Irene Raymond
Encyclopedia
Irene Constance Ethel Raymond (née Carter; previously Hills) is a fictional character
from the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, played by Roberta Taylor
. Introduced in 1997 as the matriarch of the Hills family, Irene remained in the serial until 2000, when the actress opted to leave. Involved in comical and dramatic storylines, Irene was paired romantically with Terry Raymond
, and was prominently featured as part of the 1999 Christmas Day episodes, where her extra-marital affair with a toy boy was discovered by Terry. Her departure storyline was filmed on-location in Spain, where she ended her marriage to Terry.
following Ted's departure to South Africa
in August 1997. She came to stay with her children after she was fleeced out of her divorce settlement by a conman
. Her children were initially hostile to her for being absent for so many years, as was her sister-in-law Kathy
, who resented her for her treatment of her brother. Irene soon managed to sway her children's opinion back in her favour and they began to grow close, although she did manage to ruin her son's relationship with Simon Raymond
, when she revealed Tony's fling with his colleague Polly Becker
.
It wasn't long before Irene had found an eligible man to flirt with, and this happened to be the recovering alcoholic, Terry Raymond
, who grabbed Irene's attention by telling her a fabricated story about his exuberant wealth. Their romance soon began to blossom and it wasn't long before they planned to marry. The ceremony took place in 1998, but just as Terry was about to say "I do", his first wife, Louise Raymond
, halted the proceedings by announcing that she and Terry were still married. Irene was furious and humiliated, but Terry managed to win her round and they decided to go on their honeymoon
anyway. Despite this hitch, Irene went on to marry Terry, secretly at a registry office, after his divorce from Louise had been finalised.
Irene became good friends with the local restaurant owner Rosa di Marco
and she was a fan of any new-age fad she ever came across; during her time she participated in feng shui
, aromatherapy
, and meditation
, much to the bemusement of her sceptical husband. Together, Terry and Irene ran the local grocery store, 'The First Til Last'.
Despite Terry's desperate attempts to please Irene, he always seemed to manage to get it wrong and their relationship was often volatile, with Irene seemingly unable to communicate what she really wanted of Terry. Things reached an all time low when Irene started going through menopause
in 1999. She would often get severely emotional, depressed, and irritated, particularly with Terry, who often unintentionally humiliated her about her condition. Terry was incapable of doing anything right in Irene's eyes at this time.
Irene's restless nature meant that she soon began to tire of married life with Terry and in 1999, after continual chasing, Irene succumbed to the advances of her lodger Troy Harvey (Jamie Jarvis). Troy was considerably younger than Irene (almost half her age), and although he made her feel special and desirable, Troy was only playing the field and later tried it on with Irene's best friend Rosa. Irene refused to believe Rosa however and the affair continued.
Things reached a head on Christmas Day in 1999. Terry discovered a watch
that Irene had got engraved for Troy and suddenly understood what had been occurring. Terry was hurt, but his angst was directed at Troy and not Irene. After sending Irene on an errand, he confronted Troy and evicted him without his wife knowing. When Irene returned she was devastated to learn that Troy had gone. He forgave Irene, but the marriage was severely strained and Irene was never fully content or happy with her life after Troy's departure.
Terry was desperate to hang on to Irene, so after a man (who was hired by Asif Malik to drive a truck into the launderette) smashed into the First 'til Last, Terry used the insurance
money to buy her a holiday in a luxury villa in Alicante, Spain
in 2000. Irene was over the moon but her joy soon turned to rage when she discovered that Terry had invited fellow Walford
residents Frank
and Peggy Butcher
, as well as Roy
and Pat Evans
. Whilst on holiday, Terry began to despair over Irene's obvious unhappiness with their marriage and her complaints about her dull life in Walford. In an attempt to 'call her bluff' he set Irene up with a rented car, gave her a wad of money and suggested that she leave there and then and travel the world like she had always dreamed. Unluckily for Terry, Irene leapt at the chance of freedom and left him, and he went back to Walford alone. Her current location is currently unknown, although when Terry departed in 2002 he had contacted Irene to give their marriage another chance.
