Irene Raymond, played by Roberta Taylor, is the ex-wife of Ted Hills (Brian Croucher) and the estranged mother of Sarah and Tony Hills (Daniela Denby-Ashe and Mark Homer). Author Rupert Smith has stated that she is "flighty, bitchy and self-centred the mother from hell", but has noted that she is a "breath of fresh air when compared to her ghastly children". Irene is instantly paired romantically with Terry Raymond (Gavin Richards), and Rupert Smith has suggested that in Terry, Irene "met her match in dreadfulness" and likens them to a "geriatric Romeo and Juliet". He goes 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."
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