Crossroads Crossroads: 1964-1988, 2001-2003

[Mel O'Drama]

Episode Two of Nolly was great.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the pop culture references from Who Shot JR? to Game For A Laugh and Jeremy Beadle. And several Corrie mentions, of course.

Ahead of time I was a little doubtful of Mark Gatiss playing Larry Grayson because they seem physically so different. As it is, he's got the mannerisms and voice nailed so perfectly it's uncanny. It's really impressive and shows his range as a character actor and the amount of research he's clearly done for the role.

Some of the scenarios feel larger-than-life. Tony Adams somehow getting from the ATV studios in landlocked Birmingham to Southampton Docks in what seems like minutes so he could wave to Nolly is one of these (also, I'd thought the deck was recreated on some kind of structure, so the bit about Noele having to stay aboard alone after filming the scenes surprised me). But it's still fun.

There's also the bus ride, which felt too feel-good to be true. Although this was exactly the reason I enjoyed it and wanted it to be true (minus the awkward pseudo-feminism stuff about women looking down on men in yellowing underwear and feeling even more scornful when they remove them).

I love the reenactments of the filming of the series, with the stilted delivery and then holding forever while the Crossroads super is on screen for the commercial break (with out-of-shot actors chatting away as one poor person has to stay in character). I also laughed out loud at the "flashback" to filming the kitchen fire with the hokey effects. It's making me wonder what the hell I'm in for when I crack open the box-set.




Quick semantics question: in almost every reference to the medium, characters say "TV". I know we all say this now, but was this abbreviation commonly used in the UK back then? While I remember the abbreviation "telly" being commonplace (apart from very proper people who said "television"), I thought "TV" would have sounded rather American to Brits in the early-Eighties.

Is this a bit of an anachronism or am I misremembering? Perhaps its use varied by region, or perhaps those in the industry were more likely to say "TV" back then.

 

[Barbara Fan]

I binge watched it last night and loved it and found it moving and sad at times and thought HBC was brilliant and Con O Neill as Jack Barton

and Augustus Prew as Adam Chance is simply divine

I also loved seeing the ending and final scene (wont spoil it incase you havent seen it)

Most TV shows now would give anything to have the ratings Crossraods had at its peak

I do remember writing in my Letts schoolgirl diary that "Rosemary Hunter shot David Hunter today" must have been a slow news day in my life

Dina Dors and Noele Gordon in Whatever happened to baby Jane" id have loved to see that one - but sadly they both died

 

[Angela Channing]

I've finished watching Nolly and it's a good bit of television. There's a lot in the show that I liked and a bits that I wasn't 100% on board with. I spent too much time during the first episode racking my brains trying to work out who Honour was. She had the hair and earrings of a character called Trina but that character wasn't around when Meg left the series. Then I realised that Honour was a totally made up character and maybe it would have worked better if they threw the timeline out the window and let the character be Trina. That wasn't the only time I questioned how accurate the series was and I kept saying to myself "that's not exactly how it was" but it didn't spoil my enjoyment because the script seemed pretty faithful to the truth on the main points.

The first 2 episodes in particular had an energy and vibe that felt a bit like a sitcom rather than a serious drama, even though it was largely a serious drama, but that wasn't a bad thing. Crossroads had a lot of humour in it at times and there was a bit of a sitcom vibe about the true behind the scenes shenanigans surrounding Meg's dismissal.

There's also the bus ride, which felt too feel-good to be true. Although this was exactly the reason I enjoyed it and wanted it to be true (minus the awkward pseudo-feminism stuff about women looking down on men in yellowing underwear and feeling even more scornful when they remove them).

It was a great scene and I'm pretty sure this was a made up scene although the answers Noel gave to the questions that the passengers asked her were taken directly from an interview she gave either to Russell Harty or TV-am, I can't remember which one it was exactly.

A much as I like Helena Bonham-Carter, and thought she did a great job as Noele Gordon, she didn't think she got her speech patterns right and she might have been better just playing the part using her own voice.

The actor playing Adam Chance was excellent, just the right amount of camp without being over the top and the David Hunter actor really captured Ronald Allen's voice really well. The suggestion that Ronnie Allen and Sue Lloyd were quite happy with Noele being sacked because they wanted to become the main characters didn't sound believable because in reality once Meg was gone, Jill and Adam became more prominent than the Hunters.

