Crossroads Crossroads: 1964-1988, 2001-2003

Carrie Fairchild

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dont all faint, heres Adam



love BF x

I recently listened to the Distinct Nostalgia podcast with Tony Adams where he talked about his time on the show. He told an interesting tidbit about him buying a Rolls Royce on the advice of Noele Gordon (something to the effect of "if you have it, spend it"). When producer Jack Barton saw what he'd done, he thought he was getting ideas above his station about being a star of the show and wrote Adam out of the series for a year. He also spoke a bit about the revival, although his recollections are a bit muddled because he talked about Phillip Bowman (the producer in the mid-80's) being responsible for killing off Jill. The Distinct Nostalgia podcasts are well worth checking out. They've a lot of interviews with soap stars past and present (Amanda Barrie's interview for the Corrie 60th is particularly good).
 

Angela Channing

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I recently listened to the Distinct Nostalgia podcast with Tony Adams where he talked about his time on the show. He told an interesting tidbit about him buying a Rolls Royce on the advice of Noele Gordon (something to the effect of "if you have it, spend it"). When producer Jack Barton saw what he'd done, he thought he was getting ideas above his station about being a star of the show and wrote Adam out of the series for a year. He also spoke a bit about the revival, although his recollections are a bit muddled because he talked about Phillip Bowman (the producer in the mid-80's) being responsible for killing off Jill. The Distinct Nostalgia podcasts are well worth checking out. They've a lot of interviews with soap stars past and present (Amanda Barrie's interview for the Corrie 60th is particularly good).
Thanks for posting this. I'm going to seek out that podcast as I love hearing about Crossroads.
 

Carrie Fairchild

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Phillip Bowman (the producer in the mid-80's)
I've discovered that the first six months of Bowman's reign (the Crossroads Motel era) are more or less intact on YouTube. I know his period is divisive among some fans but I've always liked what I've seen of Nicola Freeman, one of his most notable character introductions, so I've decided to give it a look.

I've started with Bowman's first episode as producer from March 1985. Obviously you're dropping into the middle of a transition period so there's storylines ongoing but they're pretty easy to pick up on. David Hunter is sneaking around trying to track down the woman who is pregnant with his child while wife Barbara is getting suspicious. Glenda & Kevin are facing unemployment after returning home from Canada. Kath is lusting after a salesman called John while her niece Iris is trying to deal with her flatmate (and possibly boyfriend?) Pete Maguire's drug addiction. It's not exactly Jimmy McGovern scripted Brookside of the same era but it's all perfectly watchable. There's also a hint of the new era looming as Jill and Adam dictate a written response to an enquiry from Major International Hotels.......
 

James from London

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I've just watched David Hunter from Crossroads zap Brian Cant from Play Away to death in 'The Dominators', a really good '60s Doctor Who adventure.
unnamed.jpg
 

James from London

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Now watching '70s Who where Arthur Brownlow has popped as a sort of middle manager in the 22nd century where the human race has been enslaved by the Daleks. Poor Arthur.

Manager_-_Day_of_the_Daleks.jpg
 

Angela Channing

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Now watching '70s Who where Arthur Brownlow has popped as a sort of middle manager in the 22nd century where the human race has been enslaved by the Daleks. Poor Arthur.

View attachment 26226
One of my favourite characters from 1980s Crossroads even though he was a cantankerous old bigot. Peter Hill was a great actor to make a character like that so fondly remembered.
 

Carrie Fairchild

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I've discovered that the first six months of Bowman's reign (the Crossroads Motel era) are more or less intact on YouTube. I know his period is divisive among some fans but I've always liked what I've seen of Nicola Freeman, one of his most notable character introductions, so I've decided to give it a look.

I've started with Bowman's first episode as producer from March 1985. Obviously you're dropping into the middle of a transition period so there's storylines ongoing but they're pretty easy to pick up on. David Hunter is sneaking around trying to track down the woman who is pregnant with his child while wife Barbara is getting suspicious. Glenda & Kevin are facing unemployment after returning home from Canada. Kath is lusting after a salesman called John while her niece Iris is trying to deal with her flatmate (and possibly boyfriend?) Pete Maguire's drug addiction. It's not exactly Jimmy McGovern scripted Brookside of the same era but it's all perfectly watchable. There's also a hint of the new era looming as Jill and Adam dictate a written response to an enquiry from Major International Hotels.......
I'm halfway through the 1985 episodes available and we've reached a key point in the Bowman transition period - the arrival of Nicola Freeman and the departure of the Hunters. There's a lot of wink wink, nudge nudge type dialogue flying around about Nicola coming in and changing everything, how they want the motel to stay the same and whether people like the newly returned Benny still have a place at Crossroads. They may as well hang a sign around Nicola's neck with "REVAMP" written on it.

