Irene Raymond

Irene Raymond (also 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 is paired romantically with Terry Raymond (Gavin Richards), and is prominently featured as part of the 1999 Christmas Day episodes, where her extra-marital affair with a toy boy is discovered by Terry. Her departure storyline was filmed on-location in Spain, where she ends her marriage to Terry.

Irene was introduced in 1997 as the estranged mother of the already established characters Sarah (Daniela Denby-Ashe) and Tony Hills (Mark Homer). Her introduction followed the axing of the Hills' family patriarch Ted Hills (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.

Irene is the ex-wife of Ted Hills (Brian Croucher) and the estranged mother of Sarah and Tony Hills (Daniela Denby-Ashe/Mark Homer), and she arrives in Albert Square following Ted's departure to Dubai in August 1997. She comes to stay with her children after she was fleeced out of her divorce settlement by a conman. Her children are initially hostile to her for being absent for so many years, as is her sister-in-law Kathy (Gillian Taylforth), who resents her for her treatment of her brother. Irene soon manages to sway her children's opinion back in her favour and they begin to grow close, although she does manage to ruin her son's relationship with Simon Raymond (Andrew Lynford), when she reveals Tony's fling with his colleague Polly Becker (Victoria Gould).

It isn't long before Irene finds an eligible man to flirt with, and this happens to be the recovering alcoholic Terry Raymond (Gavin Richards). Their romance soon begins to blossom and it isn't long before they plan to marry. The ceremony takes place in 1998, but just as Terry is about to say "I do", his first wife, Louise (Carol Harrison), halts the proceedings by announcing that she and Terry are still married. Irene is furious and humiliated, but Terry manages to win her round and they decide to go on their honeymoon anyway. Despite this hitch, Irene goes on to marry Terry, secretly at a register office, after his divorce from Louise has been finalised. Irene becomes good friends with local restaurant owner Rosa di Marco (Louise Jameson) and she is a fan of any new-age fad she ever comes across; during her time she participates in feng shui, aromatherapy, and meditation, much to the bemusement of her sceptical husband. Together, Terry and Irene run the local grocery store, 'The First Til Last'.