Since
he
took
over
the
responsibilities
of
producer
he
and
his
team
maintained
the
programme's
popularity
and
high
place
in
the
ratings,
but
on
the
one
occasion
swept
the
board taking the top four places of the ratings chart.
Dedication
is
the
overriding
quality
Jack
brings
to
the
programme.
Crossroads
is
what
he
lives
and
breathes.
There
is
no
limit
to
his
working
day.
He
exudes
confidence
and
energy which inspires everyone around him
- Central Press Release, 1984
The man who built Crossroads into TV's best-known motel admitted that it wasn't easy to leave the show.
It
was
like
getting
a
divorce.
For
seventeen
years
I
had
only
seen
my
wife
at
weekends.
She'll
tell
you
I
was
not
married
to
her
-
I
was
married
to
Crossroads! The programme had taken over my life.
What would you say being a producer is about? It it simply planning the future of the series?
I
felt
I
was
the
father
of
a
family
and
they,
I
hope,
felt
the
same
way.
Cast
and
crew
would
come
to
me
if
they
have
any
personal
or
domestic
problems
and I'd try to sort them out. And like fathers with families, sometimes I have to chastise them.
Jack
started
in
show
business
at
the
age
of
14
when
he
joined
Bertram
Mills'
Circus
as
a
ring
boy.
But
he
was
soon
working
on
the
other
side
of
the
footlights.
He
was
offered
the
job
of
directing
three-year-old
Crossroads
in
1967.
What
made
you
join
a
series
which,
by
1967,
had
certainly
become the show critics loved to hate?
I
thought
it
could
be
done
better.
At
that
time
soap
opera
was
a
comparatively
new
thing
and
there
was
definitely
room
for
improvement.
But
it
was
going
out five nights a week and I thought it was a great challenge.
What do you think about people comparing Crossroads to other 'big budget' shows?
I
think
the
only
difference
between
us
and
Dallas,
Dynasty
and
Coronation
Street
was
the
time
we
went
out.
Because
we
aired
in
the
early
evening
slot,
we
had
to
be
careful
we
didn't
embarrass
anyone.
We
dealt
with
romance
rather
than
sex,
we
rarely
used
any
mild
bad
language,
no
one
ever
smoked
on
the programme and people only ever had a drink socially.
But the show had tackled more serious issues too?
The
affair
between
David
Hunter
and
Sarah
Alexander,
in
which
the
smooth,
married,
motel
boss
made
his
one-time
mistress
pregnant
was
the
sexiest
Crossroads
has
ever
been
in
my
time.
So
over
the
years
Crossroads
has
grown
up
and
become
more
adult.
But
what
shocked
viewers
most
about
that
wasn't
the fact of the affair itself, but that David had betrayed his wife.
Crossroads
did
care
about
the
viewers
and
what
innocent
eyes
might
see,
it
didn't
change
after
the
arrival
of
Brookside,
which
tried
to
be
sometimes offensive and often sensational, why?
The
viewers
care.
They
get
emotionally
involved
and
are
terribly
loyal.
In
fact,
my
years
at
Crossroads
have
been
worthwhile
if
only
for
the
way
we
have
been able to help people in return.
We
helped
establish
the
Crossroads
Care
Attendant
Scheme
for
the
disabled;
we
introduced
a
mentally-handicapped
child
into
a
TV
drama
for
the
first
time and we also helped set up a hospital unit for children with kidney disease by featuring the subject on the programme.
Later
programmes
can
be
more
visual,
maybe
more
immoral,
but
at
6
O'clock
Crossroads
was
primarily
there
to
entertain
bringing
a
mixture
of
drama
and
comedy
to
teatime
audiences.
People
don't
want
to
be
dealing
with
heavy
drama
in
the
early
evening,
they
want
something
easy
going,
relaxing.
It
wasn't
devised to upset or offend.
And
what
about
the
critics?
Crossroads
is
a
programme
that
has
aired
in
daytime
reaching
prime
time
ratings,
won
many
viewer
voted
awards,
yet
continued to be mocked by anyone who wasn't a regular viewer?
Anyone
can
pick
out
a
line
from
the
narrative
or
a
singular
scene
and
make
it
look
stupid,
however
a
lot
of
programmes
when
footage
is
taken
out
of
context
do
not
work.
People
who
watched
the
show
night
after
night
would
understand
the
way
the
format
of
Crossroads
operated;
those
who
dipped
in
and out of it or saw only a few moments would not. I think it really was as basic as that.
All
of
us,
without
exception,
have
been
hurt
by
the
criticism
of
Crossroads.
But
whatever
anyone
feels
about
the
programme,
each
and
every
one
of
us
worked
desperately
hard
to
bring
happiness
and
entertainment
to
our
regular
audience.
