TV Shows We Used To Watch - Crossroads 1964-88 | The sillies… | Flickr Paul Townsend By: Paul Townsend TV Shows We Used To Watch - Crossroads 1964-88 The silliest TV soap ever! Wobbly sets, ludicrous plots, awful acting... but 50 years after its launch, fans are still devoted to Crossroads. The sets were famously wobbly, the characters notoriously flaky and the stories lurched from the unlikely to the downright bizarre. But the millions of viewers who checked in every weekday at the Crossroads motel for their five-times-a-week teatime fix couldn’t have cared less. They loved every shambolic moment of it — fluffed lines, mistakes and all. Launched to fill a gap in the schedules 50 years ago, Crossroads ran for almost 5,000 episodes. Its first incarnation lasted until 1988, and it was revived — disastrously — for two years in 2001. At its peak in the Seventies, it pulled in 18 million viewers and was second only to Coronation Street. Its stars won viewers’ polls and showbiz awards.

However, not everyone was so enthralled. ITV’s regulator, the Independent Broadcasting Authority, twice ordered it to cut its output, first to four, then three, episodes a week to improve its quality. The chairman, Lady Plowden, lamented that Crossroads was ‘distressingly popular’. It is, however, sadly missed these days, not least by its stars. Jane Asher, who played the motel’s owner (and arch-bitch and sexual predator) Angel Samson, in the revived version, says she loved every minute of it. So much so, that she even posed in a bath of bubbles and discreetly placed rose petals, while sipping from a glass of Champagne to promote her motel. ‘It was an iconic soap and greatly under-appreciated’, she insists. ‘I watched the original as a teenager, and could easily have got hooked on it. But I was more a fan of The Archers on the radio. But by the second time around the show had really had its day’. Crossroads first opened its doors in November 1964 — set in the fictional King’s Oak, Birmingham, and charging guests £4 a night for each of its 18 rooms.

The show, with the formidable Noele Gordon as the motel’s matriarch, Meg Richardson, was scheduled to run for 30 episodes over six weeks. It was an immediate hit with viewers in spite of its visibly cheap production values. The budget was reported to be only £10,000 for an entire week’s five episodes, compared with the same amount spent on each episode of rival Coronation Street. The sets had been constructed out of flimsy canvas and board because they had never been meant to last for long. The highest-paid star was Gordon, whose salary was reportedly £200 a week. Some minor characters were persuaded to work for £10 an episode on the grounds that the show would be good exposure for them. With such a demanding schedule, there was little time for scripts to be re-written and polished, still less for rehearsal, so everything had to be filmed in one take. The expense of editing out mistakes was so great, given the tiny budget, that the producers ordered them to be left in.

Jane Rossington, who was in the show for 24 years as Meg’s daughter, Jill, has the distinction of speaking the very first words in the opening episode, and the final words in the last, and remembers how many bloopers crept in. She recalls: ‘Noele would sometimes call me Jane, on camera, rather than by my character name, Jill, but there was no time or budget for re-takes. “Oh, no one will notice”, she’d insist. ‘I loved her, but she did speak her lines very slowly and sometimes I would wonder if she was ever going to finish a sentence!’ The story lines were equally erratic. Jill had an on-screen pregnancy that went on for over a year — and, to the shock of viewers, the father was her screen stepbrother. But after the baby was born, it was never mentioned again. The script called for her to marry three times — once bigamously — and to become a drug addict and an alcoholic. ‘Everything that could happen to a person happened to me’, she says, ‘but it was all terrific fun’.

TV critics sneered — ‘amateurish pap,’ said one — but the show attracted viewers of all ages and a huge fan base. Indeed, the more absurd the plots became, the more they lapped it up. Meg survived regular murder attempts. Motel Lothario Adam Chance (Tony Adams) would try to seduce most of the female guests. Various members of the staff would go berserk with pots and pans and one of them, cleaner Amy Turtle (Ann George), was briefly arrested as a Russian spy named Amelia Turtlovski. Characters disappeared for months on end with little explanation. Chef Shughie Mcfee (Angus Lennie) went behind the fridge for some ingredients and was gone for the rest of the year. Deke Arlon, who played coffee-bar boss Benny Wilmott, was told by Meg to get some sugar. He exited the kitchen and was never seen again. Dim-witted handyman Benny Hawkins (Paul Henry), rarely seen without his iconic blue beanie, once went out for a spanner and returned six months later.

He was beset with a litany of troubles: falsely accused of murdering his gipsy fiancee Maureen — killed on the morning of their wedding — he was then temporarily blinded and lost his best friend, Miss Diane, the manager (Sue Hanson), when she died of a brain haemorrhage. He subsequently commemorated her by naming his pet donkey after her. Motel manager David Hunter, played by Ronald Allen, was an incurable gambler for just one week in 1977, his son Chris was a part-time terrorist and his ex-wife Rosemary shot him. We all remember the shooting of JR Ewing in 1980 - it shook soap fans across the world. But, at the Crossroads Motel, David Hunter's ex-wife, Rosemary (played by Janet Hargreaves), was the first soap character of 1980 to pull a trigger. It shook... er... several soap fans across England. Suddenly, Rosemary pulled out A GUN!! "David... say it... tell me you love me... SAY IT!" she whined menacingly. When he refused, she shot him. Of course, all was well.