The final episode had a lot of sadness in it but it showed how much Noele was loved by fans and how much she was missed and seemed like a well deserved tribute to the actor.

Overall it was a great mini-series which brought back a lot a fond memories that I had for Crossroads.

 

[James from London]

I've no idea about how Sue Lloyd felt about Noele in real life. Probably it's just been exaggerated in the miniseries for dramatic effect, but maybe @James from London may know a bit more?

I know nothing!

 

[Walford Boy]

I wish we could get ITV X on Sky then i could watch on telly. Hate watching stuff on the laptop so won't bother. Will wait for Nolly to-come to ITV1.

 

[James from London]

I still know nothing, but I saw this on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1622033965732298752

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Last night I watched the final instalment of Nolly and went on to watch The Real Nolly documentary about Noele's life (narrated by Helena Bonham Carter).

The final episode had a lot of sadness in it but it showed how much Noele was loved by fans and how much she was missed and seemed like a well deserved tribute

I also loved seeing the ending and final scene

Same here. It was wonderful.

I spent too much time during the first episode racking my brains trying to work out who Honour was. She had the hair and earrings of a character called Trina but that character wasn't around when Meg left the series. Then I realised that Honour was a totally made up character and maybe it would have worked better if they threw the timeline out the window and let the character be Trina. That wasn't the only time I questioned how accurate the series was

Not knowing the series at all well, I'd fully believed that Honour was a real character in Crossroads. I was slightly disappointed after watching the first Nolly to read that she wasn't as I'd been trying to remember the details of the dialogue so I could mentally compare if and when I got round to watching the actual episode.

The first 2 episodes in particular had an energy and vibe that felt a bit like a sitcom rather than a serious drama, even though it was largely a serious drama, but that wasn't a bad thing. Crossroads had a lot of humour in it at times and there was a bit of a sitcom vibe about the true behind the scenes shenanigans surrounding Meg's dismissal.

I agree the balance of humour and drama worked really well. There was a hint of satire to the Crossroads scenes in particular, but it felt lovingly satirical.

Little details like the supers showing various exotic locations in the yellow Crossroads font (and in vintage 4:3 ratio) added a touch of camp, I thought. But in the best way. I especially loved that they went from "ABU DHABI" to "BANGKOK" to "BIRMINGHAM". Wonderful stuff!

It was a great scene and I'm pretty sure this was a made up scene although the answers Noel gave to the questions that the passengers asked her were taken directly from an interview she gave either to Russell Harty or TV-am, I can't remember which one it was exactly.

The Real Nolly showed a clip of an interview with Harty where she gave one of the same responses as on the bus when asked why she was sacked.

Also, Anne Diamond was one of the participants in the documentary and it seems she and Noele were quite close, which was why she was proud to have been part of Noele's final interview.

A much as I like Helena Bonham-Carter, and thought she did a great job as Noele Gordon, she didn't think she got her speech patterns right and she might have been better just playing the part using her own voice.

Once I'd seen it in the first episode, I simply couldn't unsee Rowena Wallace.

Watching the drama and documentary back-to-back, I was struck by how differently the two spoke (and looked), but I also think HBC's performance was so convincing and she seemed to get the part so wholeheartedly it didn't matter to me that they didn't look and sound identical.


Speaking of speech patterns, my biggest bugbear with Episode Three was that most of the young women playing the supporting cast of Gypsy (most notably the actress playing Fiona Fullerton*) spoke with ghastly 21st Century Kardashian/Markle vocal creak. I don't believe twentysomethings - especially British twentysomethings - would have spoken like this at the time and I wish more attention had been paid to training them out of this lazy, annoying affectation.





* Out of curiosity, I just watched a FF interview circa 1987 (also featuring Peter Cook) to see how accurate it is. There is a very occasional hint of vocal fry at the end of a sentence, but nothing that jumps out unless one is looking for it. Certainly not enough for it to be used so heavily and to the extent it's the only thing I remember about her on Nolly.

Overall it was a great mini-series which brought back a lot a fond memories that I had for Crossroads.

