EastEnders re-introduced Mark Fowler Jr this week, with Stephen Aaron-Sipple taking over the role from Emmerdale star Ned Porteous, and things were dramatic right from the off, with the character turning up battered and covered in blood.
Scenes that aired this week showed that he’s involved with a criminal drugs gang, and has been suspected of being a police informant.
Mark asked his uncle Phil Mitchell for help in finding the actual informant – which viewers know is Ravi Gulati.
It’s safe to say that this isn’t the Mark Fowler Jr we saw previously, something Aaron-Sipple has touched upon.
“Mark is very different,” he said. “10 years ago, Mark had a little bit of an edge to him, but during his time away, life has definitely hardened him, so we’re going to see a new side to him.”
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We’ve also previously never really seen Mark embracing the Mitchell side of his heritage, but he turned straight to Phil upon his return. According to Aaron-Sipple, that’s purely for a practical reason.
“Mark is trying to pull on every string he can. He might not associate himself with the Mitchells, but he knows the value they hold in the world he operates,” the actor said.
“He respects Phil, but they haven’t got to the stage of being family to each other. It’s exciting to think about how that relationship might develop… Mark is probably more Mitchell than he cares to admit.”
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Mark has already had scenes with his sister Vicki Fowler, lying that he was back in Walford to support her through the court case with Joel.
Vicki has plenty of her own drama going on, after she hooked up with Zack Hudson again last week, before insisting that it’s Ross she loves. There’s plenty more love triangle drama for Vicki next week, and it turns out that Mark isn’t a fan of either of her men.
“In Mark’s eyes, Ross has failed Vicki by letting everything that happened with Joel take place,” the actor stated, adding: “And Zack is a well-known Casanova!”
EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
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