In addition to the Hunters, Kevin and Glenda have left for Canada (where I thought they'd just returned from when I started watching?), Pete Maguire has died from a heroin overdose (this was a really well done arc) prompting his father Harry to reconcile with estranged wife Sheila and leave town, Iris has announced her intentions to leave and Kath's ex-fiance John Latchford is being transferred to a job in Sheffield. It's a lot of movement among a relatively small cast but it's handled well. It's a shame to see the Hunters go as they worked well alongside Jill, Adam and Miranda. You really believed them all as workplace friends in the back office at the motel.

Despite Nicola's arrival, things feel a bit uneven at the moment. The goings on in the motel are great but one of the other main storylines involves changes at the garage and I really don't care for it. They've tacked on another garage related story involving a rich, bored housewife lusting after the garage manager Mack, resulting in the garage getting way too much screentime and I find myself fast forwarding through those scenes. The garage aside, it's an enjoyable watch. They make good use of location shooting around Birmingham too, something I believe was missing from a lot of the other set/lot bound soaps of the time.
 

Angela Channing

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I'm halfway through the 1985 episodes available and we've reached a key point in the Bowman transition period - the arrival of Nicola Freeman and the departure of the Hunters. There's a lot of wink wink, nudge nudge type dialogue flying around about Nicola coming in and changing everything, how they want the motel to stay the same and whether people like the newly returned Benny still have a place at Crossroads. They may as well hang a sign around Nicola's neck with "REVAMP" written on it.

In addition to the Hunters, Kevin and Glenda have left for Canada (where I thought they'd just returned from when I started watching?), Pete Maguire has died from a heroin overdose (this was a really well done arc) prompting his father Harry to reconcile with estranged wife Sheila and leave town, Iris has announced her intentions to leave and Kath's ex-fiance John Latchford is being transferred to a job in Sheffield. It's a lot of movement among a relatively small cast but it's handled well. It's a shame to see the Hunters go as they worked well alongside Jill, Adam and Miranda. You really believed them all as workplace friends in the back office at the motel.

Despite Nicola's arrival, things feel a bit uneven at the moment. The goings on in the motel are great but one of the other main storylines involves changes at the garage and I really don't care for it. They've tacked on another garage related story involving a rich, bored housewife lusting after the garage manager Mack, resulting in the garage getting way too much screentime and I find myself fast forwarding through those scenes. The garage aside, it's an enjoyable watch. They make good use of location shooting around Birmingham too, something I believe was missing from a lot of the other set/lot bound soaps of the time.
These are the last episodes before Crossroads starts to go down hill when William Smethurst took over as producer. Nicola Freeman was a great character, a bit like a young Meg Richardson in that she was a strong matriarch with a mix of toughness and compassion and was able to take control of a situation when required.
 

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Carrie Fairchild

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These are the last episodes before Crossroads starts to go down hill when William Smethurst took over as producer.
There's a fair chunk of the final year online if I remember correctly but I don't know if I'll indulge. The bits I've seen are OK but not as compelling as what I'm watching now. I quite like the brief glimpse I've seen of David and Barbara, so I might round back to the 1982 episodes that are being uploaded at the moment, once I finish this '85 stint.

On the subject of David and Barbara, here's an interesting behind the scenes clip of Sue Lloyd on the day she found out their contracts weren't being renewed.

 

Angela Channing

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There's a fair chunk of the final year online if I remember correctly but I don't know if I'll indulge. The bits I've seen are OK but not as compelling as what I'm watching now. I quite like the brief glimpse I've seen of David and Barbara, so I might round back to the 1982 episodes that are being uploaded at the moment, once I finish this '85 stint.

On the subject of David and Barbara, here's an interesting behind the scenes clip of Sue Lloyd on the day she found out their contracts weren't being renewed.

There were some good elements in the final year of Crossroads like Daniel Freeman, Nicola's stepson, making a power grab at Crossroads but mostly the focus shifted to heavily towards new and ghastly characters like the Grice family and MrsTardebigge and the boring Darby and Paul the trainee chef.

