal with the media and your social life was non-existent because you were so busy. I left because of my son. He made me realise the type of life I was leading. I felt guilty about leaving Louis after three months to go back to work."
Reception
In 1998, EastEnders featured a storyline where several of its characters visited France as part of a World Cup storyline. In the storyline, the character Pat EvansPat Evans
Patricia Louise "Pat" Evans is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She has been played by Pam St. Clement since 12 June 1986, just over a year after the show first aired...
(Pam St Clement) was dressed in clothing with "Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
" pprinted on it, to signify her support of the Scottish football team's participation in the tournament. An EastEnders spokeswoman said, "Pam is not Scottish but thinks she is descended from the Scots. She asked to wear the Scotland top and will be supporting Scotland." However, the use of Pat, a cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
character, as the Scottish supporter in this storyline instead of Ruth, whose actress is Scottish, provoked criticism from the media and the Tartan Army
Tartan Army
The Tartan Army is a name given to fans of the Scotland national football team. They have won awards from several organisations for their friendly behaviour and charitable work...
(a name given to fans of the Scotland national football team).
Rick Fulton of the Daily Record was critical of the charcater. He stated, "Unfortunately, because she's a Scottish actress in a prime-time soap, no one likes or cares about Ruth. She's a moaning pinched-faced bore whose voice can grate the neighbour's cheese. [...] She is the one character in British soap who is annoying for all the wrong reasons. She is no Mrs Mangel
Nell Mangel
Eleanor "Nell" Worthington is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Vivean Gray. She made her first on-screen appearance on 29 April 1986. She was known almost exclusively to others as "Mrs Mangel". The character caused controversy among some of the...
[from Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
] or Mrs Mack [from Take the High Road
Take the High Road
Take the High Road was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, and set in the fictional village of Glendarroch , and claims to have about 2 million fans, including the Queen Mother...
], characters we love to hate. We just hate poor Ruth." He suggested that Ruth had very few "strong" stroylines. He called for the character to be killed-off so that she would not return again and stated that like viewers, Ruth's husband Mark "deserves a break, a nicer woman who doesn't make us Scots sound like moaning minnies."
Actress Caroline Paterson was also critical of her character upon leaving, denouncing her as dreary and saying "Good riddance, Ruth."