moved to Australia and reunited with Spencer. In January 2014, Sharon tells Spencer's brother, Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), that they need someone to help them open a bar in Sydney, so Alfie goes there for a few weeks to work with them. Vicki and Spencer are unable to attend Sharon’s wedding to Phil Mitchell in September 2014, nor are they able to attend the wedding of Vicki’s relative Ian Beale to Jane Beale in February 2015. When Lofty returns to Walford in 2019, he gives Sharon a £20,000 cheque to give to Vicki. In 2022, Vicki is revealed to be back in the USA when Sharon flies over to be with her whilst Vicki undergoes emergency surgery. Creation and development Conception and childhood characterisation The conception of Vicki Fowler in 1985 was one of the first controversial storylines featured in EastEnders since its inception that February, as it involved the pregnancy of a schoolgirl, Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully). Exploiting a Whodunit angle, 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 on episode 66. Written by series co-creator/script-editor Tony Holland and directed by co-creator/producer Julia Smith, it was considered a landmark episode in the show's history. Four possible suspects were seen leaving the Square early in the episode: Tony Carpenter (Oscar James), Ali Osman (Nejdet Salih), Andy O'Brien (Ross Davidson), and Den Watts (Leslie Grantham). As Michelle waited by their rendezvous point, a car pulled up and the fluffy white legs of the soap landlord's poodle Roly leapt out of a car and gave it all away: Den Watts had fathered Michelle's baby. After this storyline the programme started to appear in newspaper cartoons as it moved more and more into the public mainstream. Baby Emma Henry originated the role and played Vicki until 1988, when her parents moved to Scotland. The role was recast to Samantha Leigh Martin, who learned to call Susan Tully "Mummy Shell" and referred to Letitia Dean who played her mum's best friend, "Daddy Sharon". Tully has commented, "What's lovely about working with Samantha is that she's always happy. When it comes to work, she knows it's playing a pretend game, she knows my real name but she knows to call me 'Mummy Shell' when the cameras are running. If she isn't involved