Poor Sue Lloyd, she was harshly treated. A great actress and Barbara was a great characters and getting rid of her was an early sign of the new producer taking the show down hill.
 

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I've discovered that the first six months of Bowman's reign (the Crossroads Motel era) are more or less intact on YouTube. I know his period is divisive among some fans but I've always liked what I've seen of Nicola Freeman, one of his most notable character introductions, so I've decided to give it a look.

I've started with Bowman's first episode as producer from March 1985. Obviously you're dropping into the middle of a transition period so there's storylines ongoing but they're pretty easy to pick up on. David Hunter is sneaking around trying to track down the woman who is pregnant with his child while wife Barbara is getting suspicious. Glenda & Kevin are facing unemployment after returning home from Canada. Kath is lusting after a salesman called John while her niece Iris is trying to deal with her flatmate (and possibly boyfriend?) Pete Maguire's drug addiction. It's not exactly Jimmy McGovern scripted Brookside of the same era but it's all perfectly watchable. There's also a hint of the new era looming as Jill and Adam dictate a written response to an enquiry from Major International Hotels.......

This helpful pointer that there was a big "chunk" available (and at a revamp point) tickled all my geeky soap loving senses so I followed suit and dived in from March 1985. My knowledge of the show is really limited to clips, Noele Gordon, popular commentary and the revival so I had low expectations...and you know what? I really enjoyed it! I've been whizzing through episodes and when I got to September and realised I'd reached the end, I was quite sad that I wouldn't be following it any more.

Taking it as a teatime soap (applying the same part of my brain I'd use to watch Sons and Daughters), it's a breezy, undemanding watch and what really struck me was it has a "warmth" to it. Looking at fairly ordinary characters like Kath, you would never get that sort of everyday realism now. I enjoyed her nattering to her friends about missing buses in her drably decorated sitting room and adapting to life alone after Glenda/Kevin left for Canada.

There is plenty of corniness and loads of coded or tongue in cheek stories - I mean at least three male characters are gay including those allegedly irresistible to women. I had no interest in the garage or a lot of the new staff that were shipped in, particularly Anne Marie whose acting is more, shall we say, effective memorisation. I'll also be presumably quite controversial in that I don't really understand the point of Jill as a character. She moves around the sets doing "business" with lever arch folders and makes proclamations at the end of scenes that she'll "sort things out" but never...does? It seems to end in embarrassment or her having a tantrum and I don't really understand who she is from a character motivation standpoint.

Gabrielle Drake is fun as Nicola and the character is surprisingly layered (albeit not subtly) given I assume they wanted some Alexis-esque glamour adding to the series.

Technically, I was really surprised at how well the show compares to the other ITV soaps of the era given how much a of a reputation it has. It's certainly far more evolved in production than Corrie from late 1986 when I started watching those reruns.

I think I'll lightly trot over some of the remaining 1986-88 episodes out of curiosity but it's been a great little visit to King's Oak.
 
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Angela Channing

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I mean at least three male characters are gay including those allegedly irresistible to women.
Really? Which ones do you mean? I can't remember Crossroads having any gay characters.
 

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Oh I was being a bit flippant about the actors (or at the very least how they present onscreen). Paul Ross and Daniel Freeman are the two that jump to mind to the extent that I assumed Paul was gay for quite a few episodes until it was made very clear he had a history as something of a ladies man! The episodes cut off with Miranda Pollard pining after him while he was in a coma so I shall need to see how that resolved itself!

Nicola Freeman's interior designer was I think intended to be gay though obviously it was never explicitly stated, he just played a flamboyant foil and talk to for her to explore her back story.
 

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Oh I was being a bit flippant about the actors (or at the very least how they present onscreen). Paul Ross and Daniel Freeman are the two that jump to mind to the extent that I assumed Paul was gay for quite a few episodes until it was made very clear he had a history as something of a ladies man! The episodes cut off with Miranda Pollard pining after him while he was in a coma so I shall need to see how that resolved itself!

Nicola Freeman's interior designer was I think intended to be gay though obviously it was never explicitly stated, he just played a flamboyant foil and talk to for her to explore her back story.
Maybe because I was quite young when I watched Crossroads that it never occurred to me that any of the actors might be gay nor was I interested in whether they were or not so I never gave it any thought.

I met Sandor Eles (Paul Ross) twice (once in Homebase and once in Ikea) and he was the nicest, most charming celebrity I ever met. We chatted a bit about Crossroads and he seemed genuinely fond about the programme.
 
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