In the early 2000s, a darker side to adolescent Steven emerged as he began writing poison pen letters to neighbors and blackmailing Ian over his affair with Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), before moving to New Zealand to be with his biological father.

In the late 2000s, Steven's storyline focused on his hostile relationship with his dad and involved stalking Ian and taking him hostage, multiple suicide attempts, and accidentally shooting his stepmother, Jane (Laurie Brett).

Steven also briefly dates Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) but struggles with his sexuality and an attraction to Jane's brother Christian Clarke (John Partridge).

Following his 2016 return, Steven becomes deceitful with his girlfriend Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) by having an affair with her sister Abi (Lorna Fitzgerald), which sparks the events of the character being responsible for Abi's pregnancy; fabricating a lie about having a brain tumor; and nearly killing Jane again after Lauren and Abi's father, Max (Jake Wood), blackmails him in setting fire to his dad's restaurant in his plan to kill her as revenge for her contribution to getting him wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of his half sister Lucy (Hetti Bywater), who was previously killed by their half-brother Bobby (Eliot Carrington).

Ultimately, Steven contemplates rescuing Jane and ends up getting injured in the fire by Max, which consequently triggers the character suffering a fatal cardiac arrest in the hospital, he dies, and his lies are soon discovered at his funeral a week later.

Arriving back in Walford, he spends time reminiscing with Peter and Lucy, though Ian's new wife, Jane Beale (Laurie Brett) is initially wary of him, especially when he attempts to kiss her.

Peter (now Ben Hardy) and fiancée Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) leave Walford for New Zealand to join Steven in February 2015.

In May 2016, Steven returns with Lauren and Louie after they learn that Jane is in the hospital after being attacked by Bobby Beale (Eliot Carrington), who also confessed to killing Lucy.

When Jane looks at the restaurant's accounts and realises payments are being made to a fake company, she knows it can only be Ian or Steven but worries about confronting the wrong person.

She soon discovers that Steven set up the fake company and confronts him; he explains he borrowed the money to help Peter, who was drinking heavily and getting into fights and Lauren does not know the whole truth, so Jane tells him to be honest with her.

Lauren meets Josh Hemmings (Eddie Eyre), a man who works in her father Max Branning's (Jake Wood) office, and they are attracted to each other.

However, Steven refuses to believe her, and after berating her about framing Max for Lucy's murder, sets fire to the restaurant, and leaves Jane to perish in the flames.

Max violently shoves him into a countertop, causing Steven to be rushed to hospital where he tells Abi that he loves her and will try to make their relationship work.

Horrified by what she has learned, Lauren tries to flush Steven's ashes down the toilet, but Abi stops her, eventually telling her the truth about her pregnancy with his baby.

Fearing that Abi may go into cardiac arrest following her devastating diagnosis of brain stem death, the doctors decide to deliver the baby via caesarean section.

[1] Because of the strict laws dictating the number of hours babies are permitted to work, occasionally dolls or understudies have to be used if the child runs out of time.

[1] Young Farrell was also the reason viewers never saw Cindy wearing her red wedding dress on-screen again following its next outing at Steven's christening in February 1990.

The love triangle between Simon, Cindy and Ian, and the events surrounding Steven's paternity dominated the soap during 1990; it has been described by writer Colin Brake as the year's "big story".

As the character aged, his actor was given a more substantial role in the serial, Steven remaining with Ian following the death of his mother, who died in prison during child birth.

[8] The character was eventually to make his return in September 2007, reintroduced by executive producer Diederick Santer as part of a storyline that saw Ian being stalked and terrorised by a mystery person, claiming to be his deceased ex-wife, Cindy.

[9] For several weeks, Ian was kept locked up in the derelict flat, while Steven returned to Albert Square to bond with his brother and sister, Peter and Lucy.

It was Sidwell's first television role, and he has described it as "a bit daunting...but everyone was really welcoming...the first few directors I worked with were fantastic...After we did rehearsal, after we did a take, they'd always give me feedback...I needed it.

"[15] The buildup to Steven's exit involved in a bisexual love triangle storyline between him, Stacey and Christian Clarke (John Partridge), who is the gay brother of Jane.

Steven later decided he was ready to lose his virginity to Stacey, and took Ian's advice "to try to name the England football team and substitutes as a technique for pacing himself,"[18] which Sidwell has described as, "a really funny scene to film [...] my favourite comedy moment since joining the show.

The filming of the storyline posed difficulties for Aaron Sidwell; in an interview with the Daily Star he explained, "[Lacey Turner's] a really good friend of mine, so kissing her was weird, but we just got on with it!

In episodes that aired in May 2008, it was revealed that Steven had been hiding his runaway sister in a caravan, poisoning her mind against Ian and persuading her to flee the country.

An EastEnders spokesperson said: "Aaron Sidwell is part of one of the big upcoming storylines and we can confirm, following dramatic scenes to be aired later this summer, he will be leaving the show.

"[28] The Mirror's Tony Stewart commented that "With the exception of [Coronation Street's David Platt], no psycho kid has inflicted so much damage on his own family as deranged freak Steven Beale.

Were Steven Beale's behaviour up until now not a cause for concern – kidnapping Ian, shooting Jane, spiriting Lucy away to a caravan to play with her mind – wait until he attempts to murder his granny.

Homosexuality = mental illness..."[29] Virgin Media included Steven in a list of villains in British soap operas, calling him "a wrong 'un through and through.