That's really nice. For me it's definitely stoked interest in watching the series.

I still know nothing, but I saw this on Twitter:

What gems.

(Even if neither this nor Nolly, casts Sue Lloyd in a flattering light at all. I am certainly intrigued, though).

 

[Julia's Gun]

Thanks, that Sue Lloyd clip is hilarious and revealing, immediately brought to mind Miss Babs/Celia Imrie in the mock-Acorn Antiques documnetary:

It's from 52:10 mins in: 'Tea break? Simon, yes?' LOL

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Thanks, that Sue Lloyd clip is hilarious and revealing, immediately brought to mind Miss Babs/Celia Imrie in the mock-Acorn Antiques documnetary

Same here. That crisp, cold, dismissive "Thank yuh" immediately made me think of Backstage Babs's frosty "I've no idea" (at 52:40 in the video you posted).

 

[Julia's Gun]

I enjoyed the documentary very much, interesting to hear how much of a pioneer she was. That unusual relationship she had with Val Parnell must have been very taboo at the time. To be in love with a married man for 20 years, who then dumps you and his wife for another actress, must have put her off men for the rest of her life!

I was hoping for a bit more explanation/speculation about the reasons behind the sacking, but they didn't really go into that here. I wonder too what would have happened to Crossroads if she had lived to film her return to the show in 1985 for a 3 month stint - would this have turned things around, and led on to more TV opportunities for her? We'll never know, but I'm full of admiration the more I find out about her.

 

[James from London]

I spent too much time during the first episode racking my brains trying to work out who Honour was. She had the hair and earrings of a character called Trina but that character wasn't around when Meg left the series. Then I realised that Honour was a totally made up character and maybe it would have worked better if they threw the timeline out the window and let the character be Trina.

I assumed Honor was based on Chloe Sylvestre's character - Meg's Black foster daughter - transplanted from ten years earlier. I guess the function of Poppy (the fictional actress playing Honor - I'm confusing myself now) was to act as a novice: our way into the way the backstage world of Crossroads worked. As detailed by Matthew Sweet in his Twitter thread, the actress who played Trina MacDonald, like Chloe Sylvestre herself, was and is a woman with a lot more life experience than Poppy so it might have been a bit of a disservice to try and squeeze her into such a functional role. Far cleaner, I think, to invent a character from scratch and have fun with it.

Nolly didn't do what I thought it might. It didn't debunk any of the preconceptions and prejudices that exist about Crossroads. When Diane matter-of-factly describes it as a tatty little soap and Adam casually describes it as shit, nobody disagrees, least of all Nolly herself. But while Russell T Davies doesn’t exactly contradict the Acorn Antiques absurdity of Xrds, he does contextualise it, making you understand why, as tatty and shit as it might have been, it mattered to people, even though the people it mattered to the most - who judging by what he showed us on screen were mostly female, mostly working-class, often Black and often seemingly gay - could be dismissed almost easily as the soap itself. (That's what the scene on the bus expressed so well. My guess is that scene never happened, but I think that's what RTD is so good at: creating something fictional to express a larger truth.)

When she is fired as Noele Gordon, Helena Bonham Carter essentially enacts the same ridiculous scenario as Julie Walters did when Mrs O was written out of Acorn Antiques, but whereas Walters and Victoria Wood made you laugh at the soap diva with delusions of grandeur, RTD and HBC make you see that she’s aware of the ridiculousness and is trapped inside it. (She just wants to know why she was dumped, which how anyone in that situation would react.) In other words, they humanise the situation. (It's so strange to think back to a time when Bonham Carter was largely thought of this posh girl in corsets complaining about how hard it is to be a beautiful actress while Julie Walters was the working class and earthy one. Now it's Bonham Carter adding grit and depth to a role Walters once sent up so cruelly, albeit brilliantly. While I think of it, Bonham Carter's physicality in her fantastic portrayal of Princess Margaret in The Crown often reminded me of Mrs Overall.)

