Pete is featured in the soap for eight years as the local fruit and veg trader of Albert Square; he is a member of the original focal clan in the serial, the Beales and Fowlers.

Pete and his twin sister, Pauline (Wendy Richard), were born to Albert (Gary Olsen) and Lou Beale (Anna Wing).

Pete did the chivalrous thing and married Pat in 1961 when he was 16; however it transpired that the pregnancy was a false alarm and Lou always felt that it was a ploy to trap her son.

During the marriage, Pat gave birth to two sons, David (Michael French) and Simon (Nick Berry), the latter of whom Pete believed to be his.

When Pete found out he left Pat - she was six months pregnant with Simon at the time - and then went into a relationship with local girl, Kathy Hills (Gillian Taylforth).

Lou attempts to persuade Pete that Pat is lying, all the while believing that she is actually telling the truth and that Kenny is Simon's father.

Marital problems arise in 1988 when Kathy gets a job as a barmaid at "The Dagmar" winebar, working for James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde).

Pete tries to retaliate towards Kathy's new relationship by producing his own love interest in the shape of Barbara (Alannah O'Sullivan), a woman he meets in New Zealand.

Pete refuses when a corrupt man from the council, Stuart Kendle (Mark Sprotson), tries to bribe him into dropping his opposition to the new development and his stall is demolished by a JCB in response.

Newcomers Grant (Ross Kemp) and Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) are impressed by Pete's bravery; they break into the council's offices and steal evidence proving Kendle is corrupt.

After a long period of loneliness, Pete gains a new love interest in 1993, when a chance meeting reunites him with an old school friend of his sister's, Rose Chapman (Petra Markham).

She is unable to stay away from Pete even when she discovers her husband has a terminal illness and she is beaten by Alfie's violent family as a result.

Pauline is distraught by her brother's sudden disappearance and, when she hears that Alfie Chapman has died in prison, she advertises for Pete's return.

He did have crazy dreams of making something of himself, he was going to be singer, a red-coat, run his own hotel ... On special occasions it's always Pete who's the life and soul of the party.... His two sons by his first marriage are nineteen and twenty and he hardly sees them....

If it wasn't for Thatcher, he'd consider voting Tory.... Never works on the anniversary of his dad's death, and with [his sister] Pauline (Wendy Richard), escorts his mum to the cemetery.

Holland and Smith have said that despite the fact that Dean gave a disappointing reading at his audition, his tremendous enthusiasm for the part and for the show made up for it.

[1] It has been suggested by writer Dorothy Hobson that the character of Pete was a portrayal of a typical East End male, "macho and mouthy".

"[7] Discussing the character's other qualities, author Kate Lock has suggested that Pete was "a simple, amiable sort of chap [who] left others to get on with the complicated things in life."

He added that Pete started off as "a cheery chappy" but became "hard to like", using his failure to support his wife Kathy through her rape ordeal in 1988 as a reason why he lost public sympathy.

[3] David Buckingham, author of Public Secrets: EastEnders and its Audience, has discussed the writers use of Pete, specifically to show masculinity in an innovative way - as a problem.

However, Peter Dean, a Buddhist, would only drink lemonade in pub scenes and therefore the tankard had to be used to disguise the fact that he was not really supping beer.

Pete Beale was the obvious choice as his death would leave Kathy a widow and Ian (his son) would have to take over as head of the house.

Lou was his mother, Pauline his sister and Den Watts his best friend, and everyone knew him from the fruit and veg stall, so storylines were planned in which Pete would have a heart-attack; a shock tactic to revive interest in the show after the excitement of Christmas.

[2] Despite this revelation on-screen, writer Colin Brake stated in an official EastEnders' book in 1994 that the true parentage of Simon was still uncertain in the minds of the producers.

Show creator and series producer Julia Smith had considered killing him off in 1986, but she vetoed this idea, ultimately deciding that Pete was too much of an asset to lose.

[4] When producer Mike Gibbon took the helm as head of the serial in 1989, he employed writer David Yallop to pen storylines that controversially killed off various characters in the show.

[2] Peter Dean went public with his criticism of the show, believing there was a lot more his character had to offer and that the failure to come up with decent material for Pete was due to unimaginative scriptwriters.

[18] His exposé to The Sun newspaper included his suspicions of set secrets, such as earlier plans to write Pete out and his opinions about former co-stars.

"[20] The tankard that Pete was often seen drinking from in pub scenes was allegedly so popular that Peter Dean reported it was stolen twice by fans and he had to replace it on both occasions.

[1] In 2020, Sara Wallis and Ian Hyland from The Daily Mirror placed Pete 54th on their ranked list of the best EastEnders characters of all time, calling him "a charmer in a sheepskin coat".