Crossroads Archive: 45th Anniversary set [DVD]

I have such fond memories of Crossroads,the soap people loved to knock and this DVD set has been a bargain and I've been basking in nostalgia,watching it all.
As we know,ATV wiped hundreds of episodes but thankfully the episodes around Sandy's(Roger Tonge) accident,that leaves the character permanently paralysed from 1972,are intact and I defy anyone to watch this and not be moved by Roger and Noele Gordon's(Meg Richardson/Mortimer)acting.
Other highlights are: Meg celebrating the Motel's 13th birthday(the Motel was already up and running when the show started)and we get a very moving scene when Meg is thinking of her first husband,Charles and looks at the paintings he did of Jill(Jane Rossington) and Sandy,to the strains of the Crossroads theme,slowed down the "sad" music,they played at special times.
The mid 70s were my favourite era,with tarty but kind hearted Vera(Zeph Gladstone)the cheery but always unlucky in love Diane Parker/Hunter(Sue Hanson)the kind hearted Jane Smith(Sally Adcock)motel cleaner and chief gossip Amy Turtle(Ann George)-Amy was abruptly axed in 76,to reappear 11 years later for a few guest appearances,-smoothie David Hunter(Ronald Allen)old Carney(Jack Woolgar)Tish Hope(Joy Andrews)Miss Tatum(Elizabeth Croft)Benny(Paul Henry)and later the kind hearted battleaxe,Miss Doris Luke(Kathy Staff)and the charmer,Adam Chance(Tony Adams)
It is frustrating,one episode ends with a great cliffhanger with Tish and Mr Booth(David Lawton)held hostage by Stan Stennett playing a criminal,we don't see the resolution but Stan Stennett,returns to Crossroads in 81,playing a new character Sid Hooper,who becomes a long running character.
As this DVD goes on,we get a run of 16 episodes running togethor,we see the Motel staff celebrating Xmas 78 with a "Good Old Days" style cabaret,including a great double act by Mr Booth and one of my favourite characters,Shughie McFee(Angus Lennie)
The set ends in April 79,the aftermath of a murder at the Crossroads garage(another great character is the Motel's garage secretary,sexy,Sharon Metcafe,played so very well,by Carolyn Jones)with Benny wrongly accussed of murder,thankfully we see all this concluded,so sit back and enter the days Of Crossroads at its peak with Meg Mortimer in charge,enjoy!

For those readers wanting to relive the experience of watching Crossroads during those long-ago teatimes (can there be any others?) this box set is undoubtedly the way to go: 41 discs with 8 episodes on each, comprising Volumes 1-20 of the previously issued Crossroads Archive DVD series plus the extra disc (Vol 1.1) of tapes discovered afterwards. Absolutely no extras, other than the packaging, if you already have the Archive DVDs, but if you don't this is a far cheaper way to acquire the programmes - and that one little box will take up rather less space on your shelves.

True, cheaper compilations of cherrypicked episodes (now available in an eight-disc set as The Crossroads Collection) have been issued, but soaps depend on the cumulative effect of watching episodes in sequence, and having already watched discs 1 to 16 in this 45th anniversary set, I can confirm that it's far more satisfying to see the storylines gradually building and to relive again that eagerness to see how a cliffhanging ending will turn out. Those with greater self-control may even wish to leave twenty four hours between the viewing of individual episodes for the full seventies teatime effect - but be warned the programmes are decidedly moreish: performing onstage may be, as Ken Dodd says, like having all your birthdays at once, but viewing the shows on this box in rapid succession is, if you're of my vintage, like fastforwarding through your adolescence.

True, there are sizeable gaps in the availability of extant tapes which curtail that dizzying pleasure - sometimes you leap over years or, by the mid-seventies, more usually months - but there are also large slabs of episodes in sequence. And the absence of some episodes can even have, as an accidental byproduct, a sort of accelerated effect on the drama: we suddenly jump from Jill's seduction by brother-in-law Anthony Mortimer (very Pre-Raphaelite Wronged Woman body language immediately afterwards) to her pregnancy several months on, for example.

