List of East Enders Characters (2001) - Louise Mitchell

Louise Mitchell (née Fowler) is the daughter of Phil Mitchell and Lisa Fowler (Steve McFadden and Lucy Benjamin). Due to a difficult relationship, Lisa is determined to make sure Phil does not realise he is the father of her baby. For this reason, she marries Mark Fowler (Todd Carty) and names him as the father on Louise's birth certificate and names her daughter after Mark's late grandmother, Lou Beale (Anna Wing). However, Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) discovers Louise's true paternity and tells Phil.

Wanting his daughter, he goes after Lisa, soon persuading her to have an affair with him and moving into the flat above The Queen Victoria public house with him and his mother, Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), when Mark discovers Lisa's infidelity. It is soon clear that Phil and Peggy want Louise, not Lisa. They take over caring for Louise, excluding Lisa completely and hiring a nanny, Joanne Ryan (Tara Lynne O'Neill), telling her and the other Mitchells that Lisa is mentally unstable. This comes to a head on the day of Peggy's party to celebrate changing Louise's name to Mitchell legally. Desperate to get away, Lisa snatches Louise and runs away to Portugal, joining her best friend, Melanie Owen (Tamzin Outhwaite). Lisa leaves behind a postcard with Mel's address and Phil goes after her, returning with Louise, telling his family that Lisa will not be back.

The police, however, are suspicious, and send an undercover officer, Kate Morton (Jill Halfpenny) to get Phil to confess to Lisa's murder. Kate gets a confession but it is not what she and her boss expect - he bullied Lisa to give him custody of Louise and told her to stay away so Louise would not be confused. Phil goes on to marry Kate, and is shocked when Lisa returns on their wedding day, wanting Louise back. Lisa plans to shoot Phil but Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) talks her out of it and looks after her. He and his son, Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman) frame Phil for armed robbery and when he is arrested, Lisa takes Louise and leaves Walford.

In 2007, Phil suggests to his son, Ben (Charlie Jones), that they find Louise. Ben is not keen so Phil drops it but later in the year, Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) tells Phil he knows where Louise is and helps him find her. Jack gives Phil a picture of Louise and her address so Phil goes to find her on 4 January 2008 and tells her that he is her daddy only to be disappointed when she points to an unfamiliar man and calls him her daddy.

Louise returns on 16 March 2010, though she is initially credited as "Little Girl". A show insider said "Her arrival is going to be massive. It will send shockwaves around the square." Louise is dropped outside the tube station in a car where Phil's cousin Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) approaches her. Louise tells Ronnie she is looking for her father and shows Ronnie a photo. Ronnie tells her that she knows him and will take her to see him. Louise tells Ronnie that her mother went on holiday but did not return. When Ronnie finds Phil, she sees him arguing with people in the pub and tells Louise that she could not find him. Wanting the best for Louise, she calls Social Services, who take her into care. However, Phil finds out that Louise returned to the Square and angrily confronts Ronnie, just as Louise enters the Queen Victoria. Louise spends the weekend with her father, and he tries to keep her visit a secret. When the police arrive, he tells them he has not seen her. Phil allows her to stay off school, which annoys Ben. After Phil speaks to Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), he decides to contact Social Services, who take Louise away, but Phil vows to fight to get custody. However, he soon discovers he will need a DNA test to prove he is Louise's father as Mark is listed as Louise's father on her birth certificate. The results show that Phil is the father, and a social worker, Terry (Jon Foster), visits Phil's home. After Billie Jackson (Devon Anderson) and his gang hold up the bar, Terry decides it is not a safe environment for Louise, but Shirley tells him that Phil is moving in with her soon. The social worker eventually allows Louise to move in with Phil and Shirley, but her arrival upsets Ben, especially when she tells him she dislikes Shirley. She causes further problems for Ben by stealing his diary and writing entries in it, then reading them to her friends. Phil forces Louise to apologise to Ben, but she does not, and when Phil is out, Ben burns Louise's hand with a hot spoon.

Louise sees Ben with a bottle of alcohol that he took from the pub, and tries to get Ben in trouble by asking Phil what alcohol tastes like. Later, Ben tells Louise that Phil will not believe her if she says anything but if she does he will make her pay for it. Ben is left with the responsibility of taking Louise to school but instead locks her in a shed all day, leaving Phil worried that she has run away because he saw a note she wrote saying she wishes she was not there. Ben "finds" Louise and takes her home, and she blames Jordan Johnson (Michael-Joel David Stuart) for locking her up. Ben tells her she is a good girl and will not lock her in the shed again. The next day, Phil sees burns on her arm and she reveals that Ben was to blame. A suspicious Phil questions Ben but he denies burning Louise and locking her in the shed. Phil asks Heather to keep an eye on them but Ben sends Heather out to buy some crisps and rent a DVD. A worried Phil rushes home and sees Louise's doll in pieces and Ben about to burn his sister. Ben claims he is playing a game but Phil angrily punches him. Ben is later imprisoned for an attack on Jordan. Phil learns that Lisa has applied for contact with Louise, but he keeps this from his daughter, asking his solicitor Ritchie Scott (Sian Webber) to find a legal way of stopping Lisa seeing Louise.

Louise asks Peggy when Lisa is returning from her holiday. Peggy reveals that she already has done and that she wants to see Louise. Louise demands to see her mother but Peggy insults her, so Louise storms off and then runs away from home. Phil eventually finds her and she tells him she wants to see her mother and needs to know if she still loves her. Back at home, Phil shouts at Louise, telling her not to mention her mother again, and she sees Phil slap Peggy after she says he is not fit to be a parent. Phil shuts Louise in the house, telling nobody to answer the phone or door. However, Peggy sneaks Louise out to apologise for insulting Lisa. Louise asks if she can see her mother, so Peggy takes her there. Peggy is unable to assure Lisa that Phil will never harm Louise, so allows her to stay with Lisa as long as Phil can visit regularly. When Peggy returns home, she tells Phil what she has done. He drives to Lisa's house and kicks down the door to find the house is empty and Lisa has disappeared with Louise.