An interesting titbit cropped up in my inbox this morning. From Friday, ITV will be streaming the earliest known surviving episode of classic Midlands motel soap opera Crossroads via its website, itv.com/crossroads.
Episode 126 dates from 1965, just months into the then five-nights-a-week soap’s 44-year run (I think it’s best we quietly forget about the 2001 ‘revival’, don’t you?). It was found among a collection of films by film archivists preparing for a future DVD release of old archive episodes.
According to the release, the synopsis for the episode reads as follows:
An unexpected guest arrives at Crossroads Motel in episode 126 and not everyone’s happy about it. It seems Phillip’s wife Doreen has just got out of prison (for good behaviour) and dropped in to see him. By the look on Phillip’s face he had no idea she was a free woman. She asks him if he went through with a divorce in her absence and he says that, although he gave it some serious thought, he’s decided against it. For now.
Receptionist Christine doesn’t seem happy about the return of the jailbird though. Is she just concerned about Phillip or has it got something to do with her own feelings for him? Then Phillip proposes a picnic for the two of them and she looks elated… until he mistakenly calls her Doreen and races from the room in embarrassment.
Meanwhile, chef Carlos has finally got a day off and he’s planning a day out in the Malvern Hills with his sweetheart Josefina. Carlos and Josefina head off on their picnic in the Malvern hills, and it’s all going along nicely until Carlos’ motorbike breaks down. Josefina makes her feelings on the subject very clear.
Brian is unhappy when he turns up to take his girlfriend, Janice, out but is disappointed to find she’s still getting ready. And he’s not much happier with Ruth either. Carlos and Josefina carry on their argument when they (eventually) return from their outing. When the row gets out of control, the couple find themselves in something of a compromising situation…
The salvaged episode will be available to view online for free from Friday morning, at which point viewers will also be able to pre-order the DVD containing the 1965 episode as well as two other rescued episodes from 1973.
As with so much television of the era, the expensive costs of storage compared with the perceived low value of commercial sales mean that very few of the oldest episodes exist. ITV.com are interested in talking to anybody who has any copy of any episodes of Crossroads that originally aired before 1982, whether on videotape or film. If you have a collection of old programmes and think you may be able to help, email lost.crossroads@itv.com.
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