On the down side, although we see a fair amount of dodgy-but-loveable barman Bill Warren (David Valla), a kind of ineffectual Bilko, and wonderfully daffy waitress Avis Tennyson ("no relation" - played by Helen Durward) the caddish Bill's wooing of Avis (and the longrunning saga of the "Avis-is-marrying-Bill" fund) has not survived. And one particularly touching moment I remember from its original transmission has gone: Stan's (Edward Clayton) response to the death of his dad Wilf (Morris Parsons) seemed to be imbued with a sense of the actor mourning a colleague.

But so much has survived on these discs which is hugely enjoyable and moving. When Noele Gordon clearly gets it into her head that a big emotional scene is coming up that can embarassing viewing; on the other hand, I have just witnessed a perfectly judged scene between Jim Baines (John Forgeham) and Sharon Metcalf (Carolyn Jones) where he first explodes at her for interfering in his business (his wife's agrophobia) and then softens when she blurts out "You are my business!"

And in the storyline about Vera (Zeph Gladstone) becoming acqainted with the son she gave away there is a really touching scene where the woman who adopted him forms an unlikely alliance with Vera as they realise they are both losing him to the twin attractions of university and a new girlfriend. Elsewhere, there is a great little scene with Morris Parsons and Jack Woolgar (Carney) striking sparks off each other, and I'd forgotten what an effective, if idiosyncratic, actor Roger Tonge was; he and Jack Woolgar are often used as sounding boards for the problems of other characters. And in fairness to Noele Gordon, she is very good at the longsuffering comic foil bit, a la Barbara Knox in Corrie, reacting to the stupidities of those around her, as in is a far-fetched but delightfully farcical storyline of a man hiding out for several days in her bedroom, trying both to avoid the attentions of detective Don Bullman and to weasel his way into her affections: "Don't call me 'Mrs M!'"

There is much more to be said but really, you need to explore for yourself. All I can say is that these do not appear to be programmes made with contempt for their audience, nor actors who appear to be slumming it; Jack Barton said that the team strove their utmost to bring "happiness and entertainment" to the audience; and as Claire Falconbridge once said in a documentary (I'm paraphrasing from memory), instead of criticising the acting it would be more appropriate to praise the actors for achieving results with such a punishing schedule. And that palpable warmth which emanated from so many of the performers could not, surely, be faked: a recent obituary of Elizabeth Croft (Miss Tatum) mentioned that Peter Brookes (Vince Parker) kept in touch with her for decades after he left the programme: "It was perhaps this quality at the heart of Crossroads that explained its popularity with viewers."

Just thought I had best clarify. I have always been a fan of the original Crossroads as I grew up in Birmingham. When Network started releasing the Archive series I had already bought 4 volumes of CROSSROADS in boxes. The Archive series contained episodes that were already available on the sets I just mentioned.This was made clear at the time.I started collecting the Archive series although they were quite pricey for the material on them and yes I realise people will say the expense was due to the cost of Network licencing the tapes. It got to the point where two volumes a month were being released and at almost 20 quid for each that's some outlay so even ardent fans gave up buying them in high numbers. Network emailed pointing out they could not pitch them in commercial outlets such as HMV which was only interested in a sort of BEST OF volumes.

I collected up to Volume 15 and discovered that NETWORK were planning to cease production at Volume 20 of the Archive series. I made the decision to do something most will consider nuts. I bought this box set of all 41 discs to cover the 5 volumes Iwas missing.

I was attracted by the box that housed the DVDs a replica of the Motel. I had assumed that it would contain all the episodes in standard DVD sized cases which would make the container quite attractive to look at. Unfortunately this is not the case(no pun intended) What you get is a reasonably sturdy card flip top case and the DVD's are housed in individual card sleeves!! A little bit like the covers that free cds with newspapers come in.Each one has some interesting photos on very clear printing. However the details that were on the individual Archive box sets have disappeared except for episode numbers and transmission dates. Network have obviously done this to a price and I understand that. What is unfair though is that descriptions do not make it clear the dimensions of the box etc.

I have seen it advertised for about 100 pounds and even at it's current Amazon price it's a lot for such poor packaging.I cannot comment on the DVD's yet as so far Iv'e not watched any.

I own loads of Networks products and am generally happy with them. This however is a let down and doesn't even contain a booklet.I'm sure the content will thrill any fans who have not already purchased the earlier editions.Make the most of it as i doubt there will be any more. Crossroads Archive: 45th Anniversary set [DVD] [1965]

I still have 14 of the original Archive volumes with cellophane on if anyone wants to buy them lol