(Daniela Denby-Ashe
) and Tony Hills
(Mark Homer
). Her introduction followed the axing of the Hills' family patriarch Ted
(Brian Croucher
), who departed the serial the episode before Irene's arrival. Taylor was asked to play Irene by the producers, commenting, "When I was asked to play her I said I didn't mind what she was like as long as she didn't wear a cardigan!". She has claimed that she based the somewhat comical and sarcastic characterisation of Irene on her deceased mother and sisters, adding, "They wouldn't have liked it if I didn't make you laugh. That was their whole raison d'etre."
Author Kate Lock has described Irene as "restless" and an unlikely "sex siren". While author Rupert Smith has stated that she was "flighty, bitchy and self-centred [...] the mother from hell", but noted that she was a "breath of fresh air when compared to her ghastly children". Irene was instantly paired romantically with Terry Raymond
(Gavin Richards
), and Rupert Smith has suggested that in Terry, Irene "met her match in dreadfulness" and likened them to a "geriatric Romeo and Juliet
". He went on to say that, "separately, the Hills and Raymonds were disastrous, dysfunctional families. Joined together, as they were by Terry and Irene's distasteful romance, they were unbearable."
In 2000, Taylor announced that she was leaving EastEnders. She had originally planned to leave the year before but she decided to stay when she saw the storyline that had been penned for Irene. Producers were disappointed by her decision to leave, with one source commenting, "Roberta's an outstanding actress who brought a little extra magic to Walford. We would have loved her to stay."
Taylor said: "EastEnders has been a fantastic experience but I'm pleased to be leaving. I was always thinking, 'When can I learn my lines?' I gave over much of my life to the show and if I was to carry on at such a pace I'd have to continue to put my life on hold. I didn't want to do things at half-cock [...] I had a lot of fun playing Irene, and Gavin, who plays my screen husband Terry, and I got on brilliantly. Irene was a complicated lady. I never knew what was going to happen next, but that's what life is like. We worked hard at our characters. People thought we were comical but actually there was a lot of sarcasm."
When asked if she would return in 2002, Taylor stated that she would be open to a one-off return, not a full-time comeback.
in 2000, that following the storyline where Irene had an affair with a toy boy, she was harassed by younger men: "I get letters from young men outlining exactly what they want to do to me. They're pretty detailed. I even get sex offers in the street. One guy, a very pretty boy in his twenties, sent me a letter containing all the explicit things he would like to do to Irene. It was shocking. Another guy marched up to me in a London store and demanded to know if he was young enough to go to bed with me."
The Christmas Day 1999 scenes in EastEnders involving Terry, Troy and Irene were described as "compelling viewing" by Merle Brown, critic for the Daily Record. He added, "All three played their parts excellently, especially Gavin Richards as Terry, who actually made you feel heartfelt sorrow for his usually despicable character."
The character of Irene was praised by Gareth Mclean, television critic of The Guardian
, who noted the development that had occurred in her narrative: "When Irene first appeared in Walford [...] she was a harpie in a satinette dressing gown. But [...] her transformation into sympathetic, thwarted heroine [is now] complete. Never entirely happy with Terry - and even less so since her plundering of Troy [...] and when [Irene] broke, the torrent of rage, frustration, self- loathing and self-doubt that Roberta Taylor unleashed was undeniably moving."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, played by Roberta Taylor
Roberta Taylor
Roberta Taylor is an English actress and author. She is probably best known for her roles of Irene Raymond in EastEnders , and Inspector Gina Gold in The Bill .-Career:...
. Introduced in 1997 as the matriarch of the Hills family, Irene remained in the serial until 2000, when the actress opted to leave. Involved in comical and dramatic storylines, Irene was paired romantically with Terry Raymond
Terry Raymond
Terrence Gordon "Terry" Raymond is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gavin Richards. Terry was initially introduced briefly in 1996 as the drunken father of Tiffany and Simon Raymond...
