Crossroads Motel,Can I Help You?

[Stephen Morgan]

Crossroads Retold is a great site for info on plotlines in the missing episodes. I wanted to find out more on Mrs. Witton's missing ring as the storyline unfolded in episodes 2581/2/3 from Aug, 1976.
Glenda Brownlowe has arrived, she was a hitchiker that Jane Smith took a shine to, and she has got Glenda a job at the motel. Things between Glenda and Mrs. Witton get off to a shaky start as Mrs. Witton takes an instant dislike to her. Glenda sees Mrs. Witton take off her ring and place it on some magazines as she applies some handcream. Glenda asks if she may have some for her hands. Mrs. Witton refuses. The ring then goes missing. Some time later Glenda, who has previously said she has no money, suddenly has £10, Mrs. Witton picks up on this and puts it around that Glenda has stolen and sold the ring. Vera, who has also taken a shine to Glenda, immediately gets on her case and has a go at Mrs. Witton. Things get so bad between them all that it eventually gets to Sandy who begins checking up on Glenda by trying to find out her NI number, only to find she doesn't have one. As it transpires Glenda is under age and has run away from home after an argument with her parents.
One of the cleaners finds Mrs. Witton's ring under a pile of magazines, Mrs. Witton is forced to make a grovelling apology to Glenda. However, Sandy has now become concerned about Glenda's welfare, and Glenda runs away to London. This concerns Jane, who has become a good friend to Glenda, and she tracks her down after Glenda 'phones her for help. Jane persuades her to come back, and Glenda goes in search of a lift and is then raped by a driver who picks her up.

Sadly the three episodes here that follow the saga of the ring are the last to feature Mrs. Witton as the actress, Jo Richardson, who played her was tragically drowned while on holiday in the Seychelles shortly after this storyline concluded.

In the meantime, Rex Oliver has arrived to reverse the fortunes of the salon. He and Vera are at loggerheads over expenses for coffees and sandwiches that Rex likes to supply his female customers. In one particular scene there are some amazing things happening to Vera's hair as bits of it at the back keep springing up during the course of the scene, and in some close ups it's definately not a case of is she or isn't she wearing hair spray as you can see her hair is pretty well plastered with the stuff.
Rex later causes scandal at the motel when he almost becomes embroiled in a divorce case after getting a little too close to one of his female customers. Shortly afterwards he discovers that he has an admirer in the form of "a predatory woman with curious intentions" He later leaves the motel to marry her, travel the world and become a kept man. Sounds good.

Anthony as camp as they come Mortimer has arrived from Australia and immediatley comes into conflict with David Hunter over plans to convert the cellar into a disco. David accuses him and his father of undermining him and in a fit of pique decides to leave the motel business and goes to Guernsey to look after his uncle and aunt's hotel business.

Vera receives a visit from a Mrs. Merrow, who tells her that the baby she abandoned 19 years previously wants to meet Vera, his natural mother.

I'm just about to sit down and watch a couple more episodes from Dec. 1976. David Hunter has been persuaded to return and continue working as Co Director of the motel, Anthony Mortimer has left, for the time being, Faye Mansfield has received a mysterious 'phone call from Moscow, and Stan has been made boss at the garage.

[stuartdg]

Theres lots to commend on Archive vol 2,the bulk of it concerning Sandy's accident and the impact it has on everyone;frustratingly however the actual episode of the accident itself is gone forever...

Elsewhere and there is also a lot of Harvey action with Sheila falling pregnant,again however there is also too much Wilf,but at least this is counterbalanced by the fantastic Gretchen Franklin(later Ethel in Eastenders) who acts everyone off the screen

The other plotline of interest is that concerning the break up of Vince and Diane;his father also turns up and makes Arthur Brownlow seem like a mild mannered monk in comparison

I've also watched the remainder of Archive 1:1 and Vera being menaced by sinister phone calls,whilst being advised by former motel kitchen bomber Humphrey(now Sid Gilbert) makes for particularly interesting viewing...

