Irene Raymond - Creation and Development

Creation and Development

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 (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.