EastEnders story editor, Ian Aldwinkle, decided to introduce a character with schizophrenia after working on the drama series Casualty, which featured violent and dramatic incidents involving people with the illness, but only focussed on the medical side.

"[1] He said he hoped that the storyline would be helpful, saying "It seems to me that mental illness is one of the last subjects that you can still make jokes about without being labelled politically incorrect, and that seems wrong.

[2] Gary Hogman of the fellowship said "It was the largest ever schizophrenia awareness initiative, reaching an audience of 10 million people three times a week.

"[4] Joe arrives in Albert Square from Bolton in 1996, looking for his father, David Wicks (Michael French), following the death of his sister Karen in a car crash.

Whilst suffering from schizophrenia, Joe attempts suicide, hides Nellie Ellis's (Elizabeth Kelly) deceased cat Mandoo in a box in his bedroom and shocks his father when he covers his room with old newspaper articles relating to aliens.

While in Walford, Joe gets engaged to Sarah Hills (Daniela Denby-Ashe) but has a one-night stand with his second cousin, Mary Flaherty (Melanie Clark Pullen).

In 2012, when David visits his dying mother, Pat (Pam St Clement), he tells her that Joe has a girlfriend who has children, and that he stayed with them for a while but it did not work out.

Andy Bell of the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health criticised TV and films for portraying schizophrenia patients as a stereotype of a person who is in a hopeless situation, but said EastEnders "broke the mould", saying "It was an excellent storyline, and, importantly for us, was very well-handled.

[1] Matthew Bayliss of The Guardian said that Joe's schizophrenia earned EastEnders much acclaim because he was David's son and Pat's grandson: "His illness affected people we knew and cared about, so its key scenes were charged with emotion.