And is also notable for the debut of Jane Smith of course...

I'm now onto Archive Vol 3 and its beer tasting time,with Vince,Amy and Miss Tatum all getting pissed with lots of bitching before Miss Tatum reveals her special talent-playing the violin very badly

[Stephen Morgan]

I'm now onto Archive Vol 3 and its beer tasting time,with Vince,Amy and Miss Tatum all getting pissed with lots of bitching before Miss Tatum reveals her special talent-playing the violin very badly

Well... either that or Amy's wailing of "Play gypsy play"

Despite the missing episodes, you can actually follow the storyline of Sheila's pregnancy throughout the existing 1973 episodes. As for Gretchen Franklin, it is said she couldn't stand anywhere near Morris Parsons as he stunk like a kangaroo's backside, she didn't like him much either.

[stuartdg]

Vol 3 is a mixed bag the first disc features far too much Wilf Harvey for my liking,but we do get the fantastic Carole Boyd(aka Lynda Snell from The Archers) as a predatory italian lady with her sights set on David Hunter

Disc 2 is far better the Mrs Witton Saga livens things up and Cynthia Cunningham is a joy,unfortunately we also get five minutes of a rubbish variety act that just seems to go on forever,the episode that follows is far better;theres a big party with Mrs Loomis and Amy in big furs and the whole thing ends rather touchingly with Meg,Jill and Sandy in reception reminising.Top stuff

[Stephen Morgan]

I've just had a Happy Christmas 1976.

Benny has invited his gran, Clover Hawkins, over to the farm for the festive period, Diane and uncle Ed are not amused as Clover starts issuing orders and keeps banging the bedroom floor for attention. Ed's face is a picture as during one banging session a piece of holly falls into the fire, cue titles.

Elsewhere, Mrs. Hope, while decorating the reception Christmas tree, is having problems with her dingle dangles. Meg is later heard to say that the tree in the sitting room is beautiful but the one in reception is a mess.

[Stephen Morgan]

During Christmas 1976 Rosemary Hunter pays a visit from Switzerland and immediately causes trouble between David and Meg over his lack of equal shares in the motel. Rosemary wants to buy in so that David, like Meg and Hugh, will have someone to stick up for him. David is against the idea, so Rosemary hits on the idea of re-marrying David. David seems to be all for this but gradually it dawns on him what Rosemary is up to and she goes back to Switzerland, pleased at the prospect of son Chris' return after a two year absence.
The other big storyline during this period is that of Vera's illegitimate 19 year old son, Clive. Clive is played by Spencer Banks from early '70s kids show Timeslip, and his acting, stance, delivery of lines is as wooden as they come, and whatever is that on top of his head? His hair defies all 70s styles I've ever seen, I can't decide if it's a wig or something that is just plonked on his head, it's big, ginger and, well... just plain odd.
Vera feels duty bound to let Clive stay on the boat during Christmas, especially as he's got himself a job behind the motel bar. Vera admits to Jane it wasn't such a good idea as it fiorst seemed. Clive is a belligerant 19 year old, and he and Vera always seem to be in conflict as she tries to cope with instant motherhood. Clive is most upset when Gus, Vera's current boyfriend, returns from overseas. Clive seems to want to live by example, and realising that Vera has had a number of boyfriends gets himself involved with a student friend Lisa, and soon moves in with her.
The conflicts between Clive and Vera soon become wearing and it is fortunate that the storyline is soon over and he's gone, I really did find his character boring and annoying.

This takes us up to February 1977 when we find a huge six month gap between episodes.

