ABSTRACT
Mark Fowler, a popular character on EastEnders, contracted HIV when he was a young, drug-taking rebel. Later, as an adult, he stopped taking his combination pills because he could no longer cope with the side effects. He subsequently contracted pneumonia so severe he fell into a coma. Emotions ran high as EastEnders’ viewers watched as his mother maintained a constant vigil, but they had to wait for the following weeks’ episodes to see if Mark lived or died. Mark survived and is later reintroduced to his girlfriend from his rebel days, who was now dying from AIDS. He visited her in the hospice, and married her before she died.
