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Crossroads owed its revival to Channel 5's successful bid to capture the
popular daily Australian soap Home and Away (1989-), which left ITV in need of a
replacement. Carlton executive Lord Waheed Ali somewhat improbably seized upon
Crossroads as the answer. There was a certain logic to this; when the original
series was axed it was still reaching a large audience, and recent attempts to
create entirely new soaps such as Albion Market (ITV, 1985-86) and Eldorado
(BBC, 1992-93) had been notorious failures. But Carlton soon discovered that
Crossroads came with a great deal of baggage, and it would be far from easy to
inherit original viewers, while appealing to a new audience with a much younger
demographic.
There was incredulity in the media when the return of the series was
confirmed, and the jokes about wobbly sets and wooden performances came thick
and fast. However, the series' eventual debut in March 2001 received a generally
positive critical reaction. The original cast of 28 characters had an emphasis
on youth, but also featured familiar actors like Jane Gurnett and characters
from the original series such as Jill Harvey, Doris Luke and Adam Chance. But
the honeymoon period didn't last; within a few weeks it was rumoured that the
show was facing the axe because of poor ratings and, in an apparent
confirmation, it was quickly cut from five to four episodes a week.
A combination of bad decisions (such as killing off Jill Harvey), and some
unconvincing performances only served to jettison new fans and alienate the old.
Although after much agonising by ITV another 240 episodes were ordered, the
show's fate was sealed by two decisions. Firstly the renewal was dependent on a
radical revamp which would have little continuity with the series to that point,
and secondly, the show was taken off the air for four months before the relaunch
in January 2003. This was a severe blow; unspectacular ratings were further
damaged by the hiatus, and the remaining viewers were bemused when the show
returned with a high-camp makeover starring Jane Asher as 'superbitch' Angel
Samson.
The show was rapidly cancelled but limped on until May 2003 before ending
with the revelation that the whole series had been a dream. For Crossroads fans
it was a nightmare, as it surely meant that after such a disastrous comeback,
the show was destined never to rise again.
John Williams
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