Some of the big storylines between March and September 1977 include David Hunter's loneliness and addiction to gambling in a casino in the city, it is here he meets Kate Hamilton, who, with her daughter Lucy, soon moves into Hunter's cottage and a job at the motel.
Sharon Metcalfe is employed as garage secretary and gets involved with the loutish Jim Baines who considers leaving his wife for Sharon, until it is discovered his son needs a kidney transplant.
Max Lorimar arrives at the motel as head waiter and comes into conflict with the kitchen staff who threaten to walk out. Meg has to step in to smooth the situation.
Lorimar then becomes involved with Diane, and also Vera, keeping each relationship quiet from the other. Lorimar, a slimy character if ever there was, convinces Vera to move into his garishly decorated flat, Vera comments that it's like something from a magazine, God knows what magazines she reads in the salon, but they must make her customers pretty sick, no wonder they're all deserting. It'll all end in tears as Diane is about to find out and confrontations are inevitable.
Meena Chaudri is the motel's new receptionist, she immediately becomes romantically involved with a garage mechanic, much to the disaproval of her family. By what I recall of this storyline it was controversial at the time due to its mixed race relationship, but Crossroads being Crossroads it really didn't seem to hit as hard as was intended, and the Chaudri's come across as just another woodenly acted family, playing their parts with as little conviction as possible. At the end of episode 2818 they are presented with a dilemma of upsetting proportions as Meena has once again defied her family and met up with her boyfriend and has agreed to marry him, mother and father immediately disown her. On the eve of a trip to Delhi too.

That, at the moment, is as far as I've got.

[Stephen Morgan]

Over on Roobarbs they're getting a little excited about the long out of print, epic tome, The Crossroads Cookbook. It features such culinary delights as:
"Tabouleh, Baked Mackerel with Gooseberry Sauce, Mexican Scallops, Baked Caribbean Bananas, Chackchouka, Honey-glazed Gammon, Green Figs in Pernod, Sole with Grapes and Cheese Sauce, then Sailor's Duff"

I wondered, as did they, what was Sailor's Duff, thinking perhaps Vera had had it, some of her boyfriends were sailors after all. Upon looking it up on that wonderful search engine that is Google I discovered it was similar to gingerbread, then someone posted up the recipe.

SAILOR'S DUFF

It's a few years ago now, but at one time Meg's brother Andy served in the Royal Navy, and even after he left the sea and set up his travel agency, he still kept many souvenirs of his service career. This recipe is one of them!

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon baking soda (dissolved in hot water)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup boiling water

Yellow sauce:
2 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and sugar, add all the other ingredients, boiling water last. Steam for 1 1/2 hours in pudding mould. Serve hot with yellow sauce, made as follows:
Beat the two egg yolks. Add sugar gradually. Set aside until ready to serve pudding then fold in the cream, whipped and flavoured with vanilla. Do not beat this mixture.

Something for PS folk to whip up on a Sunday afternoon I think,
it'll follow on nicely from Mr. Booth's Goulash Budapest that Amy Turtle and Vi Blundell enjoyed so much.

Looking through that list I've just noticed Green Figs in Pernod.

[stuartdg]

Episode 2028 from Archive vol 4 has plenty going on with hints of Diane's custody battle for her son,Jane Smith(one of the most disposable soap characters ever surely) and her Mother Dot turning up.Vera and con man Rusty who gets a ticking off from Vince and motel legend Amy suffering with malaria all this coupled with Sandy's barefoot orchestra and for one episode theres an unusual amount going on and all of it good stuff

[Stephen Morgan]

