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Irene Hills
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. 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 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 wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roberta Taylor
Roberta Alexandra Mary Taylor (; 26 February 1948 – 6 July 2024) was an English actress and author. She was known for her roles of Irene Raymond in ''EastEnders'' (1997–2000) and Inspector Gina Gold in ''The Bill'' (2002–2008). Career Taylor worked in the theatre and appeared at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre from 1980 to 1992. During that period, she played La Duchesse de Guermantes in a stage adaptation of Marcel Proust's '' A la recherche du temps perdu'' (''Remembrance of Things Past'') entitled ''A Waste of Time'', in which Rupert Everett and Gary Oldman were also in the cast. She was also seen in Noël Coward's ''Design for Living'', Oscar Wilde's ''A Woman of No Importance'' and ''An Ideal Husband''. She was the Princess Kosmonopolis in Tennessee Williams' ''Sweet Bird of Youth'' in 1992, and in 1995 played the Nurse in Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet'' at the Lyric Hammersmith. She also appeared in episodes of the television series ''Doctors'', '' Sharman'', ''H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Croucher
Brian Croucher is an English actor and director best known for his role as Ted Hills, which he played from 1995 to 1997, in the soap opera ''EastEnders''. Croucher also had a regular role in the science fiction series ''Blake's 7''. Career Croucher has appeared in a number of science fiction programmes, including being the second actor to portray Travis in ''Blake's 7''. He played Borg in the ''Doctor Who'' story '' The Robots of Death''. He also appeared in the ''Doctor Who'' spin-off '' Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans''. Earlier, in 1973, he played a key protagonist in the children's adventure series '' The Jensen Code''. In 1978, Croucher played a major role opposite Tom Bell in the Thames Television/Euston Films thriller series ''Out''. He also played the role of Rooky in the Southern Television series '' The Famous Five'', in the double episode "Five Get into Trouble". One of Croucher's earliest film roles was in the Carol Reed film musical of Lionel Bart's ''Olive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 is the estranged mother of the characters Tiffany and Simon Raymond ( Martine McCutcheon and Andrew Lynford). She is featured most prominently in a high-profile storyline about adultery, when she has sex with her daughter's husband Grant Mitchell ( Ross Kemp). The plot is the catalyst for the eventual death of Tiffany, who dies in the aftermath upon discovering the affair. Harrison left the role in 1999; scriptwriters allegedly felt that the character had nowhere left to go following Tiffany's departure. Creation and development Louise was introduced in May 1998 as the estranged wife of Terry Raymond ( Gavin Richards) and mother of Tiffany Mitchell ( Martine McCutcheon) and Simon Raymond ( Andrew Lynford). Her first scene is a shock climax during the wedding of Terry and Irene Hills ( Roberta Taylor), when Louise stops the ceremon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcoholic
Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated there were 283 million people with alcohol use disorders worldwide . The term ''alcoholism'' was first coined in 1852, but ''alcoholism'' and ''alcoholic'' are considered stigmatizing and likely to discourage seeking treatment, so diagnostic terms such as ''alcohol use disorder'' and ''alcohol dependence'' are often used instead in a clinical context. Alcohol is addictive, and heavy long-term alcohol use results in many negative health and social consequences. It can damage all the organ systems, but especially affects the brain, heart, liver, pancreas, and immune system. Heavy alcohol usage can result in trouble sleeping, and severe cognitive issues like dementia, brain damage, or Wernicke–Korsakoff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria Gould
Victoria Gould is a British actress, best known for playing the character of journalist Polly Becker on the BBC television soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 1997 to 1998. Gould moved on to professional theatre work, and is now a member of progressive physical theatre company, Complicite. She has an MSc in Mathematics; a subject which she often combines into the collective nature of Complicite's work, and is currently based in Brighton. ''The Argus'', 14 September 1998. In 2006, she guest-starred in the Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact ...