David was discovered by Meg and made a full recovery, Rosemary underwent psychiatric treatment and was never seen again, and that was that. According to legend, the reason for David's somewhat informal attire at his engagement party had its roots in a behind-the-scenes mishap. When Janet Hargreaves first pulled the trigger of the gun, it didn't go off. But Ronald Allen had already broken the bag of stage blood, ruining the suit he was wearing. It seems that the Crossroads wardrobe allowance could not run to another suit! But motel boss Meg had more than most to endure. One husband tried to kill her by painting the living room with poisonous emulsion and she lost another to a heart attack. viewers thought they’d lost her in a huge explosion at the motel. The big bang allowed them to start with a new set and motel, but Meg’s days were numbered. She was sacked in 1981, despite thousands of protests, including a petition from a Hell’s Angels chapter. In the story, she sailed off into retirement on an Australia-bound QE2.

In reality, she believed she had become the victim of TV politics: The network’s bosses were said to want to ditch what they deemed to be downmarket shows like Crossroads in favour of ‘quality drama’. Without the soap’s most popular star, the show would lose viewers and thus give them an excuse to drop it, which is what happened. Another character who was to come to a real untimely end was Meg’s son, Sandy, played by Roger Tonge. He had intrigued viewers by apparently never growing any taller during his 17 years in the show, and retaining a perpetually breaking voice. The height problem was resolved when scriptwriters invented a car crash which obliged Sandy to spend the rest of his time at the motel in a wheelchair. In a case of life imitating art, Tonge really became confined to a wheelchair when he contracted Hodgkin’s Disease. He died aged 35 in 1981 — and Sandy was never mentioned again. Virtually anyone who appeared in the series automatically became the victim of some scriptwriter-inspired mishap within six months. There were poisonings, rapes, drug addiction, incest, abortions, nervous breakdowns, kidnapping and even the bomb which blew up the motel.

That didn’t stop soon-to-be famous faces making brief appearances in the motel lobby. David Jason made his TV debut in Crossroads in 1966 as a crook; Elaine Paige checked in as a guest; and Malcolm McDowell was public relations consultant Crispin Ryder in 1965. Ken Dodd played himself in 1973, Larry Grayson attended a wedding in 1973, Max Wall checked in in 1982, and Dad’s Army veteran Arnold Ridley (Private Godfrey) was a vicar at the motel opening ceremony in 1964. The £10 million revamp in 2001 was bereft of many of the touchstones of the original, like the imperious Meg, or sad Sandy. Some of the original cast couldn’t reprise their roles because they had succumbed to cancer: Noele Gordon, in 1985; Roland Allen (David Hunter) in 1991; Ann George (Amy Turtle) in 1989; and Pamela Vezey, who played Kath Brownlow, in 1992.

And if the original cast was scarce, so, too, were many of the quirks that used to make it so endearingly popular. The sets no longer wobbled, the actors were better rehearsed and remembered their lines; and there was sex. ‘It was all great fun,’ laughs Jane Asher. ‘My character, Angel, was a real super bitch, deeply unpleasant to her staff and her children, ruthlessly ambitious and very glamorous. There was a lot of sex — we would all be exhausted if we had that much sex in real life — but we were quite discreet. It did go out at 5.30pm’. Not all the cast were happy about the adult content. Kathy Staff, who played cleaner Doris Luke in both the original series and the revival, left in dismay at the raunchy sex scenes. ‘It’s no longer a family-friendly show,’ she complained. She needn’t have worried. Viewing figures slumped to below 1.4 million, and after two years the revival was axed. Says Asher: ‘There were rumours that the company wanted to sell the studios in Nottingham where Crossroads was filmed.

Whatever the reason, we were surprised they didn’t give it enough time to build up a following. ‘My character was very glitzy and over the top. I didn’t have any input to the stories. I’d like to make that quite clear. They weren’t the most subtle of scripts, I have to say’. That’s one way of putting it. Another would be that Crosswords was the best worst TV show Britain has ever made. But despite it all, the show has lived on to enjoy a continuing repeat life on extra-terrestrial TV. However, the final indignity for the fictional motel is the derisory fees paid by the satellite channels for the re-showings: £1.25 per episode. 2002 Crossroads 'was all a dream' TV soap Crossroads ended on Friday, with the twist that the entire series had been a figment of a character's imagination.. The show, which was reinstated in 2001 after a 13-year hiatus, is being cancelled because of poor ratings.

The final episode saw the Crossroads hotel boss Angel (Jane Asher) realise her job had all been a dream - as she returned to her real-life job as a supermarket checkout assistant in Birmingham called Angela. "I've just woken up from an amazing dream and dreamt that I owned a hotel called Crossroads," she told a co-worker. Shortly afterwards the supermarket's staff were told the store was closing, and the lights went out on the show, with the final words being: "Oh, fudge." The dream ending echoes the end of one series of US drama Dallas, where Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) stepped out of a shower months after he was supposed to have been dead. His death turned out to be a dream. A Crossroads spokesman said before the show went out: "The final episode will tie up all the loose ends from all the outstanding storylines. "Then as a special twist at the end, the scene cuts to Angel checking through a floret of broccoli and chatting to the person on the next till. We hope to give our viewers a smile on their faces as the show finishes." Characters from the hotel turned out to be customers at the supermarket, including Angel's husband Max (Graham McGrath).

