Produced by: ATV NETWORK at the Alpha Studios, Birmingham.
Created by: HAZEL ADAIR AND PETER LING
Producer: REG WATSON
Theme Tune: TONY HATCH
Other Crew: Designers: REX SPENCER and ELIZABETH DORRITY, Floor Managers: PETER HARRIS and LIZ STERN, Production Manager: MARGARET FRENCH
Episode Status: All episodes from November 1965 are missing from the archive. Footage survives from edition 281, November 29th, which contains a sequence showing the wedding of Brian and Janice.
Cast and story information: ITC Entertainment Programme Synopsis: Crossroads Episodes January-December 1965, TV World/TV Times programme listings. The cast list is now shown for each episode, with the listing ‘in order of appearance’.
| Episode 261 – November 1st | Written by: Ivor Jay | Directed by: Alan Coleman |
Motel Reception: Bernard Martin – calling from a payphone – urgently asks to speak with Ruth. He tells her he knows what has happened to Gerald last night. Bernard asks if she has ‘done anything yet’ about the situation. She responds ‘no’. He tells Ruth she must ‘do nothing’ until he speaks with her face to face. Meg says it is a little ‘odd’ that Mr Martin is calling from a payphone.
Motel Kitchen: Marilyn is talking to Carlos, she asks what happened between him and Gerald Bailey, did he ever catch up with him? She then reminds the chef that he had promised to kill Bailey for all his terrible behaviour towards Ruth. Carlos tells Marilyn she mustn’t go around saying things like that now the man is dead.
Office at The Clarion: Ruth – putting a brave face on everything – is talking with her old friend Desmond. She tells him about the goings-on with Gerald. He says he also had a rather unfortunate meeting with him too. He tells her Gerald came in asking for his old job back. He also hinted he had been going around Healthbury drunk telling people he ‘knew where the bodies were buried’ which hasn’t endeared him to his old friends. Ruth says he never changed, he was always in trouble after he’d had a drink.
Drury Cars Office: Janice asks Sam if he could see his way to finding a job for her father. She tells Sam that Mr Gifford is a very good driver, he’s had a licence ‘since before the war’. He avoids making a joke, realising how desperate Janice appears. He tells her to ask her father to pop in and see him, he’ll see what he can do.
Motel Office: Detective Inspector Rigby is asking Meg for details that might help concerning Gerald Bailey. She doesn’t tell him too much. The DI informs Ruth that she’ll have to look at the body that was found on Walford Lane, to confirm whether it is her ex-husband or not.
Rigby: “Well somebody’s got to do it. We have to have him formally identified.”
Ruth: “Actually look at the body?”
Rigby: “Yes, you just need to look at the face and say whether it is definitely him.”
Meg: “Couldn’t I just describe him?”
Rigby: “Sadly not. He has to be looked at officially. It’s called Evidence of Identification.”
Meg goes a little puce at the very thought of it. Meg asks if there is any idea, yet, of what happened. Rigby tells her at this moment from what the lorry driver notes the body was already on the road when he swerved to avoid running over it. He adds it appears the person fell off the bridge that links Walford Lane to the motorway. Meg notes that people ‘can’t just fall off’ those motorway bridges, ‘they have to climb over the railings’. The DI gives her a knowing look.
Meg: “That would mean whoever it is did it deliberately, they committed suicide…”
| Meg Richardson Bernard Martin Ruth Bailey Sandy Richardson Carlos Rafael Stevie Harris Marilyn Gates Desmond Gough William Fothergill Janice Gifford Sam Redway Detective Inspector Rigby |
NOELE GORDON LARRY MARSHALL PAMELA GREENALL ROGER TONGE ANTHONY MORTON WENDY PADBURY SUE NICHOLLS GEOFFREY DENTON DANIEL THORNDIKE CAROLYN LYSTER JOHN PORTER-DAVISON PETER LAWRENCE |
| Episode 262 – November 2nd | Written by: Ivor Jay | Directed by: Alan Coleman |
Motel Office: Detective Inspector Rigby is trying to get a picture of Gerald Bailey from his ex-wife Ruth on the likelihood he is the body that was found in the road outside the motel.. She is reluctant to discuss the final few days she saw him alive.
