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EE: Why was Mark Fowler killed off? |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Lancs.
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EE: Why was Mark Fowler killed off?
I may be wrong so correct me if i am, but i remember reading that Mark Fowler was killed off because they felt the character had ran his course and that they had shown Mark living with HIV for so long that it was time for him to succumb to it. I found this a bit weird though because HIV isnt tsn't like that at all and in this day and age life expectency is hardly reduced with the right medication. Seems like it sent out the wrong message about HIV, he died within about 12 years of having it didnt he?
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#2 |
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Join Date: Aug 2011
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Quote:
I may be wrong so correct me if i am, but i remember reading that Mark Fowler was killed off because they felt the character had ran his course and that they had shown Mark living with HIV for so long that it was time for him to succumb to it. I found this a bit weird though because HIV isnt tsn't like that at all and in this day and age life expectency is hardly reduced with the right medication. Seems like it sent out the wrong message about HIV, he died within about 12 years of having it didnt he?
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#3 |
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,937
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Maybe they finally realised that Todd Carty couldn't act?!?!
![]() ![]() Although I do think he should have died on-screen. |
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#4 |
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Quote:
You answered your question in your own post. The character had simply ran its course.
Just don't see why they had to kill him considering the death toll in the fowler/beales was high enough!
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#5 |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
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Mark Fowler was an average character, who ran his course. I have to say that his last scenes with Pauline were very poignant, well written, with some of the finest acting I'd seen from both Todd Carty and Wendy Richards..
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#6 |
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Join Date: Aug 2011
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Quote:
I may be wrong so correct me if i am, but i remember reading that Mark Fowler was killed off because they felt the character had ran his course and that they had shown Mark living with HIV for so long that it was time for him to succumb to it. I found this a bit weird though because HIV isnt tsn't like that at all and in this day and age life expectency is hardly reduced with the right medication. Seems like it sent out the wrong message about HIV, he died within about 12 years of having it didnt he?
I wonder how many people who were diagnosed HIV+ in 89/90 are still alive today? |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
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I think it was actually a very good exit for the character, and remained very true. It also provided one of my favourite scenes of that year, with Wendy Richard showing that she was so much more than just the stereotypical battleaxe - she actually made me cry! I didn't think Todd Carty was a bad actor, I just found Mark very boring as a character which may have been down to the storylines, I don't know.
Either way, a very poignant exit for the character and if ever he was to leave, it needed to be that way considering he had been included in one of the biggest storylines in the show's history. |
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#8 |
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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I think he was axed by Louise Berridge as they felt he had 'run his course' its a shame as I thought he was a good character and that was the start of the downfall of the Fowlers.
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#9 |
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Join Date: Nov 2007
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I think the attempted 'rape' by Mark on Lisa went beyond the pale.
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#10 |
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: .
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Eastenders have a habit killing off long term characters, no wonder half the cast are new they hardly has any past characters now!
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#11 |
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In the show, Mark's body started rejecting the drugs and he left so his family wouldn't have to watch him die.
In reality, at least we didn't have another Michelle running joke, living away from the Square yet utterly incapable of attending any major family events because they were constantly suffering broken legs, major upsets, a sniffle... |
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#12 |
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because all he did was cry that he never got the girl he wanted he didnt have storylines that could continue but maybe we should of seen him go through the illness rather than riding off with his motorbike into the distance
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#13 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
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The way they handled his HIV over the last 6 months on screen was atrocious. He was told only a year previously that his drugs were working and that there was no reason why he wouldn't live a long life into his 60s or 70s. Then the producer decides he's run his course and they kill him off.
His story from the off-set was meant to be a true-life depiction of someone living with the virus. As others have mentioned on this thread there are several drugs now on offer which means the vast majority of HIV sufferers live normal lives - a friend of mine is a Dr and said if given the choice of having HIV or Cancer it would be HIV every time (weird convo I know) mainly because has a much higher success rate in terms of treatment than cancer. I wish they had continued to show Mark living a healthy normal life, and if they felt the need to kill him off, have it non-HIV related, or just have him move away. |
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#14 |
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Join Date: Feb 2009
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I know he had HIV and forgive me if I am remembering this wrong but did he not actually get Cancer but died of Pneumonia?
I feel the scriptwriters did not want another Michelle who never came back no matter how important the occasion. It was a bit unrealistic. I don't think Michelle's character even came back for her mums funeral did she? |
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#15 |
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Quote:
Mark was diagnosed over 20 years ago, if you are diagnosed today and start on all the anti-virals then yes you can hope to live a normal natural life expectancy (albeit with horrible side effects from the drugs) but that was never on the cards for Mark as far as I could see it.
I wonder how many people who were diagnosed HIV+ in 89/90 are still alive today? ![]() I don't think it is unheard-of by any means. I had watched a lot of Mark in EE but had stopped watching by the time he left. I agree the character had run his course and it is a soap - they'll take the most dramatic route so you can understand why they had him die. But in my opinion if you're going to do the storyline and then have him die - show it on screen! |
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#16 |
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Quote:
I know he had HIV and forgive me if I am remembering this wrong but did he not actually get Cancer but died of Pneumonia?
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#17 |
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Join Date: May 2011
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I didn't like how they had him die off screen. They started the HIV storyline and should have finished it on screen. Saying that, his final scenes were brilliant. Wendy Richard did her best acting in those scenes imo.
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#18 |
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Monologue Central
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Speaking of characters who've run their course, why is Billy Mitchell still there?
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#19 |
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Join Date: Feb 2010
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Quote:
I think the attempted 'rape' by Mark on Lisa went beyond the pale.
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#20 |
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Join Date: Nov 2011
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Todd Carty was treated with such disrespect by EastEnders after all the time he spent on the show. He was TUCKER for crying out loud
BBC suck at times |
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#21 |
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Quote:
I wonder how many people who were diagnosed HIV+ in 89/90 are still alive today?
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#22 |
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Join Date: Apr 2007
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I just feel they let down the writers who devised the initial storyline by having him ride off on his motorbike. They stuck with the storyline of Mark living with HIV and to end it the way they did was a diservice to everyone involved
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#23 |
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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Well if EE is anything to go by, Mark faked his death for grassing on drug dealers and he comes back to the square with Cindy Beale in toll
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#24 |
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Quote:
not really what I was wondering but interesting list
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#25 |
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Quote:
I didn't like how they had him die off screen. They started the HIV storyline and should have finished it on screen. Saying that, his final scenes were brilliant. Wendy Richard did her best acting in those scenes imo.
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