The soap returned to British screens in 2001 with hopes it would become ITV1's flagship daytime soap. The original Crossroads, which ran from 1964 to 1988, was seen as a TV institution, although wobbly sets were also part of the experience. But from a high of 3.2 million viewers when it first returned, ratings have continued to decline. Critics were unimpressed. The show underwent a recent revamp, designed to get rid of unpopular characters and give the soap a new direction. But the Crossroads hotel announced it was to close for good earlier this year. Another second daytime soap commissioned at the same time, Night and Day, limps on a late-night slot after also being axed. Real-Life Tragedy Hits Crossroads Real-Life Tragedy Hits Crossroads Real People Magazine Article February 1981 Real-life tragedy yesterday shattered the stars of Crossroads the hit TV soap opera. Actor Roger Tonge, who played Sandy Richardson lost his long battle against cancer. Last night the news of his death was broken to actress Noele Gordon - Sandy's TV mum Meg Richardson - at her holiday hideaway in Australia. She said: "I'm shattered.

He has been the sort of son I would have liked to have had in real life. He was an underrated actor and a fine young man. I don't know what we are going to do without him." The 35 year old bachelor died in the Royal Marsden hospital in Sutton, Surrey, from Hodkins Disease. In 1975 he had an operation to remove his spleen - but it failed to halt the deadly illness. Roger rocketed to stardom when he landed the part which made him a household name, in 1964. The baby-faced actor was just 18, and ignored the advice of his workmates at the Post Office not to give up a steady job. And Miss Gordon still recalls that day. "He literally walked in off the streets for that audition," she said. "After it was over, I put my arms round him, and said: "You have got to be in the show. I feel you are my son." Roger was last seen in the show, about life at a motel, on February 4. The cast of the chart-topping show were told about the tragedy after rehearsals at ATV's Birmingham studios.

Jane Rossington, who played Sandy's sister, said: "We all burst into tears and fled to the dressing rooms. It is just like losing a brother. Roger was a super person. I was terribly shocked, even though I knew he was very ill." She added: "We played brother and sister on the screen and were like that in real life too. Crossroads is a family." Paul Henry, who plays Benny, the lovable idiot, said: "You would never have known Roger was ill at all. He never complained in any way whatsoever. They worked it so he could go and have his treatment at weekends - but he never spoke about it. If you asked how he was he always said 'Oh great'." Producer Jack Barton said: "I don't know how we are going to deal with this tragedy on the screen. But we will have to cause as little distress as possible to the parents who are both elderly." Roger's illness had nothing to do with his appearance on screen in a wheelchair. That was explained by a fictional road crash after the series started.

A tribute to popular TV soap Crossroads as it celebrates its 50th anniversary | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV | Daily Express 18:47, Thu, Oct 30, 2014 Crossroads motel exterior was one of the few sets that didn’t wobble [REX] It was the soap opera set in a Midlands motel than ran for 24 years and in its heyday was more popular than Coronation Street. Crossroads may have disappeared from our television screens but the much-loved and often much-derided series is far from forgotten. This week sees the 50th anniversary of the broadcasting of the first ever episode and to mark the occasion the surviving stars of the soap will be reunited on the Paul O’Grady Show on BBC Radio 2. Crossroads was more than just a TV series, it became a national institution. By the end of its original run which ended in 1988, 4,510 episodes had been screened. Its characters and the actors who played them were household names. The plot revolved around the running of the fictitious King’s Oak Crossroads Motel near Birmingham and the relationships between the staff.

The lead character was the motel’s owner Meg Richardson, played by Noele Gordon. When it first began Crossroads was shown in only three ITV regions but such was its popularity that others were soon broadcasting it. Among its millions of fans was Mary Wilson, wife of prime minister Harold Wilson. She campaigned successfully to have the show reinstated by Thames Television when it was temporarily dropped in 1968. Crossroads didn’t just have engaging characters and believable story lines, it also benefited from having a memorable signature tune composed by top songwriter Tony Hatch and which was later rearranged by Sir Paul McCartney. The programme proved more popular with the public than it was with critics. As it was recorded “as live” its stars often didn’t appear to be word perfect. The sets were sometimes shaky but while critics mocked the soap, the lack of slickness in its production only added to the appeal for its legion of fans and made it more realistic. At its peak Crossroads was watched by 18 million viewers and remains the most watched weekday daytime programme in ITV history. The head of the Independent Broadcasting Authority, Lady Plowden, was not impressed.

She described Crossroads as “distressingly popular” and ordered that transmissions be cut from four times to three times a week. But viewers continued to show loyalty to the soap although the controversial axing of Noele Gordon “the queen of Crossroads” in 1981 proved highly unpopular. The last episode of its original run was broadcast in 1988 and although the series was revived in 2001 the new Crossroads ran for only two years. The sets might have been better, but the charm of the old series had gone. Noele Gordon as Meg Richardson [ITV/REX] The characters and who played them MEG RICHARDSON – NOELE GORDON The leading character from 1964 until 1981, the woman who kept the motel running through thick and thin tearfully sailed off on the QE2 to begin a fictional new life. Thanks to Crossroads Noele Gordon became the most popular woman on television in the 1970s. She won so many TV Times awards, that in 1978 ITV banned her from being nominated.

There were plans to return her to Crossroads after she had been axed but Gordon – who was also a talented singer and cabaret artist and who starred in musicals at the West End – died of cancer in 1985, aged 65. “She was loved by millions and brought happiness to lots of lonely people. "They watched her in Crossroads and believed in her,” her friend the comedian Larry Grayson said at her funeral. JILL RICHARDSON – JANE ROSSINGTON The daughter of Meg Richardson, Jill uttered the very first words in the first episode of Crossroads: “Crossroads Motel, good evening.” The only character to remain in the series for the whole 24 years of its original run, the three-times married Jill also appeared in the 2001 revival before being killed off by an ex-husband. Actress Jane Rossington, now 71, is a patron of the Crossroads Appreciation Society. Of the unsuccessful 2001 revival she said: “They made a big fuss about building this enormous set for a million pounds which was totally rigid and didn’t move.

