Sometimes it’s difficult to decide whether something is television heaven or hell. Which category, for example, does Crossroads fall into?
I would have to put Crossroads in the TV Heaven category simply because it was so entertaining. Sadly the entertainment came from the disasters and pratfalls rather than the plots.
Anybody who watched the first coming of the programme will remember the wooden acting and the equally wooden scenery that had the habit of moving or wobbling about on set.
Then there was the fact that Mr Lovejoy the rather elderly chef was continually referred to in scripts long after the actor who played him had died.
The programme began in 1964 (probably at the same time as the scenery started wobbling). The Motel was built around the family characters of Meg Richardson (played by Noele Gordon) and her children Jill Harvey (played by the lovely Jane Rossington) and son Sandy played by Roger Tonge. Tonge always managed to look like a seven-year-old and ended up in a wheelchair after a car accident (in the soap) but sadly ended up in a wheelchair through cancer (in real life). Jane Rossington was married to a character by the name of Stan who had a rough Brummie accent and was continually turning up on other television shows after Crossroads.
I seem to remember the plots got ever sillier. The Motel burned down and Noele Gordon was last seen on a boat going somewhere or other (I think by this point I had lost interest). It all packed up in 1988, but was strangely re-born in 2001 with less shaky scenery and modern plots that just didn't work. It became just another soap and was consigned to the great soap graveyard in 2003 when the Motel closed its doors for the last time.
It did throw up some memorable characters in a kind of ridiculous way. Paul Henry played Benny Hawkins who continually wore a silly woollen hat much mimicked by real people (Benny Hats!!!). Poor old Benny was the butt of many jokes - not being the sharpest knife in the tool box. But he was good hearted and after Crossroads starred in panto at Norwich Theatre Royal where I interviewed him for the local paper and realised that he actually did have some hair and wasn't as thick as two short planks!
My other claim to fame is opening the door of a department store in Great Yarmouth to Ann George (who played Amy Turtle). I think I was with a friend at the time.
"Hey I've just opened the door to Amy Turtle."
"No did she say anything to you?"
"Yep she said thanks.”
“Wow."
Ann must have been appearing in a summer show in the resort and this was quite obviously a high point of my entire life (thus proving what a sad existence I have had). I remember David Hunter the suave co-owner played by Ronald Allen who I believe might have been gay (in real life). Then there was new owner (at some point) Gabrielle Drake who I remember more for being tragic singer-songwriter Nick Drake's sister than for her part in the show.
So on reflection I’m going to put Crossroads in the TV heaven category as it was entertaining.