Rigby: “Everyone has a breaking point. Nice average chap then one day he does something unusual, maybe even wicked. Then everyone says ‘well, who’d have thought it of him?’ You know what I mean?”
Ruth: “Yes, I know”
Rigby: “Were you married long?”
Ruth: “Seven years. By the end of it we’d become almost strangers.”
Ruth says it is okay, she will go to the morgue and confirm whether it is Gerald or not. She notes she’s already disrupted Meg’s life enough. Meg realises that the DI is suspicious of recent events and feels more has gone on between Ruth and her ex-husband than she cares to mention. She says she will accompany Ruth.
Mr Grainger’s bedsit: Stevie Harris and Kate Warboys have offered to help the teacher with some theatrical work. They are working on sewing some costumes for the school play. When he goes to make them all a cup of tea Kate observes ‘Old Grainger is all right, isn’t he? I mean for a teacher.’ Stevie replies that she ‘likes needlework’ so it is no chore.
Motel Foyer: Ruth and Meg return from the morgue. Ruth is ‘clearly controlling a deep distress, she sways’. Meg asks Marilyn to get Mrs Bailey a brandy. Ruth asks Meg if she thinks they’ll blame her for Gerald killing himself. Meg tells her she mustn’t think like that, Gerald made his own life a mess – no one else, and surely the police will see that too.
Motel Kitchen: Marilyn rushes in with the latest news for Carlos that Mr Bailey is definitely the body found outside. She tells him she has listened to Mrs Richardson and Mrs Bailey talking ‘he was all smashed up, broken and twisted. ‘orrible’ Marilyn notes. Carlos adds ‘Who will cry for this man eh? Nobody. He was not liked’
Marilyn: “You mean hated. He was hated. If he hadn’t have killed himself somebody else would have murdered him”
Carlos: “In my heart thre is no anger for him now. His life was wrong, he was a bad man. But his death was also wrong. To take your own life, may God forgive him”
Meg’s sitting room: The next morning Meg is looking through the newspapers ‘Man falls from M1 motorway to his death’ notes The Midland Gazette, while The Clarion opts for ‘Body found on road outside Crossroads Motel identified’ which Meg thinks is the last thing she needs to see, with business being down already.
Drury Cars office: It’s Brian Jarvis’ 21st birthday and this year Janice has decided to make it a happier evening than last year for him. She has bought him some gold cufflinks. He says he loves them very much. Sam suggests he looks as flashy as Billy Fury. Brian suggests they should all go to the motel for drinks to celebrate, Sam suggests they go somewhere else – and starts to tell them about the body…
Motel Office: Detective Inspector Rigby is telling Meg about Gerald Bailey’s final hours and what they have established. He tells her that the pathologist has found unexplained injuries on Mr Bailey’s upper back and head. These do not fit with his forward ‘fall’ from the M1 bridge. He also tells Meg that a police patrol car passed the motel an hour and ten minutes before Mr Bailey was discovered on Walford Lane. This doesn’t match the time of death, which was up to three hours before the body was found in the road. Meg notes ‘foul play’. Rigby says most certainly a case of murder.