"But the whole thing is that people watched the show with the set that shook.” SANDY RICHARDSON – ROGER TONGE Meg’s son became confined to a wheelchair following a car accident in 1972, making him the first regular paraplegic character in a British television soap. In an uncanny and tragic example of life following fiction, actor Roger Tonge also became confined to a wheelchair when stricken with Hodgkins Disease. He carried on playing Sandy until he died aged just 35 in 1981. Noele Gordon said afterwards: “I’m shattered. "He has been the sort of son I would like to have had in real life.” DAVID HUNTER – RONALD ALLEN A good-looking ladies’ man, he was a shareholder of the motel who became its manager. He survived a shooting by a jealous ex-wife before marrying Barbara Brady, a rather glamorous author who was staying at the motel to research material for her new book. In another example of Crossroads plots being followed later in real life, actor Ronald Allen married Sue Lloyd, the actress who played Barbara Brady, shortly before his death from lung cancer at the age of 60 in 1991.

Paul Henry as handyman Benny Hawkins [ITV/REX] BENNY HAWKINS – PAUL HENRY A rather dim-witted, accidentprone and not so handy handyman, Benny Hawkins provided much comic relief. He became famous for the green woolly hat he wore all year round. In 1978 actor Paul Henry’s song Benny’s Theme got to No 39 in the charts and his character was regularly impersonated by impressionists of the time. Now 67, Henry is one of the surviving Crossroads stars who will be appearing on the Paul O’Grady show on Sunday. Ann George as charlady Amy Turtle [ITV/REX] AMY TURTLE – ANN GEORGE A bespectacled Brummie charlady who loved to gossip, she first appeared in 1965 and became one of Crossroads’ most popular characters. She left in 1976 but returned in 1987. Actress Anne George, a real-life Brummie, was a professional singer who gave up her first career because of her husband’s poor health. She died at 86 in 1989.

Susan Hanson as receptionist Diane Lawton [ITV/REX] DIANE LAWTON – SUSAN HANSON Receptionist Miss Diane was a mainstay of Crossroads for more than 20 years and taught Benny to read and write. In 1987 the character died of a brain haemorrhage in the Crossroads foyer. Actress Susan Hanson, now 71, looks back fondly on her time at the motel. “I’m glad I gave a good deal of my working life to playing Diane. "They spent no money on it so sets wobbled but everybody’s sets wobbled in those days.” ADAM CHANCE – TONY ADAMS He was a womanising accountant who married Jill Richardson until she later left him. The character appeared in the soap in the last 10 years of its original run and again when it returned in 2001 when he murdered Jill. Adams, 73, recalled earlier this year that it wasn’t all plain sailing playing a cad.

“One man was so upset at the way Adam treated one of his girlfriends, that he sneaked into the studios and charged at me with a knife.” Paul O’Grady Show, BBC Radio 2, Sunday, 5pm Related articles My Brave Son Sandy My Brave Son Sandy Real People Magazine Article Millions of Crossroads fans are still missing Sandy Richardson, one of the best-loved characters at the television motel. Tragically, actor Roger Tonge, who played Sandy, died last month after a long fight against cancer. He was 35 and had been in Crossroads since the first episode in 1964. His screen mum was Noele Gordon, who plays the motel's owner, Meg Mortimer. But his real mother, who mourns for Roger, has always stayed in the background. Lily Tonge is 72, a comfortable, motherly figure. She and her husband Percy, 80, live in a cosy family house in a quiet Birmingham suburb. It was the home Roger, their only son loved so much that he refused to give it up for the glossy life of a television star. Lily says: "He bought himself a lovely flat in Birmingham but he never lived in it.

He always wanted to come back here. He loved his home and my cooking. And we had such a lot of laughs." Lily still watches Crossroads every time it is on. And a photograph of Roger smiles down from the font room mantelpiece. He was an only child, born late in his parents' life, and they are still stunned by his death. "I still don't believe it," says Lily. "He used to go to London regularly so I was used to him being away for a day or two." Now Lily is struggling to cope with the shock and bitterness left behind by her son's sudden death. She says: "He had everything to live for. He had such a happy nature that everyone loved him. Being on television never altered him at all." One comfort for Lily and Percy has been the hundreds of letters and flowers sent since Roger died. "It is good to know so many people cared about him, even those who never met him," says Lily proudly. "Even the people working on Coronation Street sent flowers. I thought that was lovely." When Roger found that he had Hodgkin's disease, a type of cancer which attacks the lymph glands, he had to travel regularly to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

The vital journeys meant that he had to take a break from the hectic pace of rehearsals and recording sessions. "They were marvellous about it," says Lily. "They arranged everything round Roger's treatment so that he could go to the hospital whenever he had to." Then he caught chicken pox and was admitted to the Royal Marsden. Lily says: "His illness meant that his resistance to infections was low. I always rang him three or four times a day just for a chat. One night I rang about 11.30 to say goodnight. He seemed very cheerful and happy. Early next morning we had a phone call from Sonia Fox, his girlfriend, to say he had died. We were not there when it happened. That hurts us very much." Sonia an attractive, dark-haired actress who once worked on Crossroads had been Roger's friend and companion for nine years. Lily and Percy are upset at reports describing her as his secret girlfriend and claiming that Roger died in her arms. "Lily says: "There was nothing secret about their friendship. In London they went out together quite openly. She was at the hospital when he died but not in the room. I don't know whether they would have married.

