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Crossroads - changes in the 1980s |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sedgley, West Midlands
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Crossroads - changes in the 1980s
I was eight when Crossroads was axed and I only have memories of the series from around 1986 onwards. I remember, even at the age of eight, that I disliked the change to Crossroads Kings Oak and the new music.
I have recently seen clips from Open Air in 1987 where fans were complaining to the producer that they didn't like Bomber Lancaster and the Grice family, but I can't think why viewers didn't like them - they were all proper Brummies and I don't think there had been many characters with Birmingham accents in Crossroads for a while. From what I have read, the last changes to Crossroads, with the new name and music, were an attempt to make the series more classier and that the producer wanted to eventually rename the series Kings Oak, but I think this was going too far - why would he want to change the soap so it focused on the whole village? It was taking Crossroads too far from its original concept. |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Oct 2012
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The original Crossroads had an amateurish charm, with wonky scenery, naff acting and daft plots. I stopped watching around 1985. I looked at a 1987 episode on youtube and it is barely recognisable. I guess the whole motel concept was very dated and they were trying to move away from that, but in doing the programme lost its individuality and character.
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#3 |
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Quote:
The original Crossroads had an amateurish charm, with wonky scenery, naff acting and daft plots. I stopped watching around 1985. I looked at a 1987 episode on youtube and it is barely recognisable. I guess the whole motel concept was very dated and they were trying to move away from that, but in doing the programme lost its individuality and character.
Some scenes in the 1970s episodes I have seen recently on YouTube do seem a bit daft
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#4 |
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Join Date: May 2012
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ATV became Central Independent in 1982 and they couldn't have been less interested in Crossroads. I always felt sorry for Noele Gordon - all those years on the show then being told she wasn't wanted anymore.
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#5 |
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Join Date: Aug 2008
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I was a great fan of 'Crossroads' in the 70s & 80's (bar the final Kings Oak travesty!)
It was VERY popular in its heyday, often beating 'Coronation Street' in the ratings. I agree it lost its way by putting most of the focus on Kings Oak Village instead of the Motel - we had Emmerdale and High Road for all that stuff anyway! |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
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Most motels these days seem to have only one member of staff - a bored receptionist who is hardly ever behind the desk! It wouldn't make for much of a series.
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#7 |
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Quote:
A good point. When I saw early 80s Crossroads episodes on UK Gold in the late 90s they seemed very different to what I remembered. I agree that the programme lost its individuality and character.
Some scenes in the 1970s episodes I have seen recently on YouTube do seem a bit daft ![]() |
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#8 |
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Quote:
it may look daft now, but the difference was it was loved by millions, it was huge in the midlands and the viewers cared about the characters. it really was at its height in the mid 70's and knocked corrie off the top spot and nolly gordon was the face of crossroads and indeed atv.
Young viewers now wont appreciate the soap that it was - it never had murders or rapes every week!! Although it had them every now and again - which were more dramatic! They also had 'disaster' story-lines including a bomb-explosion and Fires, and crazy storylines like psychic landladies, ghosts and murderous husbands coming back from the dead!! It was pure fun!! Think 'Sunset Beach' in the Midlands !!
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#9 |
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Quote:
Quite true Sally - Noele Gordon was the STAR of the show - as was the Motel!
Young viewers now wont appreciate the soap that it was - it never had murders or rapes every week!! Although it had them every now and again - which were more dramatic! They also had 'disaster' story-lines including a bomb-explosion and Fires, and crazy storylines like psychic landladies, ghosts and murderous husbands coming back from the dead!! It was pure fun!! Think 'Sunset Beach' in the Midlands !! ![]() ![]() i remember meg and hugh's wedding in 1975 and thousands turned up outside the church to wish them well.
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#10 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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I recently had something of a Crossroads binge with all of the content available on YouTube. There's lots of really good interview and documentary stuff that's been uploaded. The story of it's final years and attempts at revamp is quite interesting and a good look at some of the convoluted politics involved in a television show. The cast all openly acknowledge that the network wanted rid of the show despite it delivering solid ratings and producer Phillip Bowman said that the head of drama didn't actually want him to improve the show, just change it. He'd actually planned on bringing back Noele Gordon but she sadly passed away before anything was filmed. I was only 4 when the original show went off the air so my only knowledge of the show is what I've read and what I've seen online. I quite like the Kings Oak theme but I'd imagine that die hard fans hated it as it was such a change from the original.
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#11 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
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I think they got it right with the 1985 changes, and should have let it progress from there, the late 1986 revamp was one too far
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#12 |
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I had the hots for Miss Diane , back in those good old days, & no my names not BENNY
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#13 |
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Join Date: Dec 2010
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Quote:
I was a great fan of 'Crossroads' in the 70s & 80's (bar the final Kings Oak travesty!)