| Ruth Bailey Detective Inspector Rigby Meg Richardson Stevie Harris Kate Warboys Roy Grainger Marilyn Gates Carlos Rafael William Fothergill Bernard Martin Sam Redway Benny Wilmot Sandy Richardson Janice Gifford Brian Jarvis |
PAMELA GREENALL PETER LAWRENCE NOELE GORDON WENDY PADBURY DAPHNE FOREMAN ANTHONY KENYON SUE NICHOLLS ANTHONY MORTON DANIEL THORNDIKE LARRY MARSHALL JOHN PORTER-DAVISON DEKE ARLON ROGER TONGE CAROLYN LYSTER DAVID FENNELL |
| Episode 263 – November 3rd | Written by: Ivor Jay | Directed by: Alan Coleman |
Motel Reception: Meg is surprised to see Ruth up for breakfast, she had suggested she try and rest. Ruth says she prefers to be up and around, she doesn’t want to be sitting in her chalet alone. She heads to the restaurant just before Gordon Amos arrives. Meg isn’t happy with him. She asks if he was behind the terrible headline yesterday, involving the motel. ‘Look, I can’t afford *that* kind of publicity.’ He says any free publicity can’t be a bad thing, the article itself notes the motel was just the place the victim was staying – he didn’t die at Crossroads.
Before Meg can respond to Gordon two rival reporters enter the foyer asking questions. One asks if Meg ‘kicked out Mr Bailey’ she asks where he got that information from, the other asks how well she knew him, ‘he’s from around here isn’t he?’ DI Rigby has been looking over Gerald’s car, which was left outside his chalet, and tells the reporters they won’t get any new information from the motel. ‘There was a press statement this morning, and that notes we suspect foul play. We are likely to release more information tomorrow’. he tells them.
Rigby: “At the moment we only have an idea of what happened. Until I have proof you’ll just have to wait guys”
Motel Restaurant: Ruth is having breakfast and when Marilyn asks ‘Mrs Bailey’ if everything was ‘to her satisfaction’ – revealing who she is to a photographer from one of the newspapers. (He’d booked into the motel under a fake stated occupation) Before she can hide he starts taking photographs of her. Ruth rushes into the kitchen to make her escape from the press pap.
Drury Cars Office: Sam is telling Mr Gifford that unfortunately he just isn’t up to becoming a car hire driver. He tells Gifford that ‘the test drive’ has scarred him for life and tells him it’s not his age that is the problem – he’s just a terrible driver!
George thanks Sam for at least giving him a chance, Sam responds by saying something will turn up on the job front. Janice isn’t impressed with Sam’s lack of willingness to give her father a job. She tells him; ‘One thing I can tell you, my dad’s never had an accident with a car…. Unlike some people, I could mention.’
Motel Reception: William is helping Sandy with some history homework. He asks Sandy what he means by ‘Marie Antoinette was beheaded by the guillotine and it served her right!’ Sandy says he has formed this view because the woman was a bit… – bit of a cow. ‘I mean they were all starving to death and all she could say was ‘let them eat cake’ which isn’t nice, even if I like cake’. William suggests he should add his reasoning to the paper. Sandy would rather have a slice of cake.
| Meg Richardson Ruth Bailey Detective Inspector Rigby Gordon Amos Reporter #1 Reporter #2 George Gifford Sam Redway Janice Gifford William Fothergill Sandy Richardson Bernard Martin Marilyn Gates Carlos Rafael Stevie Harris |
NOELE GORDON PAMELA GREENALL PETER LAWRENCE ANTHONY HOWARD RUSS LOGAN FREDERICK PAYNE♦ RICHARD STEELE JOHN PORTER-DAVISON CAROLYN LYSTER DANIEL THORNDIKE ROGER TONGE LARRY MARSHALL SUE NICHOLLS ANTHONY MORTON WENDY PADBURY |
| Episode 264 – November 4th | Written by: Ivor Jay | Directed by: Alan Coleman |
Motel Kitchen: William and Marilyn are curious about what Carlos has told the police inspector after he and Ruth were both questioned about the events leading up to the demise of Gerald Bailey.
Marilyn: “What did you tell him? I mean I can remember what you said as if it was yesterday. Plain on plain. You was goin’ to ‘arf kill ‘im.”
Carlos; “Please, I do not wish to speak about it”
William: “Why not? Nothing to hide, have you? Why did the inspector want to see you?”