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Polly Becker
Polly Becker is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Victoria Gould from 25 March 1997 until 22 September 1998. Creation and development Actress Victoria Gould has revealed that she won her role in ''EastEnders'' after a producer saw her performing in ''Hamlet'' and she was asked to audition for the role of Polly. Gould has commented, "I was catapulted into the weird world of soap land and infamy. People really believe that those soaps are real and people actually believed that I was Polly from ''EastEnders''". Journalist Polly has been described by author Kate Lock as a "hard-bitten, cynical, ambitious" and someone who "never allowed sentiment to get in the way of a good story." Polly is embroiled in a love triangle storyline with bi-sexual Tony Hills (Mark Homer) and gay Simon Raymond (Andrew Lynford). Tony cheats on Simon with Polly Becker and according to the BBC, "the way the show portrayed Tony coming to terms with his bisexuality was wide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Lynford
Andrew Lynford (born 14 June 1972) is a British television presenter and actor. Since 2010, he has worked extensively as a theatre & television director, talent agent and casting director. He is widely remembered for playing Simon Raymond, the brother of Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon), in the popular BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He also presented ''Playdays'' for Children's BBC in the early 1990s. Career Born in Essex, Lynford trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London. He has had many theatre roles, including Ralph in ''Bouncers''; Tim in ''Up on the Roof'', Adrian in '' The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole'' and Hal in '' Loot''. He is also a veteran) of musical theatre, starring in ''The Little Shop of Horrors''; ''Oliver!''; '' The King & I'' and ''Anything Goes''. In 1996 Lynford joined the cast of ''EastEnders'', playing Simon Raymond, the homosexual brother of Martine McCutcheon's character Tiffany Raymond. His character made headlines in the Bri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gillian Taylforth
Gillian Taylforth (born 14 August 1955) is an English actress. She is known for her role as Kathy Beale on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', as well as appearing as Jackie Pascoe on ITV's ''Footballers' Wives'' (2002–2006) and Sgt. Nikki Wright in ITV's ''The Bill'' (2006–2008). She has also appeared in film during her early career, has presented on ITV's ''Loose Women'' and appeared as a celebrity contestant on ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2008. In January 2013, she was a contestant in ''Celebrity Big Brother''. Later that year, she began portraying Sandy Roscoe on the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', making her final appearance in January 2015. Despite her ''EastEnders'' character being presumed dead after being killed off-screen in 2006, Taylforth made a shock return to the show in February 2015 as part of the 30th anniversary episode. The BBC later confirmed that she would reprise the role of Kathy permanently later in the year and she has appeared regularly from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathy Beale
Kathy Beale (also Mitchell, Sullivan and Cotton) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Gillian Taylforth. Portrayed as "an attractive, bright, caring and highly moral woman", Kathy is one of the serial's original characters, appearing in the first episode of ''EastEnders'' on 19 February 1985. She is created as the second wife of Pete Beale (Peter Dean (actor), Peter Dean) and mother of their son, Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt). Taylforth was originally dismissed for the role of Kathy due to her young age, but was reconsidered when she impressed show bosses. The actress opted to leave the serial in 1997 and Kathy departed on 10 April 1998 after deciding to move to South Africa with her second son Ben Mitchell (EastEnders), Ben Mitchell. Kathy returned for two separate guest stints in 1999, making her departure on 6 January 2000. Despite reports that Taylforth would be returning to the serial, Kathy was supposedly killed off-screen in a road collisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confidence Trick
A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men') at the expense of their victims (the ' marks')". Terminology Other terms for "scam" include confidence trick, con, con game, confidence game, confidence scheme, ripoff, stratagem, finesse, grift, hustle, bunko, bunco, swindle, flimflam, gaffle, and bamboozle. The perpetrator is often referred to as a scammer, confidence man, con man, con artist, grifter, hustler, or swindler. The intended victims are known as marks, suckers, stooges, mugs, rubes, or gulls (from the word ''gullible''). When accomplices are e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai. It is located on a Dubai Creek, creek on the south-eastern coast of the Persian Gulf, Persian Gulf. As of 2025, the city population stands at 4 million, 92% of whom are Expatriates in the United Arab Emirates, expatriates. The wider urban area includes Sharjah and has a population of 5 million people as of 2023,https://www.demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf while the Dubai–Sharjah–Ajman metropolitan area counts 6 million inhabitants. Founded in the early 18th century as a Cultured pearl, pearling and fishing settlement, Dubai became a regional trade hub in the 20th century after declaring itself a f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Square
Walford is a fictional borough of East London in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location work is filmed in nearby Watford, which was chosen for many of the exterior scenes due to its close proximity and the town's name being so similar to Walford. Thus, any stray road signs or advertising boards which are accidentally filmed in the back of shots will appear to read Walford. Locations used in Watford include most interior and exterior church scenes of various churches, the snooker club, the County Court and Magistrates' Courts courtrooms, and the cemetery (where most of the deceased characters are interred). 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 found throughout Britain (for example, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
