Imogen Tatum was a spiteful neighbour of Gemma Winter's, living on Mawdsley Street, whose snobbish attitude towards her contributed to the severe post-natal depression she suffered after the birth of her quads.
Imogen was also a recent first-time mother and encountered Gemma at a baby senses class held at the Jamila House community centre in February 2020. Gemma already had a lack of confidence in her abilities as a mother, both with the strain of four children at once to look after, and her and Chesney Brown's concerns after Aled had been diagnosed as being born with severe hearing problems. She was therefore worried that the other mothers at the class would look down on her. Their first meeting was amicable enough as Imogen's friend Vanessa Finney expressed her genuine admiration towards Gemma for coping with four babies at once. When Vanessa overheard Cathy Matthews and Emma Brooker tell Gemma that they wouldn't be able to accompany her to the next week's class, Imogen agreed to her friend's suggestion that they would help Gemma at the next session. Things turned sour though when Vanessa asked how Gemma managed four times their own workload and received the oblivious answer that the knack was to do the same thing, but four times over. Imogen's face started to show hints of disdain when Vanessa also suggested that Gemma join them at a baby yoga class and had to explain that it was the mother who did the exercises, and not the children!
Gemma was enthusiastic, thinking that she had made new genuine friends but at the yoga class she failed to overhear Imogen sneering at her for turning up in jeans instead of leggings. Vanessa helped Gemma with Carys and suggested Imogen looked after Llio and while she reluctantly did so, Imogen was more interested in laughing as Gemma split her jeans as she attempted one of the exercises. Gemma was unaware of the reaction she was engendering, as she enthused to Chesney that she was glad to have new friends who she was going to see at further baby-related activities.
As the weeks went by, Gemma's ability to cope with her unreasonable workload started to get on top of her and while on the face of it, her two new friends were supportive, Imogen continued to quietly look down on her. She brusquely told Gemma she needed help, boasting that she had an au pair, but she was unable - and unconcerned - to remember which country their help came from. Vanessa agreed with her suggestion, albeit in a more gentle fashion, and Gemma reached out to her estranged mother Bernie, who moved back into No.5.
As Gemma wondered why her new friends were keeping away from a number of the baby social groups, Bernie met the two women at the next senses class and they instantly took a dislike to each other, with even Vanessa agreeing with Imogen's under-the-breath comment about the state of the older woman. When Gemma suggested a get-together, Vanessa was about to tell her that she could join in with a mothers' get-together at Imogen's Mawdsley Street house later on when the host butted in with a pack of lies about alternative arrangements, solely with the intention of keeping Gemma from joining in. Later in the ginnel, Gemma was heart-broken to see Imogen emerge momentarily from her back yard, calling back to the other girls within to open a bottle of rose. Outraged for her daughter, Bernie burst in telling the gathered mothers that they were a bunch of "snotty cows", their kids were ugly and a bird table that Imogen had been boasting about the expense of could be obtained in B&M for £4.99! Gemma felt utterly rejected by the women, although to Vanessa's credit she felt wretched at what they had done and gave a heartfelt apology, inviting her to join them at a Speed Daal lunch after the next baby yoga class.
There, Imogen showed that she hadn't changed her spots and to Vanessa's obvious discomfort, plied Gemma with drink. She also made comments behind her back that by the end of the year, social services would be intervening with her children. Gemma overheard, finally saw through her false front and ripped into their snobbish attitude at full volume, storming out of the premises with their plastic friendship at an end but with her fragile mental state further eroded.
List of appearances[]
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2020 |