In October 1975 Paul McCartney/Wings released the album Venus and Mars. On it McCartney included his own interpretation of the Crossroads theme, it was his favourite soap so he decided to pay tribute.
The production team loved his version and so decided to replace the original, dated theme.
Viewers were outraged, as they would be, it was sacrilege to do this. McCartney's version was a slow, moody piece of work, typically Wings in approach, and certainly wasn't popular.
After many months the production team bowed down to pressure and put the original back and said that they would only use the McCartney version if the episode ending was a sad or suitably dramatic one. All of the episodes from 1975/76 that used the McCartney theme are lost, the earliest example we get on DVD is the episode where Glenda Brownlowe gets attacked while hitchhiking, it is used at the end of part one and then over the titles. This is towards the end of 1976 when McCartney's version had been available for a year.
Around mid summer 1976 Simon May, doyen of TV soap themes, wrote the abysmal Summer of My Life, which was a big chart hit in the autumn of that year, and for the life of me I can't remember why this was used in Crossroads, the Crossroads retold site holds no clue to this little number at all.
My sister bought the single and I hated May's vocal on it, so much so that if she threatened to play it I had to beg her to play its B side which, fortunately, was an instrumental version. I'm sure this was written for Benny, it might have been when he was in love with Starry the goat.
In late 1977 Simon May again wrote for Crossroads, this time the turgid and sentimental Benny's Theme, which was used a few times over the titles when Benny was due to marry gypsy girl, Maureen. The theme is some Spanish guitar coupled with a voiceover from actor Paul Henry and then suddenly bursts into disco, which takes you out of the mood of the piece, especially as it was used when Benny announces that Maureen has died. One wonders why they didn't stick to the McCartney theme at this point, but Benny's Theme did give Paul Henry a minor chart placing in January 1978.

[Andrew Curnow]

That's really interesting - as a kid, I can remember them wheeling out the Wings version whenever it was a particularly dramatic ending, but I never knew all the history behind it, thanks Steve!

[stuartdg]

Vol 4 nearly done and following the longest and dullest soap wedding in history,things get better thanks to the Vera/Sheila bitchfight in the Dudley Zoo episode and the Lia/David Hunter saga...

Who would've thought Benny's dad would be Wulnoth from The Time Meddler and his gran The Seeker from The Ribos Operation though

[Stephen Morgan]

..following the longest and dullest soap wedding in history,things get better thanks to the Vera/Sheila bitchfight in the Dudley Zoo episode and the Lia/David Hunter saga...

Who would've thought Benny's dad would be Wulnoth from The Time Meddler and his gran The Seeker from The Ribos Operation though

Yep, Sheila's line to Vera "If I'd wanted to mix with skunk I'd have gone to Dudley zoo" has to be one of the best insults ever in a soap, certainly one of Crossroads best lines anyway.
I agree with you about the wedding, it sure is long and dull, you can't deny the impact it had on it's viewers though, Birmingham was certainly packed out the day they recorded there.
And stay tuned for more Dr. Who faces turning up.

[stuartdg]

Midway through vol 7 and plenty of things to note;Susan Hanson can't do angryJim Baines shouts a lot and Lyn Baxter looks very facially like Bonnie Langford

Elsewhere Timeslip's Spencer Banks does his best to annoy Vera who is starting to grow on me theres plenty of Benny who isnt annoying me yet but isn't doin anythin particularly interesting bar releasing a single when his fiance dies;why not just play the Wings theme instead?-far more dramatic then a bizarre folk tune

I am finding the whole Jill/Anthony saga fascinating however theres a lot of continous episodes focussing on it

And the less said about the acting abilities of the actress playing Lucy Hamilton the better

[Stephen Morgan]

... the less said about the acting abilities of the actress playing Lucy Hamilton the better

Quite, for a start her received pronuciation really grates. Her mother doesn't speak like that, why does she? And as for her acting abilities, where are they?

[stuartdg]

Halfway through vol 8 and I'm thoroughly enjoying the Jill/Anthony/Stan triangle and indeed the Muriel Baines agoraphobia plot although who thought starting a scene of Jim's(ample) stomach and then lingering on it should quite honestly be banned from television for life

[stuartdg]

Halfway through vol 10 and while Meg becomes a recluse and communicates with Hugh's spirit,Diane is persued by a weird painter.Gotta say I'm loving Doris Luke,due largely to Kathy Staff's portrayal;the scene where she tells Ed Lawton she doesn't fancy him is priceles

Plus its a lot more rewarding now as virtually every episode is in existence

[Stephen Morgan]

You've shot ahead of me Stu! I only got back from hols on Saturday evening and vols 10 and 11 were waiting on the mat for me. I've not had a chance to look at them yet, still settling back in at home with washing and putting clothes away. I guess vols 12 and 13 are up for pre-order, I'll get to them soon enough. There'll be plenty of time to catch up with all the Crossroads gossip soon enough.

