Faulty Towers (Crossroads)

Member Name: BizzyB

Product:	Crossroads
Date:	24/07/01 (507 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Light entertainment, The return of an old favourite

Disadvantages: Galloping storylines, Lack of charcter and story development

Crossroads has long since held a special place in the hearts of television viewers. The original series famed for its ham acting, wobbly sets and outlandish storylines may have been off air for 12 years yet still it remained deep in the psyche of the British viewer. It was so bad, it was good.

Even those who never saw the original Crossroads know of the legend, most notably, one of the most memorable soap characters ever created Benny, the wooly hat wearing handyman who was a spanner short of a toolbox. Without Crossroads we would not have Victoria Wood's creation of Acorn Antiques. Crossroads may not have set the standards but it did set a benchmark for entertainment alone.

For those too young to remember and those who willfully stayed clear, Crossroads was born in 1964 and was open for business until 1988. In its first guise Crossroads was a motel. Remember in the 1960's the new style motor-hotel was seen as modern and the way forward. Filled with a mix-match of characters the core of Crossroads successful years revolved around the in-house battle of overall control between Meg Richardson, her daughter Jill Richardson-Harvey-Chance (multi-marriages in true soap style) and a myriad of pretenders to the throne, the most notable being Barbara and David Hunter. Set against a background of Motel staff regulars and their intertwining lives the soap was famed for its shaky acting and even more unstable sets. Unlike the other more well established soaps of the time Crossroads was a daily staple, and the quick turnover meant episodes were filmed often as one take chances. Births, marriages, deaths, faked deaths, fires and the cleaning lady being exposed as a Russian spy were cast our way but in the ever growing sophisticated world of television the axe fell in 1988, despite the cries of fans.

Such was the strength of Crossroads cult status in the next 12 years rumours abounded of a return, rumours which became as ingrained as t
he soap itself. It came as somewhat of a shock when Carlton announced it really was time to dust of the Crossroads front desk.

In 12 years the Motel has metamorphosed into a rather classy looking, out-of-town 5 star hotel complete with conference facilities, a la carte restaurant, beauty salon and leisure centre. Still set in the fictional Birmingham suburb of Kings Oak, Crossroads opened for business in 2001, thankfully with a bricks and mortar set, so unless Birmingham is victim to a Richter scale 7, the walls should be firm.

The all new Crossroads coaxed new viewers with the promise of daily intrigue and gossip, and ensured the return of the old faithful with the inclusion of three Crossroad stalwarts. A backlash occurred when it was revealed Benny would not be one of those but this decision was probably the correct one. The character of Benny had become so infamous and charactertured it would have been a distraction too far.

Instead the old guard of Jill Harvey, daughter of the original Crossroads matriarch Meg Richardson, returned on the death of her husband brandishing her 30% share in the hotel and looking for a role in life. Back at Crossroads she noticed it had changed dramatically, the lack of wobbling for a start must have been a pleasure. On her arrival there was one familiar face - Doris Luke, the Lady of the Laundry. Doris Luke, played by Kathy Staff best remembered as Nora 'Baggy stocking's Batty of Last of the Summer Wine, doesn't seem to have left the washing machine and tumble dryers since the 1980s, bless her heart. Somewhat of a surrogate grandmother to everyone who crosses the Crossroads doorstep, Doris is a link between the young and older generations and one of the more believable characters in the hotel.

Jill Harvey is then confronted by two more faces from the past. Her ex-husband, and arch schemer, Adam Chance and her daughter with whom she's had little contact, Sarah-Jayne.


Now fairdues to the casting director, Joanne Farrell as Sarah-Jayne Harvey makes a visually convincing Harvey offspring and provides Crossroads with the essential Harvey dynasty lineage.

With the known Crossroads foundations set it is time to introduce a new fly in the Harvey control ointment. Echoing the old Crossroads standoff to a tee, we are introduced to the Russell family, with 70% of the Crossroads shares between them, they rule the roost, but for how long?

The Russells have a distinct hierarchy, which in true fashion, is set for disruption. In the vein of Meg Richardson, the matriarch and Queen of Crossroads is Kate Russell played by Jane Gurnett, a very able television actress and once a lead actress in Casualty. Very stylish and methodical, Kate managers the Hotel yet does not directly own shares. She manages what is basically a family business. Deputy manager is filled by her son Jake Booth, played by Colin Wells.

Jake is set to be a central character and has been cast in the well used Soap heart-throb mould even down to his appearance. Think Simon Wicks in Eastenders, Marcus in the ill-fated Eldorado and you are half way there. Often feeling somewhat of an outsider to the core of the Russell family we have learnt that Jake was born to Kate when she was very young and he does not know who his father is. This is obviously being lined up for a future storyline and for the moment acts as the leverage to make Jake rebel. Jake's power struggle with his step-father Patrick is only enhanced by the emergence of Kate and Patrick's son Mark, who is set to be not only a professional rival to Jake, but a rival in love too. With Patrick owning a controlling 50% share of the hotel, Jake's gifted 30% will need an ally to take the full control he desires. He looks towards Sarah-Jayne and the 30% share she has been left by her mother as the way forward and looks towards a match made not so much in heaven as between th
e bedsheets (which always look crisp and clean thanks to Doris).