, and was prominently featured as part of the 1999 Christmas Day episodes, where her extra-marital affair with a toy boy was discovered by Terry. Her departure storyline was filmed on-location in Spain, where she ended her marriage to Terry.
Storylines
Irene was the ex-wife of Ted Hills and the estranged mother of Sarah and Tony Hills, and she arrived in Albert SquareAlbert Square
Albert Square is the fictional location of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. The square's design was based on the real life Fassett Square in Hackney, and was given the name Albert Square after the real...
following Ted's departure to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in August 1997. She came to stay with her children after she was fleeced out of her divorce settlement by a conman
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
. Her children were initially hostile to her for being absent for so many years, as was her sister-in-law Kathy
Kathy Hills
Katherine "Kathy" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gillian Taylforth between 1985 and 2000...
, who resented her for her treatment of her brother. Irene soon managed to sway her children's opinion back in her favour and they began to grow close, although she did manage to ruin her son's relationship with Simon Raymond
Simon Raymond
Simon Raymond is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Andrew Lynford. Simon was introduced in 1996 as the homosexual brother of Tiffany Mitchell. His relationship with the bisexual character Tony Hills featured a gay kiss that caused controversy in the UK; numerous...
, when she revealed Tony's fling with his colleague Polly Becker
Polly Becker
Polly Becker is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Victoria Gould from April 1997 to September 1998.-Storylines:...
.
It wasn't long before Irene had found an eligible man to flirt with, and this happened to be the recovering alcoholic, Terry Raymond
Terry Raymond
Terrence Gordon "Terry" Raymond is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gavin Richards. Terry was initially introduced briefly in 1996 as the drunken father of Tiffany and Simon Raymond...
, who grabbed Irene's attention by telling her a fabricated story about his exuberant wealth. Their romance soon began to blossom and it wasn't long before they planned to marry. The ceremony took place in 1998, but just as Terry was about to say "I do", his first wife, Louise Raymond
Louise Raymond
Louise Raymond is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Carol Harrison from May 1998 to April 1999. Louise was the estranged mother of the characters Tiffany and Simon Raymond. She was featured most prominently in a high-profile storyline about adultery, when she...
, halted the proceedings by announcing that she and Terry were still married. Irene was furious and humiliated, but Terry managed to win her round and they decided to go on their honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
anyway. Despite this hitch, Irene went on to marry Terry, secretly at a registry office, after his divorce from Louise had been finalised.
Irene became good friends with the local restaurant owner Rosa di Marco
Rosa di Marco
Rosa di Marco is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Louise Jameson. She is the mother of Beppe , Gianni , Teresa and Nicky di Marco .-Storylines:...
and she was a fan of any new-age fad she ever came across; during her time she participated in feng shui
Feng shui
Feng shui ' is a Chinese system of geomancy believed to use the laws of both Heaven and Earth to help one improve life by receiving positive qi. The original designation for the discipline is Kan Yu ....
, aromatherapy
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile plant materials, known as essential oils, and other aromatic compounds for the purpose of altering a person's mind, mood, cognitive function or health....
, and meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
, much to the bemusement of her sceptical husband. Together, Terry and Irene ran the local grocery store, 'The First Til Last'.
Despite Terry's desperate attempts to please Irene, he always seemed to manage to get it wrong and their relationship was often volatile, with Irene seemingly unable to communicate what she really wanted of Terry. Things reached an all time low when Irene started going through menopause
Menopause
Menopause is a term used to describe the permanent cessation of the primary functions of the human ovaries: the ripening and release of ova and the release of hormones that cause both the creation of the uterine lining and the subsequent shedding of the uterine lining...
in 1999. She would often get severely emotional, depressed, and irritated, particularly with Terry, who often unintentionally humiliated her about her condition. Terry was incapable of doing anything right in Irene's eyes at this time.