Perhaps Roger held back because of his illness." Sandy is to be written out of the Crossroads script next month. How it will be done is a closely-guarded secret. But for the cast and millions of Crossroads fans the series will never be quite the same again. Roger Tonge | A Cherished Television Profile Roger Tonge A profile of the actor Roger Tonge Anthony Roger Tonge, for all Crossroads fans he was Sandy Richardson, the only son of Meg Richardson (later Mortimer), owner of the Crossroads Motel. Roger was born in Birmingham on January 30 1956 and died in London on February 26 1981, just 35 years old. Roger was educated at Lordswood Technical Grammar School. Prior to landing the role as Sandy, Roger was an ï¿½8 per week Post Office clerk and had joined their Post Office Dramatic Society, but never actually performed on stage and worked only behind the scenes. Every Tuesday evening for a time, Roger attended the Birmingham Theatre School, but after just six classes he was told he did not have much future in the acting profession as he could not speak his lines.

Subsequently, the 'Birmingham Mail' published an article in which it stated that ATV were searching for a boy to play Sandy in Crossroads. Roger's father saw the article and suggested to his son he should try for the part. Roger phoned the studios and was told to send in some photos and a CV, but after looking at the photo-booth images which he had taken in his lunch hour and deciding they were not good enough, Roger decided to go to the studios in person. That same evening, Roger called in at the studios, after showing the 'Birmingham Post' article to a cleaner who was working there and asking for directions, he found production manager Margaret French just as a production meeting was finishing. Roger was handed a script by Margaret (Maggie) French and asked to return at a later date. The producer of Crossroads, Reg Watson having already auditioned hundreds of would-be Sandy's by this time, shortlisted Roger and another young hopeful. Both the budding actors were asked to respond to a situation where their pet dog had been run over. Roger Tonge proved the more convincing and so won the role of Sandy Richardson.

Later in the serial in 1972 Sandy was involved in a car crash which left him without the use of his legs and wheel chair bound for the remainder of the character's time in the show. Roger suffered from Hodgkin's disease from 1976 until his death in 1981. Hodgkin's disease is a form of cancer of the Lymph glands. Roger continued to work on Crossroads throughout his illness, receiving treatment at the end of the week and recovering over the weekend and returning for filming on Mondays. Roger contracted chicken pox which led to heart failure as his system was unable to cope with the infection owing to his cancer. Noele Gordon who played Sandy's mother in Crossroads said that Roger was like a son to her and Jane Rossington who was Sandy's sister Jill in the serial said that Roger was like her real-life brother. In 1965 Roger starred in the naval recruitment documentary feature film, Catch Me Going Back . In 1969 Roger Tonge also appeared in Nearest and Dearest as a character called Nigel, in Z Cars as Albert Daker and in Detective billed as Messenger Boy. In 1973 Roger was the subject of This Is Your Life.

Roger's co-star in Crossroads, Sonia Fox who played Sheila Harvey, Jill's sister-in-law had been his real-life girlfriend for 9 years and was at the hospital when Roger died. Crossroads (soap opera) : Wikis (The Full Wiki) The Full Wiki Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . Related top topics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Crossroads 2 November 1964 – 4 April 1988 Revived Series: 5 March 2001 – 30 May 2003 Crossroads was a British television soap opera set in a fictional motel near Birmingham , England . Originally broadcast on the commercial ITV network between 1964 and 1988, it was produced by ATV until the end of 1981 and then by Central .

A byword for cheap production, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s, the series was revived in a glossier format in 2001 by Carlton Television , but was again axed in 2003. The theme tune was composed by Tony Hatch . Contents Production history ATV (1964-1981) Crossroads first aired on Monday 2 November 1964 and was shown five days a week. Although popular, the Independent Television Authority (ITA) decreed in 1967 that the series should be reduced to four episodes per week, to prevent storylines being watered down, and to improve the overall quality. In 1979 the decision was taken to reduce output to three weekly episodes (beginning in April 1980). ATV planned to replace the fourth episode with a spin-off series called A Family Affair, [1] but this idea was dropped. Despite being critically derided for low production values and far-fetched scripts, Crossroads was popular (fans including Mary Wilson , wife of prime minister Harold Wilson ), and maintained high ratings and a loyal audience throughout its original run.

However, a number of regional companies (particularly the newer ones) dropped the series because of its poor reputation. For example, the newly-formed Thames Television , the franchise for the London area, decided in 1968 to stop showing the series. This was unpopular with viewers, with complaints reportedly including one from Harold Wilson; six months later the decision was reversed, but, as a result of the gap in transmissions, viewers in the Thames region were half a year behind the rest of the country for several years. Central Independent Television (1982-1988) ATV was reformed into Central Independent Television at the end of 1981. Central continued production but the new management decided to make changes; the most notable was the dismissal of Noele Gordon (Meg Richardson), which was thought to be a strategy by Central to get rid of a programme perceived as an embarrassment; without Meg, thought head of programmes Charles Denton , viewers would desert Crossroads and the programme could then be axed. Further changes were introduced in March 1985, when new filming locations, sets and characters were introduced. Many storylines began to revolve around the new motel owner, Nicola Freeman ( Gabrielle Drake ).

