Scarboro died in April 1988 and subsequently Mark was recast two years later on his return, with former Grange Hill regular Todd Carty taking on the role.

[1] The character was originated as a member of the established Beale/Fowler family; he is the eldest son of Arthur (Bill Treacher) and Pauline (Wendy Richard), thus being the older brother of both Michelle (Susan Tully/Jenna Russell) and Martin (Jon Peyton-Price/James Alexandrou/James Bye) as well.

Other storylines involved feuds with his archnemesis Nick Cotton (John Altman) and love rival Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), an unlikely friendship with Phil's aggressive brother Grant (Ross Kemp), a much-friendlier relationship with Nick's beloved mother Dot (June Brown), a close companionship with Michelle's best friend Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), helping his family keep secret that Sharon's adopted father Den (Leslie Grantham) is the father of Michelle's baby Vicki (Emma Herry/Samantha Leigh Martin/Scarlett Alice Johnson), becoming a suspect in the Who Shot Phil?

enquiries, coping with the death of his father Arthur not long after the latter is exonerated for being wrongfully implicated with embezzlement, and managing to reconcile with Pauline in light of overcoming a number of major family problems.

In the events of his teenage years, Mark got involved in drugs with local thug Nick Cotton (John Altman) before later seeking to join a racist organization known as "The New Movement".

Mark astutely guesses that local publican and Pauline's sworn enemy Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) is the father of Michelle's baby daughter, Vicki (Emma Herry), but nevertheless agrees at his family's bequest to keep the secret to himself.

He believes that he contracted the virus from Gill Robinson (Susanna Dawson), his girlfriend in Newcastle, who visits briefly later that year but leaves when she sees him kissing Diane.

Following Joe's death of an AIDS-related illness, Mark meets a Scottish woman named Ruth Aitken (Caroline Paterson); she is there visiting a friend.

To add to his problems, Mark is further devastated when Arthur dies of a brain haemorrhage in May 1996 – after being injured in a prison riot several weeks earlier and the Fowlers are in mourning.

Mark's HIV status becomes public knowledge after an argument in the Queen Victoria between Pauline and fellow punter Ted Hills (Brian Croucher) is overheard by Phil and Grant's mother Peggy (Barbara Windsor).

Peggy spreads the gossip around the Square and the residents begin to boycott Mark's fruit and vegetable stall, fearing they will catch the virus; this shows their ignorance on their knowledge of HIV or AIDS.

This is too much and he decides to present his neighbours with a few facts about his illness in The Queen Victoria; firstly by telling them that he does not have AIDS but is HIV positive, which is a non-contagious virus, forcing them to acknowledge their bigotry.

It is then Mark and Ruth foster a six-year-old girl named Jessie Moore (Chelsey Paden), but returning her to her mother proves too heartbreaking and their marriage goes into crisis.

When his cousin Conor Flaherty (Seán Gleeson) shows a romantic interest in Ruth, who secretly comes to question her marriage by this stage, Mark becomes jealous and the relationship falls apart.

Phil grudgingly comes to accept these terms, and decides to cover Lisa's involvement by framing his ex-business partner Dan Sullivan (Craig Fairbrass) for the crime.

On paper, David Scarboro was the least likely to get the job as he was relatively inexperienced, having previously only appeared in a little-known made-for-television film and Grange Hill.

[3][4] Scarboro returned to the show briefly in December 1985 in a storyline that saw Mark's parents, Pauline (Wendy Richard) and Arthur (Bill Treacher) search for him in Southend.

Mark married one of his ex-partners Gill (Susanna Dawson), who had also been infected with the virus but in her case it had progressed to AIDS, and she subsequently died the day after the wedding in 1992.

[4] In his book, EastEnders: The First Ten Years Blake comments, "Although in many ways the episode was sad and downbeat it was not without its positive aspects, as Mark talked to his sister about his own mortality.

[7] Despite all the public health campaigns concerning HIV transmission, the biggest peak in requests for testing in Britain was seen in January 1991 when Mark Fowler was diagnosed HIV-positive.

[11] The character of Mark remained in the show for a further 13 years after his re-introduction, and featured in an array of storylines including two failed marriages, which were scripted to highlight the difficulties that can occur in a relationship when one partner has HIV and the other does not.

Ultimately Mark overcame the stigma and he enjoyed several years of happy, healthy living before finally succumbing to an AIDS-related illness and dying in April 2004 off-screen.

EastEnders executive producer Louise Berridge said Carty had made a "fantastic contribution" to the soap and Mark has been a "pivotal figure" on Albert Square, but the character had finally run its course.

Lisa Power, head of policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said "in some ways the storyline was not reflective of what was happening at the time as the condition was more common among the gay community".

She also said "he was perhaps killed off too early as advancements in drugs are helping people live for much longer... Saying that, one decent soap episode is worth a thousand leaflets in schools.

EastEnders executive producer Louise Berridge said that Carty had made a "fantastic contribution" to the soap and Mark had been a "pivotal figure" on Albert Square, but the character had finally run its course.

[18] Edinburgh-based HIV charity Waverley Care reacted negatively to scriptwriters for "scaring" victims away from seeking treatment by "painting a bleak picture".

Encouraging people to come forward for testing is a key issue – the earlier an HIV diagnosis is made, the greater the likelihood of staying well on treatments.

Our concern with the Mark Fowler storyline is that it will increase the fear associated with HIV, potentially discouraging people from being tested at all or from starting on drug treatments if they feel there is little hope for the future.

"[19] In 2020, Sara Wallis and Ian Hyland from The Daily Mirror placed Mark 37th on their ranked list of the Best EastEnders characters of all time, writing how he was "at the centre of one of the soap's most controversial storylines after he contracted the HIV virus".