Lisa Fowler (also Shaw) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lucy Benjamin.

Despite several reports stating she would return, Benjamin did not reprise the role until 2010 when Bryan Kirkwood brought the character back for a single episode on 5 August 2010.

On 23 May 2023, it was announced that Benjamin had signed up to reprise the role for another short stint later in the summer, alongside Lisa's granddaughter Peggy Taylor.

Initially, show scriptwriters and BBC controller of drama, Mal Young, doubted Benjamin's casting in the role.

An estimated 23 million viewers watched Lisa confess to Phil's attempted murder, causing the third-largest power surge on record.

In Lisa's returns, the storylines have centred around her daughter Louise's pregnancy, falling out with and coping with best friend Mel Owen's (Tamzin Outhwaite) death, a feud with Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and partially making amends with Phil.

[7] It was revealed through dialogue on-screen that Lisa had nursed her mother through terminal cancer, and that she had not lost her virginity until the age of 28, when she came to Walford.

[9] Rupert Smith, author of EastEnders: 20 years in Albert Square, classified the character as an "eternal victim": one who endures misfortune and misery, and is an endless sufferer.

The relationship was scripted as problematic, and included storylines about miscarriage, emotional and mental abuse, and infidelity, when Phil slept with Lisa's best friend, Mel Healy, (Tamzin Outhwaite).

[14] The episode caused the third-largest power surge on record,[15] and the Liverpool and Barcelona UEFA Cup semi-final was postponed for 15 minutes to accommodate a special 40-minute edition of the soap.

[16] Lucy Benjamin told the Daily Star that keeping the secret that her character was responsible for the attempted murder had been the "worst two months of her life".

However, Lisa realised she had made a mistake when Phil and his family began excluding her from her daughter's life; she absconded with the baby in October 2002.

"[24] The return storyline was temporary, allowing Lisa to usurp Phil and once again take custody of her daughter, with the help of Den Watts (Leslie Grantham).

"[28] Executive producer Bryan Kirkwood commented, "Lucy's character Lisa was responsible for one of the biggest cliffhanger episodes in EastEnders, so it's a real treat to have her back on screen," while a spokesperson for the show added, "Lisa Fowler was a major part of Phil's life – she knows him as well as anyone, so she won't be happy about him looking after his daughter.

She found the storyline "too good an offer to refuse" and agreed to the return, safe in the knowledge that "it was absolutely worth coming back for".

She called the secret "all very cloak and dagger" at the studios, and revealed that she was told to enter through a separate entrance and wear oversized sunglasses.

"[33] Benjamin developed "a really lovely connection" with Tilly Keeper, who portrays Louise Mitchell, and found her "marvellous" to work with, calling her a "professional".

She said: "When Jon Sen put the call into me and said this is the storyline I said fantastic I get to work with Tamzin again and being with my mate was a glorious thing to get involved in.

Lisa Shaw first appeared in Albert Square as a trainee market inspector, but clashes with her boss Michael Rose (Russell Floyd) because of her poor time-keeping.

He is happy with the situation, but she loses her confidence and becomes jealous of Phil's former wife, Kathy Mitchell (Gillian Taylforth) and son Ben (Morgan Whittle), hiding letters and a video from them.

He and his son, Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman), frame Phil for armed robbery, and Lisa gains custody when he is imprisoned.

Several years later, Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), a former policeman, tells Phil that Lisa and Louise are living in South East London.

Later that year, Phil is visited by a social worker, Derek Evans (Simon Lowe), who says that Lisa has made an application to see Louise.

Phil steals the social worker's bag to get Lisa's address, and drives there to confront her, but finds the house abandoned and empty.

Seven years later, Louise (now Tilly Keeper) is burnt by bullies Madison Drake (Seraphina Beh) and Alexandra D'Costa (Sydney Craven), and Lisa visits her in hospital.

In August 2021, Phil receives a call from Louise saying that Lisa was involved in a car accident in France, after a male driver drove into the back of her.

In July 2023, Lisa returns to Walford with Peggy, having become her legal guardian due to Louise's "uncontrollable behaviour" as a result of Keanu's affair with Sharon.

With the help of Sharon and Martin Fowler (James Bye), Lisa finds the passports, and secretly orders a taxi to the airport.

In 2002, a survey done by Whitaker's revealed that 11% of British people questioned could not name a single world leader, but nearly half could list five characters in EastEnders.

[36] Daily Mirror television critic Ian Hyland has described Lisa as miserable, suggesting in 2002 that she was "red-hot favourite to take over [Pauline Fowler's] misery mantle.