Some long-term characters, such as David and Barbara Hunter, were axed. The theme tune was also updated, and the opening titles replaced with a longer version. Finally, the show was renamed Crossroads Motel. In 1986, a new producer, William Smethurst, took over following the sacking of his predecessor, Philip Bowman. Smethurst, who had been brought in by Central Television's new Head of Drama, Ted Childs, ordered changes, aimed at creating a wittier, more upmarket serial, and at improving the production values of the show. Smethurst shifted the narrative centre to the nearby village of King's Oak. Yet more long-running characters, such as Diane Hunter and Benny Hawkins, were dropped; as with earlier changes, this was unpopular with fans, who telephoned Central in protest. Smethurst gained the nickname "Butcher Bill" but was unfazed; he had, after all, reversed the declining fortunes of the BBC radio soap The Archers . Smethurst insisted he only got the flak because his was the name the public knew.

[2] The last 18 months of the show saw vast improvements in terms of production values, more outside location work, better direction, wittier, funnier scripts and better characterisation. Michelle Buck guided the show through its final few months on air as Series Producer, with William Smethurst still on hand as Executive Producer. Further changes included the series being renamed Crossroads King's Oak for a time, with the intention in the future of shortening this to King's Oak. Also, the familiar theme tune was replaced by a new theme composed by Max Early and Raf Ravenscroft. New titles were introduced to accompany the new theme, which featured stills of King's Oak and the new King's Oak Country Hotel. However, this final change was overtaken by the decision in June 1987 by Andy Allen, Central's Director of Programmes, to axe the series. Crossroads King's Oak came to an end in 1988. The last, extended episode was on 4 April (a bank holiday ), with the character of Jill ( Jane Rossington ) riding off with her lover, John Maddingham ( Jeremy Nicholas ).

Asked what name she would give the hotel she would be running in her new life, the character remarked, a little sadly, "I always thought Crossroads was an awfully good name". Carlton Television (2001-2003) Crossroads was revived in March 2001 as a Carlton Television production with a glossy format (Carlton having bought Central). Originally broadcast on weekdays at 1.30pm and 5.05pm on ITV1 , the only characters to return from the original were Doris Luke ( Kathy Staff ), Jill Harvey ( née Richardson), her ex-husband Adam Chance ( Tony Adams ) and Jill's daughter Sarah-Jane Harvey (Joanne Farrell/Holly Newman). Initial reactions were favourable [3] ; however, changes in story from the original were puzzling for fans and didn't help ratings. Kathy Staff left in dismay at the amount of sex, [4] and told ITV Teletext she felt it was no longer the family-friendly show she had originally been part of. The decision to kill original character Jill Harvey, who was murdered by Adam Chance three months into the series' revival, proved unpopular with fans of the original show.

[5] Jane Rossington said she didn't want to commit herself to another long run in the show, but warned Carlton it would be suicidal to kill Jill. [5] The series went into hiatus from August 2002 to January 2003, during which time further changes were made. The remodelled series, under producer Yvon Grace, appeared a self-consciously camp parody, with Jane Asher playing a new central character - the glamorous and bitchy Angel Samson. The series also featured appearances from Kate O'Mara , and people associated with light entertainment , such as Lionel Blair , Les Dennis and Tim Brooke-Taylor . The series also launched the careers of Freema Agyeman ( Dr Who & a one-off appearance in Mile High ), Luke Roberts ( Holby City & Mile High ), Lucy Pargeter , Shauna Shim and Jessica Fox . Grace admitted she was aiming the new Crossroads towards the gay market. But fans were not happy with her ambivalence towards unresolved storylines from the 2001-2002 run. [6] Grace was reported as saying at its press launch: "Who cares if Phil is rotting in jail for a murder he didn't commit?

I've changed everything, this is day one. We're not carrying on from where we left off. I was told this was its last chance."[citation needed] Plans were being considered to bring Adam Chance back in a last attempt to save the show[citation needed]; actor Tony Adams said that a down-on-his luck Adam would have been taken under Angel's wing as her personal assistant [7] . But with ratings continuing to decline, the revived series was also axed, the final episode being broadcast on Friday 30 May 2003. The cast were contracted until the end of the year but continued to be paid after the series ended.[citation needed] The cancellation of Crossroads sealed the fate of Central's Lenton Lane studios in Nottingham, which ITV plc have since disposed of. Characters and storylines The main character in the original series was motel owner Meg Richardson, played by Noele Gordon . Meg's children were also to play a prominent role: Jill , played by Jane Rossington ; and Sandy, played by Roger Tonge .

Other characters during the early years of the show included the chef, Carlos Raphael (Anthony Morton); Constance Merrow ( Geraldine Newman ); postman Vince Parker ( Peter Brookes ), and his waitress wife, Diane ( Susan Hanson ); Brummie waitress Marilyn Gates ( Sue Nicholls , but later portrayed by Nadine Hanwell); postmistress Miss Tatum (Elisabeth Croft), and charlady Amy Turtle ( Ann George ). Amy Turtle was to be satirised by Julie Walters as Mrs Overall in Victoria Wood 's 1985 spoof Acorn Antiques . However, Crossroads fans felt that while Mrs Overall's fluffing of lines and position as char at the antiques shop were based on Amy, the character's mannerisms, voice and clothing were more evocative of Charmian Eyre's character Mavis Hooper (in the series from 1981 to 1985). Later additions included Ronald Allen as the suave manager David Hunter, Sue Lloyd as his wife Barbara, Angus Lennie as obstreperous Scottish chef Shughie McFee, Zeph Gladstone as hairdresser Vera Downend, Tony Adams as accountant Adam Chance, and Kathy Staff as cleaner Doris Luke.

