Steve Owen is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Martin Kemp.

Introduced by series producer Matthew Robinson, Steve was a shady businessman who originally came into Albert Square to buy the local Market Cellar club – which he then renovated and later renamed the E20.

He soon became one of the show's primary villains when the character's first major storyline saw Steve killed his old flame Saskia Duncan (Deborah Sheridan-Taylor) during the opening night of his E20 nightclub on Valentine's Day 1999, after which he frames his DJ employee Matthew Rose (Joe Absolom) for the crime, which leads to Matthew enacting revenge on Steve.

Steve contributes to his significant interaction with other members of the Mitchell family by establishing an antagonistic business partnership with Phil's brother Grant (Ross Kemp); sleeping with their younger sister Sam (Kim Medcalf); employing the siblings' cousin, Billy (Perry Fenwick); clashing with Phil's adolescent godson Jamie (Jack Ryder); and sparking a quarrel with the family's matriarch, Peggy (Barbara Windsor), over his managing stake of The Queen Victoria.

Martin Kemp soon quit the series after his contract to the show had expired, and his final scenes were aired on 1 March 2002, when Steve was killed-off in a vehicle explosion.

It's true of a lot of guys who get into trouble, they hang their hat on one idea and that keeps them sane [...] there's a driving force that kept them going while they were [in prison].

You know from those tender moments when Mel came to visit Steve [in prison] that she was the thing that kept him going, and he won't stop til he gets her back.

The storyline to mark the occasion centered around Mel, her husband Steve, his archenemy Phil, and their common nemesis Dan Sullivan (Craig Fairbrass).

"[7] On 26 July 2001, it was announced that Kemp had decided to leave EastEnders and that he was to move from the BBC to rival station ITV.

While making preparations for his new club's opening event, Steve romantically bonds with Mel Healy (Tamzin Outhwaite) — who recently moved into the square.

Their relationship becomes threatened, however, when Steve receives numerous unexpected visits from his former girlfriend: Saskia Duncan (Deborah Sheridan-Taylor).

With the help of his DJ employee Matthew Rose (Joe Absolom), who witnessed the events, Steve buries her in Epping Forest.

He manages to get his life back on track by proposing to Mel, to which she accepts, and soon befriends Grant's love rival Beppe di Marco (Michael Greco).

The police gather evidence of Steve's implication, as he had known about Mel's one-night stand with Phil prior to his shooting and that the gun he normally keeps in the E20 office is missing.

After gradually forgiving Lisa for the shooting, Phil initially plans to frame Steve for the crime — but then decides to incriminate their fellow enemy, Dan Sullivan (Craig Fairbrass), instead.

Soon afterwards, Steve finds himself with financial problems; his insurance policy is invalidated due to the fact that he neglected to mention both his involvement in Saskia's death and an incident from his past, the latter of which he attempted to cut costs by illegally importing duty-free wines from France.

To sort out his financial difficulties, he organises a robbery to help finance the renovation of the club and arranges for Phil's cousin Billy (Perry Fenwick) and some old friends to partake in the job.

He later sleeps with Sam (now played by Kim Medcalf) in a bid to further antagonize Phil, who then arranges for Steve to be confronted by the people who he owes money to.

On the day Steve and Mel were supposed to be celebrating their first wedding anniversary, he plans for them to start anew in United States together.

Before her departure, she gave Phil an urn containing Steve's ashes and, although he initially intended to flush them down the toilet, decided to spread them on his mother's grave, before saying "Rest in peace".

[13] In 2020, Sara Wallis and Ian Hyland from The Daily Mirror placed Steve 57th on their ranked list of the best EastEnders characters of all time, calling his exit "spectacular".