Paul Trueman is a fictional character from the British BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gary Beadle.

The character, who first arrived onto Albert Square on 23 April 2001 and later departed the programme on 23 December 2004, was portrayed as a bad boy who was a member of the already-established Trueman family.

In his exit storyline, Paul became a drug dealer, which Beadle has been critical towards, as he suggested it played into black racial stereotyping.

During his time on the show, Paul instigates a feud with his brother Anthony (Nicholas Bailey); copes with the untimely death of their mother Audrey (Corinne Skinner-Carter); develops a close interaction with Audrey's ex-husband Patrick (Rudolph Walker), who soon turns out to be Paul's adoptive father; sparks friendships with the square's local hardman Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and his nemesis Steve Owen (Martin Kemp); gets blackmailed by old acquaintance Angel Hudson (Goldie) into repaying him the money he owes and later having a relationship with the latter's estranged lover Precious (Judi Shekoni); conspire with Phil's cousin Billy (Perry Fenwick) to force his enemy Trevor (Alex Ferns) into leaving Walford so his wife, Little Mo Mitchell (Kacey Ainsworth), would be prevented from further domestic abuse; temporarily romanced with Phil's sister Sam (Kim Medcalf); briefly date Billy's ex-girlfriend Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), until she ends up causing the death of his friend Barry Evans (Shaun Williamson) on the day after they got married; supports Patrick on his wedding day to his fellow shopkeeper Yolande (Angela Wynter); and end up working for Sam's gangland husband Andy Hunter (Michael Higgs), which ultimately contributes to Paul's departure from the show.

Paul Trueman first appeared at Albert Square in Walford in April 2001, when he visits his brother Anthony (Nicholas Bailey) and their mother Audrey (Corinne Skinner-Carter) upon being estranged for them for some time.

Several days later, after an argument with Paul during which he revealed Anthony was the one who was driving at the time of the accident, Audrey collapses and dies, caused by a delayed reaction to the blow she received earlier.

Paul later discovers he is the biological child of Milton Hibbert (Jeffery Kissoon), Patrick's friend with whom Audrey had been having an affair.

It turns out that Angel is being prepared to stand trial for murder and he is using his wife, Precious (Judi Shekoni), as a fake alibi.

However, Janine refuses and marries Barry anyway, as she has also been led to believe that he is terminally ill and could use the opportunity to inherit his wealth.

However, when Janine learns from Barry that his illness is a false alarm, she becomes repulsed by him, and confesses that their marriage is a sham, also revealing her affair with Paul in the process.

When Janine taunts Paul about it in The Queen Victoria public house, he becomes incensed and attempts to attack her before getting restrained.

However, Janine eventually gets her comeuppance when she is wrongfully implicated for the death of her sworn enemy Laura Beale (Hannah Waterman).

In order to build-up his plans to usurp Andy's status as the square's reigning gangland boss, Johnny arranges for Paul's body to be unearthed.

Beadle was critical of his exit storyline, accusing EastEnders of racial stereotyping for turning his character into a drug dealer.

"[1] Speaking to BBC Radio 1 in 2004, Beadle stated that the storyline had a negative effect on his private life, with public shouting at him in the street things such as 'Drug dealer' or 'Sell me some drugs'.

[1] In 2020, Sara Wallis and Ian Hyland from The Daily Mirror placed Paul 78th on their ranked list of the best EastEnders characters of all time, calling him "wayward" and noting his key role in Janine killing "poor Barry Evans".

[3] In 2021, Laura-Jayne Tyler from Inside Soap wrote that Paul was "one of the best Walford characters of his time – taken from us in such a way that we still cling to the hope that he's not really dead...C'mon EastEnders, we know you're reading this!