However, the most memorable character proved to be the 'village idiot' Benny Hawkins ( Paul Henry ), whose trademark was a woolly hat worn all year. His fans included British troops serving in the Falklands War in 1982, who nicknamed the Falkland Islanders Bennies after the character. Instructed to stop using the name, the troops came up with "Stills" for locals - because they were "still Bennies". Over the years the series dealt with storylines controversial for the times. A single parent working at the motel seems staid now, but was hugely controversial in the mid-1960s; Sandy Richardson was injured in a car accident and left confined to a wheelchair, the first paraplegic regular character in British soap opera; by coincidence actor Roger Tonge himself later ended up in a wheelchair. The series also saw black characters appearing regularly - a follow-on from the 1960s BBC soap Compact , also created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling. Melanie Harper (played by Cleo Sylvestre ) arrived at the motel in 1970 as Meg's foster daughter (itself a taboo issue).

Cleo was given the role by producer Reg Watson after press coverage of racial tensions in the Birmingham area at that time. [8] In 1978, garage mechanic Joe MacDonald (played by Carl Andrews ) arrived. The year before, an inter-racial summer romance took place between Cockney garage mechanic, Dennis Harper (played by Merlin Ward, but credited as Guy Ward), and motel receptionist Meena Chaudri (Karan David). 1981 saw a highly controversial storyline about a false accusation of rape; a 1983 storyline saw a test tube baby born to Glenda and Kevin Banks (played by Lynette McMorrough and David Moran ). The subject of Downs Syndrome was also raised in 1983 with an insight into the life of Nina, a little girl who was befriended by three of the regular Crossroads characters. Meg - axed in 1981 - was thought to have died in a fire that gutted the motel, but turned up alive aboard the QE2 , about to sail to a new life overseas.

Newspapers reported that two endings were planned for Meg - Meg would die in the fire, the other ending would have her disappear for a while and turn up on the QE2. Viewers were surprised to see producers had used both. New producer Phillip Bowman was planning to bring the character of Meg Mortimer back into the show as a "permanent occasional" - and plans were well advanced when Noele Gordon died in 1985. With the revival in 2001, changes were made to characters and stories. Confusingly, the returning character of Jill Chance had married the now-dead John Maddingham, but was calling herself Jill Harvey again, the name by which she had been known prior to her marriage to Adam Chance in 1983. References were also made to the Russell family taking over a "failing motel", despite Crossroads having become a hotel in the late 1980s; in the final episode of the original series, the name 'King's Oak Country Hotel' was seen over the entrance doors. Lack of real links to the past, and the killing of Jill a few months into the new run, turned many fans away.

Despite this, the series did pick up a respectable number of viewers to become one of ITV's highest rated daytime shows. Popular characters in the new Crossroads included new owner Kate Russell (Jane Gurnett), supercilious receptionist Virginia Raven ( Sherrie Hewson ), and womanising deputy manager Jake Booth ( Colin Wells ). The storyline of the final episode was the revelation that the glamorous hotel had been a dream of supermarket worker Angela, with all the other characters revealed as shoppers. Angela even approaches a female customer in the supermarket and tells her she recognises her as Tracey (Booth) from the "TV soap Crossroads"; Tracey's mother-in-law, Kate, was also shown as one of Angela's colleagues in the supermarket. Locations 'Kings Oak' sign The fictional "Crossroads Motel" was in an equally fictional village near Birmingham, " Kings Oak " (there are real Birmingham suburbs called Kings Heath , Kings Norton and Selly Oak ). A number of real-life hotels doubled for location filming; the original Crossroads was filmed at a motel just south of Birmingham city centre called CherryTrees (the buildings were demolished in 2001).

After the in-story destruction of the motel by fire, the revamped motel was filmed from 1982 at The Golden Valley Hotel in Cheltenham; from 1985 filming moved to the Penns Hall Hotel in Sutton Coldfield, the changed appearance explained as being due to rebuilding. At the time of the move to Sutton Coldfield, new studio sets were also introduced. In 1970, the series gained a film unit, giving it the freedom to do location shooting. Originally, Tanworth-in-Arden was used for King's Oak, although outside scenes were only used occasionally. Under Central, more location footage began to be used. Some early King's Oak location material was also filmed in Wolverhampton . Other locations included the canal (including Gas Street Basin ) behind ATV's former studios in Birmingham; in-story this was the King's Oak Canal, on which Jill had a barge. The Chateau Impney Hotel also featured numerous times, most famously when Hugh proposed to Meg in 1973, and it was used to hold their wedding party two years later. The Chateau Impney was renamed the Droitwich Hotel on-screen.

St Laurence's church in Alvechurch was the setting for Jill and Adam Chance's wedding in 1983. Hagley Hall was used for the wedding reception. In 1985, Crossroads gained its first set of full length opening titles, filmed around Sutton Coldfield , Tanworth-in-Arden and in Birmingham city centre. The revived Crossroads (2001) was still set in the West Midlands ; however, exterior shots were filmed at locations in and around Nottingham , such as Bingham and Redmile . The series was filmed at "Broad Street / Gas Street" Studios, which is now the HQ of ITV Central. Notes During its original run the show was usually only 20 minutes long, excluding commercials. To save time, there was no opening sequence, simply a title caption over the start of the first scene, accompanied by brief theme music The closing titles originally consisted of two sets of superimposed captions, one to be used vertically and one horizontally.

