Vicki Fowler

Vicki Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Alice Haig. Vicki was originally played by Emma Herry from the character's birth in 1986 to 1988, and Samantha Leigh Martin from 1988 to 1995. When the character was re-introduced 8 years later the role was played by Scarlett Alice Johnson from 2003 to 2004. She is the illegitimate daughter of Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully) and Den Watts (Leslie Grantham). The character is born in the serial, conceived in a controversial storyline about teenage pregnancy. Exploiting a whodunit angle, at the time of the first showing, viewers were not initially told who was the father, and press interest in the fledgling show escalated as journalists attempted to guess. The audience finally discovered his identity in October 1985 in episode 66. Written by series co-creator and script editor Tony Holland, and directed by co-creator and producer Julia Smith, it was considered a landmark episode in the show's history. Early suspects were Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and Kelvin Carpenter (Paul J. Medford), but then four possible suspects are seen leaving Albert Square early in the episode: Tony Carpenter (Oscar James), Ali Osman (Nejdet Salih), Andy O'Brien (Ross Davidson), and Den Watts. As Michelle waits by their rendezvous point, a car pulls up and the fluffy white legs of the soap landlord's poodle Roly leap out of a car to give it all away: Den Watts is the father of Michelle's baby. After this storyline the programme started to appear in newspaper cartoons as it moved more and more into the public mainstream. Vicki's character was written out in October 1995, after Susan Tully, who played Vicki's mother Michelle, decided to leave the soap.

After an eight-year absence, she was reintroduced by Executive Producer Louise Berridge in January 2003 as a rebellious teenager. Vicki's reintroduction was part of the soap's attempt to rebuild the Watts family, which had featured prominently in the 1980s. In August 2004, it was announced that Johnson had quit the role, and Vicki’s final scenes aired on 25 December 2004. Her stint between 2003 and 2004 focused on her relationship with Spencer Moon (Christopher Parker), becoming pregnant with Spencer's child and subsequently having an abortion, a difficult relationship with her estranged father Den who she once believed had died, and a relationship with lecturer Tommy Grant (Robert Cavanah). The media was generally critical about the character upon her return, due to her American accent and its sudden disappearance. During the character's original stint, a storyline featuring Vicki being kidnapped was criticised due to its coincidental airing alongside the real-life abduction and murder of toddler James Bulger.

In February 2025, it was announced that Vicki would return to Walford after 20 years away, with the role being recast to Alice Haig. The character's return coincided with the funeral of her uncle Martin Fowler (James Bye). She returned permanently on 31 March 2025, arriving alongside her boyfriend Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw) and his teenage son Joel (Max Murray).