Imogen Hollins

## About

**Imogen Hollins** is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera *Doctors*, portrayed by Charlie Clemmow. Imogen made her first appearance on 4 August 2009, and is the daughter of Karen (Jan Pearson) and Rob Hollins (Chris Walker), and the sister of Jack Hollins (Nicolas Woodman). Since her arrival, Imogen has appeared in storylines that include briefly identifying as a lesbian, being bullied by Lauren Porter (Alexis Peterman) and having a breast cancer scare. She departed *Doctors* on 24 September 2012, and returned in 2014 for a guest appearance.[1] In 2019, Clemmow made another guest appearance as Imogen, with another guest appearance in June 2020.

## Storylines

Imogen has an Interest in Art. She studied art at North Letherbridge Sixth Form College, where in December 2009 she held an art exhibition for her family. It was planned to be a joint exhibition with college friend, Casper Reed. Imogen fancied Casper and he felt the same back towards Immie, but a jealous student, Fizz Campbell, told Casper that Imogen was in a relationship with another older boy, who actually was Immie's brother, Jack. Casper became jealous and became very upset, causing him to ruin all Imogen's work. Imogen then surprised everyone by nearly stripping completely naked.

In January 2010, Karen was approached by Gerry Cutler, the father of a University friend of Jack. He asked if Lewis, his son, could stay at their house over the Easter holidays as he was going away. Karen accepted but Lewis had a serious mental problem. Imogen was the first to notice it, and she tried to warn her mother, father and brother, but they ignored her. Imogen then realised that her art project was tampered with, by Lewis. She told her mum and they got worried. Jack was called to a fake interview at the University, Karen was very worried and went to the University, trying to find Jack. Amongst the hostages were, Ellie, Sia, Ned. Lewis was armed with a gun and shot hostage Sia. Karen tried to talk Lewis out of killing them all, but it didn't work. Karen's husband, Rob came with a colleague and Dr. Simon Bond. Rob was called down but Simon stayed to help injured Sia. After a scream Rob came running back up and charged in. After a struggle with the gun Karen got the gun off Lewis and he was shot by a police officer. Karen, Rob, Jack and Imogen burnt Imogen's art work the following day.

After the ordeal of the shooting at the University, it took Imogen time to recover. At school, she met a girl called Elise Stone. As soon as they met they had a very close relationship, and Elise told Imogen that she was a lesbian, and Elise then kissed Immie. That evening, Imogen went home and told her mother, Karen that she was a lesbian, Karen was very shocked. The next day Imogen was dressed differently to how she normally dressed. She told her father, Rob it was the way her 'breed' dressed.

Due to the amount of stress and pressure put on Imogen from Karen's abortion and her parents splitting up, Imogen began to steal. Although it started off at small amounts, it soon increased and eventually she was caught. To try to get out of it, Imogen lied and said that she hadn't stolen anything from the shop she had been caught in. Rob believed her and did his best to defend her. Eventually, she confided in Jack that she had done it. Jack told her to continue lying, even though it was wrong. When it went to court, she confessed to stealing. This angered Rob and she was temporarily thrown out of the house, having to stay with Jimmi and Cherry for a while until Rob let her back in. Imogen was sentenced to community service. Due to her criminal record, Imogen found it very difficult to find a job. Karen managed to persuade Julia to give Imogen a small, part-time job as a receptionist while Mrs Tembe, their former receptionist was away on holiday. Imogen took an instant dislike to Lauren, as she was nasty to Imogen and others.

Imogen returned in 2014 for the wedding of her mother, Karen. Then, in 2019, Imogen made a full-time return.[2] When she returns to Letherbridge, she begins to pursue a relationship with Sid (Ashley Rice). At first, her parents disapprove of Imogen seeing Sid, but they later come round to the idea. While sleeping together, Sid notices a lump on Imogen's breast, and suggests getting it looked at. When she has a private consultation, the lump is revealed to be benign, leaving her relieved.

## Creation

She is the youngest child to Sergeant Rob Hollins of Letherbridge Police Station and Karen Hollins, Senior Receptionist at the Mill Health Centre. She is two years younger than her brother, Jack Hollins.

## Development

### **Bullying**

In August 2011, Imogen became the center of a bullying plot involving her and Lauren Porter (Alexis Peterman). Clemmow said that the bullying storyline is close to her heart, saying: "The storyline is close to my heart because I was on the end of some nasty bulling at secondary school. But thankfully it didn't become too serious because I spoke out and my parents got involved to stop it before it escalated. I hope this storyline will show bullying victims they don't need to suffer in silence."[3]

### **Departure**

On 3 September 2012, it was confirmed that cast members Nicolas Woodman who plays Jack Hollins and Clemmow would be departing. Clemmow's departure scenes aired on 24 September 2012.[4]

### **Return**

In June 2019, Clemmow made a return to *Doctors*, and it was revealed that she was a full-time artist.[2] When asked by Allison Jones of *Inside Soap* what it was like to return, Clemmow said: "It's just been amazing, such a lovely experience. It's cliched, but it is like going home. Like having a family, it's been wonderful, and I'm always delighted to be asked back. It’s great."[5] She added: "It felt like it was always an open discussion, so it felt like she was always alive and kicking. They talked about her being in London, which is where I actually was. But obviously because there's been quite a gap since the audience have seen Imogen. Things have changed a lot, so it's really exciting revisiting her again – she's really matured and grown up, there's so many more layers to her now."[5]

Clemmow also revealed that she stays in contact with Pearson and Walker, her on-screen parents.[5] When asked if Imogen will stay in *Doctors*, she stated: "I think she feels torn between making a success of her career and feeling like Letherbridge is a bit small town – she's ambitious and open-minded, so that's a little bit of a spanner in the works. But she's really enjoyed being home – and she's got a little twinkle in her eye for Sid, but we don't know how that will progress!"[5]