Benny and the sets
Vanishing handymen and wobbly walls... The Crossroads motel opened its doors 55 years ago. MARION MCMULLEN looks back at the things we loved about it
CROSSROADS handyman Benny famously went to fetch a spanner and did not return for six months, the motel’s cleaner Amy Turtle was once accused of being a Russian spy called Amy Turteovski and receptionist Jill Richardson had a pregnancy that lasted 11 months.
Anything could happen in Crossroads... and usually did. The ITV offering launched 55 years ago in 1964 with Jill answering the phone and saying “Crossroads Motel. May I help you?”
The Midlands soap went on to run for 4,510 episodes and introduced viewers to the world of flimsy sets, forgotten lines and often ludicrous storylines.
Many of the 30-minute episodes were filmed on the same day they were broadcast and the potential for mishaps was high.
Crossroads originally went out five times a week, but this was axed to four in 1967 to improve quality. It then went to three times a week in 1980 and then to two episodes in 1988 shortly before it was axed completely. The soap even inspired Victoria Wood to create her popular comedy spoof Acorn Antiques.
Crossroads focused on the lives of the motel staff led by Noele Gordon as owner Meg Richardson and her two children Jill and Sandy.
Many familiar faces passed through the motel over the years. Only Fools And Horses star David Jason appeared as a character called Bernie
Kilroy back in 1966, Clockwork Orange actor Malcolm McDowell played a PR man named Crispin Ryder and West End musical star Elaine Paige made her TV debut in 1978 as Caroline Winthrope.
The Generation Game’s Larry Grayson also appeared as himself to play the wedding chauffeur when Meg tied the knot with Hugh in 1975.
Duncan Preston, who went on to appear in the Acorn Antiques comedy sketches, also popped up in Crossroads as Ginger Parsons.
Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent wrote the soap’s theme tune and it was later rearranged and given a rock guitar twist by Paul McCartney and Wings in 1975.
The original Crossroads ran for 24 years and was revived again in 2001, but the motel without Meg Richardson and the flimsy sets was just not the same and the new series only managed to last two years.