Irene's restless nature meant that she soon began to tire of married life with Terry and in 1999, after continual chasing, Irene succumbed to the advances of her lodger Troy Harvey (Jamie Jarvis). Troy was considerably younger than Irene (almost half her age), and although he made her feel special and desirable, Troy was only playing the field and later tried it on with Irene's best friend Rosa. Irene refused to believe Rosa however and the affair continued.
Things reached a head on Christmas Day in 1999. Terry discovered a watch
Watch
A watch is a small timepiece, typically worn either on the wrist or attached on a chain and carried in a pocket, with wristwatches being the most common type of watch used today. They evolved in the 17th century from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 15th century. The first watches were...
that Irene had got engraved for Troy and suddenly understood what had been occurring. Terry was hurt, but his angst was directed at Troy and not Irene. After sending Irene on an errand, he confronted Troy and evicted him without his wife knowing. When Irene returned she was devastated to learn that Troy had gone. He forgave Irene, but the marriage was severely strained and Irene was never fully content or happy with her life after Troy's departure.
Terry was desperate to hang on to Irene, so after a man (who was hired by Asif Malik to drive a truck into the launderette) smashed into the First 'til Last, Terry used the insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
money to buy her a holiday in a luxury villa in Alicante, Spain
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
in 2000. Irene was over the moon but her joy soon turned to rage when she discovered that Terry had invited fellow Walford
Walford
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The name Walford is both a street in Dalston where one of the series' creators, Tony Holland, lived and a blend of Walthamstow, where Holland was born, and Stratford. The suffix 'ford' is also found throughout East...
residents Frank
Frank Butcher
Francis Aloysius "Frank" Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by the late Mike Reid. Frank made his first appearance on-screen as a guest character in 1987 but, due to a positive viewer reception, he was reintroduced in 1988 as a regular. Reid took a long...
and Peggy Butcher
Peggy Mitchell
Margaret Ann "Peggy" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Peggy was initially played by Jo Warne when she first appeared on 30 April 1991, featuring in the series on a recurring basis over several weeks. Peggy was reintroduced in 1994, recast and was then played by...
, as well as Roy
Roy Evans (EastEnders)
Roy Edmund Evans is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Tony Caunter. Introduced by Series Producer Barbara Emile in 1994, Roy was scripted as a love interest for Pat Butcher...
and Pat Evans
Pat Evans
Patricia Louise "Pat" Evans is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She has been played by Pam St. Clement since 12 June 1986, just over a year after the show first aired...
. Whilst on holiday, Terry began to despair over Irene's obvious unhappiness with their marriage and her complaints about her dull life in Walford. In an attempt to 'call her bluff' he set Irene up with a rented car, gave her a wad of money and suggested that she leave there and then and travel the world like she had always dreamed. Unluckily for Terry, Irene leapt at the chance of freedom and left him, and he went back to Walford alone. Her current location is currently unknown, although when Terry departed in 2002 he had contacted Irene to give their marriage another chance.
Creation and development
Irene was introduced in 1997 as the estranged mother of the already established characters SarahSarah Hills
Sarah Hills is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Daniela Denby-Ashe.-Storylines:Sarah was rather troublesome when she arrived on Albert Square, shoplifting from various market stalls. This was noticed by Alistair Matthews, a shop manager and religious cult leader...
(Daniela Denby-Ashe
Daniela Denby-Ashe
Daniela Denby-Ashe is an English actress, best known for playing the character Janey Harper in the sitcom My Family.-Early life:...
) and Tony Hills
Tony Hills
Tony Hills is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Mark Homer.-Storylines:Tony arrives in Walford from Norfolk on 7 September 1995 with his sister, Sarah Hills . He is unsympathetic and sells ecstasy with a friend, Dan Zappieri . Eventually, he quits dealing after Dan...
(Mark Homer
Mark Homer
Mark Homer is a British actor of stage, television and film. He is best known for playing Tony Hills in the popular British soap opera EastEnders from 1995 to 1999. His subsequent work includes guest appearances in Silent Witness and Spine Chillers, both also for the BBC...