It is here we see the new fusion of Sarah-Jayne and Jake. Jake may be a married man with a young son but he has a wandering eye and all too often his hands follow. A torrid affair with Sarah-Jayne who has since gone on to bed brother number 2 has set up a classic soap love triangle, well love square if we are going to geometrically correct.

So it all sounds rather standard soap fodder so far, and it is. The main problem with Crossroads at present is that it has tried to grab the viewer at galloping pace.

Opening with old cast members was a useful ploy but they were dispensed of all too quickly. At Kings Oak nothing stands still for long and just as you think a storyline is coming it's concluded without any real or convincing development of story or character. For example, though having only returned to our screens recently:

Jill Harvey returned, attempted suicide, remarried a man she had previously claimed to hate, been murdered.

Adam Chance appeared, convinced Jill to marry him with zero effort, murdered her, been found out and carted off ready for trial.

Beena, the waitress with aspirations to be a model, finds a lump in her breast at the start of a week, its found to be nothing and resolved - bring on the weekend.

Bradley, the gay, handyman nephew of Doris, wants to move in with his boyfriend Tom, who runs a local café and brings up his brother Daniel. Daniel protests, Bradley wins him round with nothing more than a pizza and a pair of rollerblades - what colour wallpaper shall we have Tom?

Mandy, the young chambermaid, is bedded (well store-roomed) by the gruff Scottish Chef and falls pregnant. Has an abortion within days of finding out she is pregnant.

Porter-cum-handyman Phil falls in love with the oh so precious Russell daughter Nicola. It's Romeo and Juliet in Birmingham. They run away. They come
back.

If the police force could close cases as fast as Crossroads we'd be a crime free society.

In many cases you may want to get a pot of mustard out when watching - why? Because it's a natural accompaniment for the amount of ham produced. There are some promising performances in there, if you look really hard. Tom (Toby Sawyer) and Australian barman Ray (James McKenzie Robinson) have both served time on Hollyoaks and seem more comfortable and at ease than many of the new names for whom this is their first television break. Of course all actors are at the mercy of scripts which can be tenuous in Crossroads to say the least. There is an annoying leaning towards repetition. One of the main culprits is the character of Tracy, Jake's beleaguered, beautician wife.

Tracy follows Jake around like a bad smell 'why don't you love me Jake?' ad nauseum. Unfortunately Tracy's (Cindy Marshall-Day) delivery of lines is rather reminiscent of those awful loan company tv adverts, you know, the ones with a couple at the breakfast table 'oh how will we ever pay these bills' in the most unconvincing portrayal of married life ever filmed.

Other distracting characters include porter 'Rocky' Wesson (Roger Sloman) and the dragon of the reception desk, Virginia Raven (Sherrie Hewson). Both actors are well known for more comedic roles and Sherrie Hewson was a Coronation Street regular as Maureen Holdsworth. However her portrayal of Miss Raven is more reminiscent of her days on Russ Abbott's Mad House. Rocky's crush on Virginia may have some comedy value but at the moment these comic interludes do not gel smoothly with the overdone drama of the boardroom and hotel control tussle which I am frankly tired of all ready.

Crossroads has a lot of evolving to do. As of the moment it is relying too heavily on churning out staple soap fare, having not developed the characters far enough to
carry the weight of the story. There is ample room for such development and certainly for better use of the set. As of the moment it is unbelievable that so many family arguments would be carried out in the foyer. It is hard to believe the family would spend so much time in the hotel bar - don't they want to get away? Does Crossroads have some magical spell over them? Is it Birmingham's answer to Stephen King's Outlook Hotel?

On saying that I would not like to see the development of Crossroads try to emulate the other main soaps too much. Far better they look back to their hey-day. Yes, it may seem as I am being unduly negative so far in my review but I believe Crossroads must aim to fill a niche not currently fully exposed by the British market.

Shown daily at lunch and tea-time, Crossroads is not competing with the three mainstream soaps but the Australian imports. Given their slot, I want to see Crossroads return to that slightly quirky, off the wall soap. At lunchtimes and early evening my brain is not in gear for high drama. What I want as I prepare family meals etc is quality slush and I have long been a believer that every programme shown on television need not be of Bafta quality. If Crossroads is to be light entertainment, let it be. The Australian soaps have become little more than a focus on the love lives of Antipodean teenagers. Crossroads is therefore well placed to develop as a more adult orientated piece of entertainment which relaxes the viewer which is surely what it's time slot allows for. I may not be advocating travelling the full American day time soap road which includes exorcisms and bizarre kidnap plots, but certainly a move towards the more humorous would be welcome. Having had family in the hotel trade and being brought up around it I know there is no end to the storylines available and the inclusion of short, snappy tales of visitors. At the moment we only see guests check in and out and th
e odd one phones reception to moan about the mini-bar.

The secret is for the producers not too lose faith and to let Crossroads have a fair run, we don't need another Eldorado, which in my opinion was just beginning to find its feet when it was whisked off air.

For more information on Crossroads the website at www.carlton.co.uk/crossroads/ is well worth a visit with more in-depth character profiles, storyline updates, chat facilities and competitions.

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