I think Nolly helped me to identify something I've never been able to quite put my finger on about Noele Gordon's performance in Crossroads, If RTD's version of events is to be believed, the actress poured her heart and soul, her entire life, identity and career into something she knew and accepted was beneath her: a tatty little soap. It's sort of admirable and condescending at the same time, and that combination of superiority and dedication is just as evident in the character of Meg herself. I watched a wedding episode from November 66 recently and you can see it in the way she glides round the reception afterwards from one group of guests to another. She's great: totally involved the scene and above it all at the same time.

 

[Barbara Fan]

Well, Im on a Crossroads roll ( I hope my nan would be proud, she loved Nolly, David Hunter, Jill and co)
Would like to thank ITVx for putting on old episodes on line and last night watched Noeles wedding - no Megs wedding to Hugh, a Xmas episode and poor Benny in turmoil as Me Maureen was knocked over and lying in a hospital bed

What im trying to recall is what time Crossroads aired - Im sure it was after 5pm in STV land - as im sure my mum watched it and it was before dinner

also read in the press last week that Jill aka Jane Rossingtons family revealed she had Alzheimers last year - sad

She always had a natty line in jumpers

now I might just need to brave the spiders in the loft to find my Meg Tribute magazine from 1981

 

[Angela Channing]

What im trying to recall is what time Crossroads aired - Im sure it was after 5pm in STV land - as im sure my mum watched it and it was before dinner

Crossroads was broadcast at 6.35pm in some regions (e.g. Thames) and at 5.15pm in others (e.g. Southern/TVS).

 

[Angela Channing]

My memory is that Central TV did say why they sacked Noele Gordon and although a central theme of Nolly was to question of why she was dumped, I've often wondered if the real Noele Gordon just couldn't accept her sacking and promoted the line that she didn't know the reason to save face.

At the time they said they got rid of her because they wanted to attract a younger audience. Crossroads consistently pulled in large ratings but it was thought that a large chunk of the audience was middle-aged and older at a time when advertisers wanted to appeal to younger more affluent viewers. I remember Central TV (it might possibly have been Jack Barton himself) saying something like they wanted an audience that would buy a particular type of car rather than those that buy washing powder.

Ditching Meg was the best way to indicate that Crossroads had moved into a new era and to generate a lot of new interest in the show.

 

[Julia's Gun]

I think Jack Barton was even more culpable in all this than he comes across in Nolly. In the documentary they show a clip of the real Jack answering a question about whether Meg will return. He turns to camera and says with barely disguised glee that 'Meg is definitely leaving and will not be coming back.'

 

[Barbara Fan]

I have done a bit of Noele Gordon Binge watching this afternoon - she had guts and was ballsy - i like that x

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

There's also the bus ride, which felt too feel-good to be true. Although this was exactly the reason I enjoyed it and wanted it to be true (minus the awkward pseudo-feminism stuff about women looking down on men in yellowing underwear and feeling even more scornful when they remove them).

It was a great scene and I'm pretty sure this was a made up scene although the answers Noel gave to the questions that the passengers asked her were taken directly from an interview she gave either to Russell Harty or TV-am, I can't remember which one it was exactly.

I'm pretty sure the bus ride is made up. It's mentioned in the Harty interview that she didn't watch her final episode as she was working that night. The pseudo-feminism stuff that you mention is part of a standard Russell T Davies trope - the monologue. Every show he writes, a character eventually breaks off into one. Stuart in Queer As Folk did one after being forced to come out to his parents, Richie had one in It’s A Sin when he ranted about not believing the various reports about the growing AIDS epidemic, Julie Hesmondhalgh had one in Cucumber etc. I think the bus discussion was Nolly’s (although her talk with cast of Gypsy in episode three kind of falls into this category

Also, Anne Diamond was one of the participants in the documentary and it seems she and Noele were quite close, which was why she was proud to have been part of Noele's final interview.

There's a TV AM interview from when Meg returned for the Venice episodes and they are very friendly. I think Anne Diamond started out on ATV and they knew each other from there.

also read in the press last week that Jill aka Jane Rossingtons family revealed she had Alzheimers last year - sad

That's sad to hear. I was wondering why she was absent from the documentary.

