Ruth Fowler

This article is about a fictional TV character. For blog writer and book author, see Ruth Fowler (writer).

Ruth Fowler
EastEnders character
Portrayed by	Caroline Paterson
Introduced by	Barbara Emile
Duration	1994–99
First appearance	28 July 1994
Last appearance	11 February 1999
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Date of birth	20 August 1966
Occupation	Nursery assistant
Family Husband Mark Fowler (1995–99) Father Hugh Aitken Mother Maureen Aitken Brothers John Aitken

Ruth Fowler (née Aitken) 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.

Storylines

Backstory

Ruth was from Edinburgh, 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.

1994-1999

Ruth was first seen in July 1994 visiting her terminally-ill friend Anna at a hospice; while there she met Mark Fowler, 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.

Development

Ruth was introduced in 1994 by Series Producer Barbara Emile 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."

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 Evans (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."

External links

• Ruth Fowler at BBC Online