As one camera would pan the credit off screen vertically the next would pan the next credit on horizontally, and vice-versa, symbolising the show's title Until the mid-1980s the show would always end with a brief post-credits scene in which a character would speak a single line of dramatic dialogue, before the final bar of theme tune played over the closing ATV/Central logo. This has since been emulated by other soaps, notably Hollyoaks , which continues to do so, and for a brief period during the 2006 FIFA World Cup , Emmerdale used post-credits scenes In the 1970s, Wings recorded an alternative arrangement of the show's theme music that was played over the closing credits whenever the show ended on a romantic cliffhanger. This version was also used for dramatic endings, which some viewers complained rather killed any dramatic effect. The Wings version of the Crossroads theme tune appeared as the last track on the album Venus and Mars. Another closing theme was briefly used in 1978 for occasional episodes, entitled Benny's Theme, performed by the Mayson Glen Orchestra. This was released on single and reached number 39 in the UK Top 50 singles chart.

[9] During the series original run, it often spawned hit singles in the UK charts when characters from the series recorded songs as part of the storyline. The first came in 1968 when Sue Nicholls who played the character of waitress Marilyn, released the single Where Will You Be?, reaching number 17 in the UK top 50 Singles Chart [10] . The next was for Stephanie de Sykes in 1974 who reached number 2 with Born With A Smile On My Face [11] and We'll Find Our Day in 1975, reaching number 17 [12] . The final big hit was for Kate Robbins in 1981, when she reached number 2 with the track More Than In Love in 1981 [13] . The latter two actress/singers played singers who were recording in the motel's studios. Actor brothers Jeremy Sinden and Marc Sinden both appeared in Crossroads in the late 70s and early 80s.

Jeremy as Meg Mortimers' son Anthony, (1976-78) and Marc as the womanising dentist Desmond Elliott, (1982-83) Roger Tonge (Sandy Richardson) was a cousin of Dale Griffin , drummer of rock band Mott the Hoople The show was parodied in " Acorn Antiques ", a spoof soap opera, which appeared as a regular sketch on Victoria Wood As Seen On TV , screened in the mid-1980s. It is now a hit musical touring Britain. Victoria Wood is a member of the Crossroads Appreciation Society, and sometimes refers to this fact in her jokes Jane Rossington and Tony Adams also played their characters in sequences for BBC2 theme night during the early 1990s, set in a recreation of the Motel lobby The majority of surviving episodes are stored at Yorkshire Television in Leeds ; others are kept at the British Film Institute in Bradford The earliest surviving episode of Crossroads is episode 126, from 1965.

It was found in an old tin in May 2008 by an ATV employee Jane Rossington appeared in a May 2000 episode of Liverpudlian soap opera Brookside as Cousin Jill, a deliberate nod to her Crossroads character. The character also mentioned a motel fire (a reference to the Crossroads fire) In the second (2001-2003) series, Episode 137 (Tuesday 11 September 2001) was never shown in full on ITV1. Although the first half of the lunchtime showing was aired, it was taken off-air at the commercial break point (circa. 14:10 BST) to hand the channel over to coverage of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the news of which was beginning to break at that time. As the gravity of the news became clear, the episode's evening showing was cancelled, and it was never broadcast on ITV1; instead it was moved, along with that day's CITV programmes (also dropped for 11 September coverage), to ITV2.

This was, however, only available on the minority ITV Digital platform at the time, and as a result was seen by very few, although an edited 'catch-up' covering the events of the second half of the episode was featured before the next episode. When the attack on Afghanistan began in early October of that year, the programme's evening time slot was moved back from 17:30 to 17:00. In 2001, the revival of Crossroads was often mentioned on CITV towards the end of day during the week. As well as reminding viewers about it at the end of nearly all of the 2001 editions of The CITV White Knuckle Tour. In 2007 (repeated in 2008 and 2009) That's what I call Television hosted by Fern Britton on ITV1 recreated the lobby of the original Crossroads set and welcomed to it cast members Susan Hanson, Jane Rossington, Tony Adams and Paul Henry DVD release Very few archive recordings exist before 1981 because ATV wiped and re-used most of the videotapes , and no episode survives before April 1965.

Network issued four volumes of the series on DVD (UK Region 2) in 2005, with twelve of the original ATV episodes in each volume (the first release including Meg's 1975 wedding, the highest rated edition). The third release was delayed due to the loss of ATV documents listing what episodes still exist, and Granada Television staff having to use other resources to locate the episodes required. "Crossroads Volume 3" was finally released on 26 February 2007. There are two versions of the DVD, one being a special limited edition, which contains an extra third disc - featuring recently found episodes from 1976. "Crossroads Volume 4" was released on 17 September 2007. Network DVD were in the process of releasing all the surviving episodes in transmission order exclusively through their website. The first set of 16 episodes was released in January 2008 and contained some episodes not previously available on earlier DVD releases. There are apparently 1700 episodes of Crossroads that haven't been wiped in existence; most of these are from Central Television 's run of the show from 1982 to 1988.

Over 20 Archive Volumes of Crossroads, "with each and every surviving episode in transmission order", have been released so far, with Crossroads Archive Volume 20 the most recently released, in April 2009. On November 2, 2009, to co-incide with the show's 45th anniversary, Network DVD re-released the 21 volumes - including Volume 1.1, see below - in a 41-disc box-set. The move angered some fans who had already bought the individual volumes on their original release. The box-set has been promoted on The Alan Titchmarsh Show and BBC Radio London by Susan Hanson . A black and white Crossroads Archive Volume 1.1 has also been released, containing black and white episode 126 from April 1965, along with 2 further episodes (nos. 1884 and 1886 from March 1973, which were both originally made in colour but now survive only as black and white telerecordings). External links

Question: Who played Sandy Richardson in the British tv series ‘Crossroads’?
Answer: Roger Tonge