[stuartdg]

Vol 11 has arrived and a quick glance at the cast reveals Annette "Margaret Blaine/Slitheen" Badland playing none other then "Waitress!"-one can imagine she had to do loads of research for that part

Elsewhere in Episode 3010 theres another fantastic bitchfight between Linda Welch and Doris Luke-great stuff and am loving the interplay between Shughie(what sort of name is that) and Mr Booth

[Stephen Morgan]

Shock Horror!! A contemporary reference in episode 2990. Diane tells PC Steve Cater to "Stop playing Starsky and Hutch" I nearly choked on my rice pudding.

[stuartdg]

Does Vol 13 contain the first surviving on screen death?

Vol 15 is available for preorder and the episode synopsis get sillier and sillier yet are VERY entertaining

3069 from December 1978-David smiles on as Jill,Tish,Meg and Miss Tatum vie for the worst christmas hat award(1978)

3070 from December 1978-as Meg wears what appears to be a pair of curtains friends and family gather round the christmas tree and indulge in a small libation

3072 from December 1978-Wendy waits patiently for the opening strings of the theme tune to finish before she asks her mother an important question


Utterly mad like the show itself

[Stephen Morgan]

Does Vol 13 contain the first surviving on screen death?

I take it you mean Mrs. Bailey. Yes, I can see what's coming there I'm afraid. I haven't quite got that far yet, I'm limiting myself to one episode per day now, doing it in real time means I can watch these episodes exactly 30 years on from their original transmission. Sad or what?

[SiHart]

Does Vol 13 contain the first surviving on screen death?

Vol 15 is available for preorder and the episode synopsis get sillier and sillier yet are VERY entertaining

3069 from December 1978-David smiles on as Jill,Tish,Meg and Miss Tatum vie for the worst christmas hat award(1978)

3070 from December 1978-as Meg wears what appears to be a pair of curtains friends and family gather round the christmas tree and indulge in a small libation

3072 from December 1978-Wendy waits patiently for the opening strings of the theme tune to finish before she asks her mother an important question


Utterly mad like the show itself

The fanclub aren't happy about it as this little note on the front page of their website shows:

Latest: Volume 14 and 15 are on sale - however Network once again show themselves up as rather pathetic, by writing childish reviews of the episodes on Volume 15 - they really can't handle fact based criticism can they. At least they've stopped taking the mick with the stupid screen captured photos. (Note to Network: its only your product that looks like its been produced by people with the brain cell of a newt, so grow up.)

Ah well. I ought to get some more of these but with the frequency and price it's hard to keep up. Maybe sometime soon.

Si xx

[stuartdg]

Mrs Bailey is proving to be something of an enigma;she's clearly disturbed as the somewhat moody opening to Episode 3015 shows.Its all billowing curtains,as she sits on her bed staring into nothingness before throwing her tray to the floor.

Plenty of good stuff going on with Josie and George,trying to get their hands on Ed Lawton's farm the start of the Booth's troubled marriage...

[stuartdg]

Christmas 1978 on vol 15 is great fun,showcasing the dubious singing talents of the cast;and is perfectly countered by the Victor/Adrienne/Sharon love triangle and Jill's return to the fold-curiously this is the first time Jill appears since vol 8

[stuartdg]

Plenty of comedy moments on vol 16 mostly involving Shughie and Doris and Mr McFee's gross exagerrations regarding his non existent love life-there's loads of familiar faces as well with the return of Jill,Adam becoming a motel director,Sharon and Diane moving in at the flat,and Mac starting at the garage...


All thats missing are the Brownlows and Barbara Hunter to ease us in the 80s really