The
trouble
is
that
the
sort
of
thing
the
audience
love
is
exactly
what the critics slam. I am very proud and happy with my years on the programme.
Not just the critics, the television watchdog also took a dislike to it?
It
affected
their
egos,
I
think.
They
couldn't
be
proud
of
Crossroads
because
of
the
jokes
critics
had
made.
It
didn't
matter
sixteen
million
enjoyed
it.
When
they
cut
us
down
from
five
to
four
episodes
they
gave
the
excuse
they
wanted
something
more
cultural
in
what
had
been
our
fifth
slot
of
the
week.
Apparently the talent search Opportunity Knocks and, our own [ATV's] game show, The Golden Shot were deemed more cultured.
People watched it because it's awful?
Not
at
all.
We
used
to
receive
thousands
of
letters
every
week
from
viewers
who
just
wanted
to
say
"thank
you"
to
us
for
entertaining
them.
A
programme
doesn't
run
for
over
two
decades
with
huge
audiences
by
being
awful.
Car
crash
television,
as
they
seem
to
call
it
these
days,
will
have
good
ratings
for
a
few weeks at the most; people soon get tired of bad television.
The
viewers
proudly
wrote
into
the
TV
Times
letters
page
supporting
the
programme
over
many
years,
they
voted
for
us
in
practically
every
television
award going and quite a few times we won those awards.
What kind of correspondence did the Crossroads offices receive?
Some
send
in
their
CVs
asking
for
work
at
the
motel,
we
also
have
in
the
past
had
concerned
viewers
call
in
to
see
if
one
of
the
characters
is
coping
with
a
difficult
time
or
to
offer
advice.
Most
however
just
liked
to
let
us
know
that
they
loved
the
programme
and
had
come
to
see
many
of
the
characters
as
personal friends.
Some don't get wrapped up in the fiction and write in asking for auditions?
Well
to
many
of
our
older
viewers
Crossroads
was
the
most
important
programme
on
television.
They're
not
impressed
by
more
expensive
serials
or
dramas, to be seen in Crossroads meant, to them, the person had 'made it'.
So
therefore
we
used
to
get
a
lot
of
letters
from
mothers
and
grandmothers
offering
their
children
or
grandchildren's
services.
Michael
Crawford's
mother
wrote in suggesting he'd be great in a role. So did Julie Walters and Gemma Craven's mothers.
What did you think about Crossroads after you departed in 1984?
It
really
wasn't
Crossroads
they
finished
in
1988,
the
true
Crossroads
had
ended
years
before.
You
can't
make
it
into
a
totally
new
programme,
you
can't
suddenly
say
you
want
to
reach
a
whole
new
audience
and
disregard
the
loyal
viewers.
Many
were
housewives
and
elderly,
but
are
we
to
say
they
should
not be watching television? We shouldn't have programmes for that group of people?
You
can't
suddenly
clear
out
the
majority
of
the
cast,
taking
away
the
viewers
familiar
old
friends,
and
replace
them
with
more
youthful
characters
and
still expect the programme to remain popular. It was all smart speeches and pretty pictures, the caring side; the family side had been wiped away.
But you did agree that some long term characters had to leave from time to time, like Meg Mortimer, played from episode one by Noele Gordon?
I
agreed
with
Charles
Denton*
that
she
had
to
go,
because
we
no
longer
could
have
the
programme
evolving
around
one
central
character.
It
had
to
evolve
and slowly change and I don't feel it ever could have with Meg still as the matriarchal figure.
She
was
hurt
of
course,
Nolly.
She
had
been
a
personal
friend
for
years,
but
she
wouldn't
have
accepted
her
character
of
Meg
being
cut-down,
placed
out
in
the
village
into
retirement
or
running
the
post
office.
Noele
was
a
star,
and
loved
being
the
lead.
She
would
have
hated
being
reduced
to
playing
one
of
the many supporting characters. So I do really feel rather than the indignity of Nolly going through that, it was best for her to go with a big send off.
What is your fondest memory of working on Crossroads?
The
most
fun
I
had
was
while
filming
the
leaving
of
Meg
Mortimer.
Under
a
shroud
of
secrecy,
I
tried
to
ensure
that
the
media
got
no
inkling
of
Meg's
eventual means of dispatch. I even donned a fake moustache to throw reporters off the scent while filming aboard the QE2 in Southampton.
Finally what about that love-hate relationship with the newspapers?
I
loved
playing
cat
and
mouse
with
the
press.
When
I
was
spotted
by
a
group
of
journalists
and
they
asked
me
who
I
was,
I
said
my
name
was
Wolfenden
and marched past. It was actually the stage manager's name and I just plucked it out of the air.
*It was later revealed that Charles Denton had not dismissed Noele.
© Crossroads Fan Club 1987-2016, Jack Barton Interview courtesy of the Central Television Press Office Archive