So, I’ve watched everything over this bank holiday weekend! Nolly, The Real Nolly, the fire and exit episodes of Crossroads and the Harty appearance. Nolly was very good. The recreations of the show’s set and the episodes were excellent. There were lots of little Easter eggs in there for fans. The line about driving past Pamela at the bus stop was true although Susan Hanson’s delivery of the anecdote (in one of the earlier documentaries) tops HBC’s delivery of the line. HBC was very good but I thought Augustus Prew as Tony Adams was excellent as was Mark Gatiss in his brief appearance as Larry Grayson. As others have said too, the casting of the actress that played Susan Hanson was spot on. They looked so alike. Nice to see a link to the revival too, with the inclusion of Max Brown in the cast. There was a real warmth to the show and I think it portrayed how much people loved Nolly. Regarding the portrayal of Sue Lloyd, I’m wondering if RTD based that on feedback that he got about her when he was doing his research?

The Real Nolly was good too. A nice mix of talking heads although a lot of it had been covered already in The Unforgettable episode.

 

[Julia's Gun]

So, I’ve watched everything over this bank holiday weekend! Nolly, The Real Nolly, the fire and exit episodes of Crossroads and the Harty appearance.

Same here! I did too, except the Harty interview which I already saw a while back.
I hadn't expected to be so moved by the QE2 scenes, but I've watched 3 discs worth from Sep-Nov 1981, and seeing it all in order brought home how sad and rather brutal it all was. I liked how they kept the cause of the fire ambiguous for a few episodes, with that painter chap disappering and his back story of losing his first wife and child in a mysterious fire a few years earlier. What a coincidence!
It was kind of like a Who started it? rather than a Dallas Who Dunnit?, but when they did Noele's big reveal as Jill enters her cabin on the QE2, I was overjoyed, as all those millions of fans must have been when this episode first aired.
On the timescale it didn't quite add up when they reveal how Meg survived and left the motel before the fire started. She seemed to hang around in the room and then take ages to leave, having time to go to the reception area with that letter, and then wait for her taxi without Adam seeing her - and she avoided those delinquent teenagers on the way out! How did they manage to suddently start a huge fire within seconds of her leaving? That was slightly preposterous.

So the burning set fire was actually filmed on a fake set outside, as we get a glimpse of it in the documentary. I always wondered how it must have been a huge fire hazard to have burned down the real set indoors. ATV studios were clearly not quite as hi-tec as MGM in LA, where the Southfork fire was later filmed, but they didn't do a bad job all the same. It was still dramatic enough for me!

I just felt very, very sad for Noele, having watched all the docs about her now, the miniseries and then culminating in her departure last night. It tugs even more on the heart strings that if only Jill had told her about the fire, she wouldn't have gone, and I shed a tear as she leaves Meg alone in the cabin with them both in tears for the last time. I could have punched the real Jack Barton in that doucmentary as he smiles smugly to the camera saying 'Meg won't be coming back' - well axing her didn't improve the show, the ratings went down, and Crossroads was never the same again.

 

[Barbara Fan]

I think quite a few of us have had a Nolly fest weekend as a few of us seemed to have binge watched just about everything

I cant believe there is so much I have forgotten about the show and characters I barely remember
Miss Tatum, Tish Hope, Lloyd a Yank, The Cotterills, Enid (who always moaned) Dr Farnum, Carney,

I loved watching Noele on the Russell Harty show and crying as she was singing her song and the big hug he gave her at the end was so heart felt and her tears were so real, I found it very moving. He added a real touch of humanity, warmth and caring that I dont think we would have got with my beloved Terry Wogan.

So was this at the end of Nolly and Kleenex required especially when Adam Chance says Beautiful



I think she would be pleased and proud

Can I ask who has all bought the Noele Gordon Collection ?? Is it something you would recommend?

I see its £130 - im seriously tempted now

 

[Julia's Gun]

Well I'd recommend this set, it's lovely and i'm not sure how many episodes will be uploaded to ITV X, but they will be full of adverts, and i doubt all the extras will be included.
The box set has literally dozens and dozens of discs. I'm not sure which ones to watch next, maybe back to the 60s?

I wonder if a few of us who own the set now would be interested in doing a joint re-watch thread for certain periods? We could choose each week some discs or a period of the show to watch that week and then post our thoughts as we go along? What do others think?

It might be people would rather just watch and post as and when they please, and that's absolutely fine, I just thougth i'd put the idea out there.