). Her introduction followed the axing of the Hills' family patriarch Ted
Ted Hills
Ted Hills is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Brian Croucher. He was introduced in 1995 as the patriarch of the Hills family, who were the extended family of established character Kathy Beale. Ted was axed in 1997....
(Brian Croucher
Brian Croucher
Brian Croucher is an English actor and director perhaps best known for his role as Ted Hills, which he played from 1995 to 1997, in the soap opera EastEnders....
), who departed the serial the episode before Irene's arrival. Taylor was asked to play Irene by the producers, commenting, "When I was asked to play her I said I didn't mind what she was like as long as she didn't wear a cardigan!". She has claimed that she based the somewhat comical and sarcastic characterisation of Irene on her deceased mother and sisters, adding, "They wouldn't have liked it if I didn't make you laugh. That was their whole raison d'etre."
Author Kate Lock has described Irene as "restless" and an unlikely "sex siren". While author Rupert Smith has stated that she was "flighty, bitchy and self-centred [...] the mother from hell", but noted that she was a "breath of fresh air when compared to her ghastly children". Irene was instantly paired romantically with Terry Raymond
Terry Raymond
Terrence Gordon "Terry" Raymond is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gavin Richards. Terry was initially introduced briefly in 1996 as the drunken father of Tiffany and Simon Raymond...
(Gavin Richards
Gavin Richards
Gavin Richards is a British actor, writer and director. His father is music critic Denby Richards, emeritus editor of Britain's oldest classical music magazine, Musical Opinion....
), and Rupert Smith has suggested that in Terry, Irene "met her match in dreadfulness" and likened them to a "geriatric Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
". He went on to say that, "separately, the Hills and Raymonds were disastrous, dysfunctional families. Joined together, as they were by Terry and Irene's distasteful romance, they were unbearable."
In 2000, Taylor announced that she was leaving EastEnders. She had originally planned to leave the year before but she decided to stay when she saw the storyline that had been penned for Irene. Producers were disappointed by her decision to leave, with one source commenting, "Roberta's an outstanding actress who brought a little extra magic to Walford. We would have loved her to stay."
Taylor said: "EastEnders has been a fantastic experience but I'm pleased to be leaving. I was always thinking, 'When can I learn my lines?' I gave over much of my life to the show and if I was to carry on at such a pace I'd have to continue to put my life on hold. I didn't want to do things at half-cock [...] I had a lot of fun playing Irene, and Gavin, who plays my screen husband Terry, and I got on brilliantly. Irene was a complicated lady. I never knew what was going to happen next, but that's what life is like. We worked hard at our characters. People thought we were comical but actually there was a lot of sarcasm."
When asked if she would return in 2002, Taylor stated that she would be open to a one-off return, not a full-time comeback.
Reception
Taylor told Sharon MarshallSharon Marshall
Sharon Marshall is a British entertainment journalist best known for being the resident "Soap Expert" on ITV1's This Morning since 2003...
in 2000, that following the storyline where Irene had an affair with a toy boy, she was harassed by younger men: "I get letters from young men outlining exactly what they want to do to me. They're pretty detailed. I even get sex offers in the street. One guy, a very pretty boy in his twenties, sent me a letter containing all the explicit things he would like to do to Irene. It was shocking. Another guy marched up to me in a London store and demanded to know if he was young enough to go to bed with me."
The Christmas Day 1999 scenes in EastEnders involving Terry, Troy and Irene were described as "compelling viewing" by Merle Brown, critic for the Daily Record. He added, "All three played their parts excellently, especially Gavin Richards as Terry, who actually made you feel heartfelt sorrow for his usually despicable character."
The character of Irene was praised by Gareth Mclean, television critic of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, who noted the development that had occurred in her narrative: "When Irene first appeared in Walford [...] she was a harpie in a satinette dressing gown. But [...] her transformation into sympathetic, thwarted heroine [is now] complete. Never entirely happy with Terry - and even less so since her plundering of Troy [...] and when [Irene] broke, the torrent of rage, frustration, self- loathing and self-doubt that Roberta Taylor unleashed was undeniably moving."