It was VERY popular in its heyday, often beating 'Coronation Street' in the ratings. I agree it lost its way by putting most of the focus on Kings Oak Village instead of the Motel - we had Emmerdale and High Road for all that stuff anyway! |
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#14 |
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Join Date: Dec 2010
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Quote:
I think they got it right with the 1985 changes, and should have let it progress from there, the late 1986 revamp was one too far
I know Kath Fellowes (formerly Brownlow) and her second husband Stephen were also axed in 1987. Did the Grice family who I can remember quite well from around 1987 (in the last few months before the "Kings Oak" change) stay with the programme until the axing? |
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#15 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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Quote:
I was only 4 when the original show went off the air so my only knowledge of the show is what I've read and what I've seen online. I quite like the Kings Oak theme but I'd imagine that die hard fans hated it as it was such a change from the original.
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#16 |
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The 1985 re-boot was the best era of the 80's.......which only lasted around 18 months!
Philip Bowman turned it round big-style! Suddenly, we had a new-look classy motel - inside and out. A new owner Nicola Freeman with big hair and shoulder pads along with a spoilt brat of a step son and loopy step daughter! A lot more location work - and it also kept the OTT storylines from previous 70's - style (the brain-washing "Inner Light" story anyone???) but they kept them belieavable! It's ratings went up again too from the previous "Purple Odeon Era". Unfortunately Philip got sacked by Central TV (due to personal reasons?!?) Enter Smethurst the grim reaper.......and he killed Diane off because he didn't like the actress!! |
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#17 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 8,802
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Quote:
The 1985 re-boot was the best era of the 80's.......which only lasted around 18 months!
Philip Bowman turned it round big-style! Suddenly, we had a new-look classy motel - inside and out. A new owner Nicola Freeman with big hair and shoulder pads along with a spoilt brat of a step son and loopy step daughter! A lot more location work - and it also kept the OTT storylines from previous 70's - style (the brain-washing "Inner Light" story anyone???) but they kept them belieavable! It's ratings went up again too from the previous "Purple Odeon Era". Unfortunately Philip got sacked by Central TV (due to personal reasons?!?) Enter Smethurst the grim reaper.......and he killed Diane off because he didn't like the actress!! http://dai.ly/xph2f1 |
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#18 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sedgley, West Midlands
Posts: 225
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Quote:
The 1985 re-boot was the best era of the 80's.......which only lasted around 18 months!
Philip Bowman turned it round big-style! Suddenly, we had a new-look classy motel - inside and out. A new owner Nicola Freeman with big hair and shoulder pads along with a spoilt brat of a step son and loopy step daughter! A lot more location work - and it also kept the OTT storylines from previous 70's - style (the brain-washing "Inner Light" story anyone???) but they kept them belieavable! It's ratings went up again too from the previous "Purple Odeon Era". Unfortunately Philip got sacked by Central TV (due to personal reasons?!?) Enter Smethurst the grim reaper.......and he killed Diane off because he didn't like the actress!! I didn't realise Butcher Bill Smethurst killed off Diane because he didn't like the actress. He ruined the programme and I don't see the point of the Kings Oak changes. |
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#19 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: London
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I actually enjoyed it around this time
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#20 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,125
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There's one of the Kings Oaks era episodes that I saw on YouTube that really makes me laugh as Smethurst was obviously desperate to drag the show upmarket. The episode is littered with references to somebody having tickets to a "jazz concert" while the details of a rather fancy sounding gourmet menu are rhymed off as someone comments that it will go down with the "Stratford set". It's all so desperately clunky. I saw another Kings Oak episode where Nicola Freeman shows up. What was her story arc? Was she a Bowman creation who Smethurst axed and then brought back?
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#21 |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
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The show had a bit of a revamp around 1985 and I've seen some of these episodes with Nicola Freeman coming to takeover the motel etc. I thought these episodes were good but watching the 1987 Kings Oak episodes and the Lancanster's didn't really work for me. Crossroads needed a strong female character in the lead not a loud mouthed Brummie. Meg was never much of a Brummie and Crossroads was always more of a middle class soap than working class shows like Corrie or EastEnders.
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#22 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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Quote:
The show had a bit of a revamp around 1985 and I've seen some of these episodes with Nicola Freeman coming to takeover the motel etc. I thought these episodes were good but watching the 1987 Kings Oak episodes and the Lancanster's didn't really work for me. Crossroads needed a strong female character in the lead not a loud mouthed Brummie. Meg was never much of a Brummie and Crossroads was always more of a middle class soap than working class shows like Corrie or EastEnders.
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