Carlos explains that DI Rigby thinks the motel chef may be the last person to have seen Gerald alive when he went out onto the motel driveway to make sure he was leaving the motel on the night Meg told Bailey to leave. But as he didn’t touch the man, he has nothing to fear.
Drury Cars Office: Janice tells Brian her dad didn’t get the job as a driver as Sam thinks he’s not good enough. ‘I was banking so much on Dad getting a job driving, and I was sure Sam would – well make allowances. But he hasn’t.’ Brian says not to blame Sam. She says she doesn’t anymore her father has told her Sam is right, he wasn’t up to it. They turn their conversation to the death outside the motel. Brian remembers last week when they were out having dinner at the café how Gerald was having a row with some woman a few tables away. Janice says she remembers. Brian says maybe they should tell the police, it might be important.
Motel Reception: Desmond Gough pops in to see Ruth. He speaks with William at the desk about recent events, he asks how business has been. William tells him that oddly business has vastly improved since the murder – morbid curiosity brings people to the motel. Later Ruth and Desmond are having coffee in the foyer. He mentions how he’s pleased he never managed to catch up socially with Gerald now the police are sniffing around, it was bad enough Gerald made an exhibition of himself at the newspaper offices. Ruth says he ‘shouldn’t worry’ it seems that she is suspect ‘number one’ when it comes to who committed the crime with the DI. He asks Ruth a favour, if the police ask can she leave his name out? He says working for a newspaper it could bring unwanted attention in his direction, and as he has no information that could be of any use it would be pointless for the DI to speak with him. She says she won’t bring him into any conversation.
Mr Grainger’s bedsit: Stevie is waiting for Mr. Grainger to return home. When he arrives she tells him his landlady let her in to wait. He asks her what she wants. She says the main reason was to ask if it is okay if a new girl joins their sewing circle. She’s called Pamela Wilcox, and she thinks he will like her. She asks does he know of her – he says no. Grainer says he could have asked him at school there is no need to make unnecessary detours on her way home. Stevie to herself thinks Mr Grainger is a lovely detour.
Motel Reception: Mr. Turner checks in to the motel. Meg is trying to balance phone calls from reporters with dealing with reception. She asks Turner how long he intends to stay, he says several days depending on how his business affairs are quickly finalised. He asks why all the flutter of media activity around the motel. Meg asks if he’s not read the newspapers. He tells her he doesn’t have time for newspapers. She explains there was an accident on the road near the motel – it has nothing to do with them directly. Once in his chalet, he makes a call to a News Desk.
Jack Turner: “Hello Bill. Jack here. Jack Turner. Yes, I’m checked in.”
| Sandy Richardson Marilyn Gates Carlos Rafael William Fothergill Stevie Harris Brian Jarvis Janice Gifford Desmond Gough Ruth Bailey Benny Wilmot Meg Richardson Gordon Amos Jack Turner Mr. Grainger |
ROGER TONGE SUE NICHOLLS ANTHONY MORTON DANIEL THORNDIKE WENDY PADBURY DAVID FENNELL CAROLYN LYSTER GEOFFREY DENTON PAMELA GREENALL DEKE ARLON NOELE GORDON ANTHONY HAYWARD ALLEN WESTON ANTHONY KENYON |
| Episode 265 – November 5th | Written by: Ivor Jay | Directed by: Alan Coleman |
Chalet Nine: Jack Turner is telling his boss, Bill, at the newspaper that he managed to check in to the motel without any suspicion. He tells him that while the staff appear to have been told not to speak to the press – as they don’t know he’s the press – he’ll soon get one of them to reveal all the interesting details. He says within the week he’ll have a nice juicy exclusive story.
Motel Kitchen: Meg is surprised to learn that Stevie is sending her pocket money back every week to her father. The five pounds he sent her – to pay back Meg for what she stole from a guest’s wallet – wasn’t a gift, it was a loan and she’s having to pay him the money owed bit by bit.
Chalet Eight: DI Rigby is speaking about the ongoing investigation to Ruth. The DI mentions the broken table lamp, in her old room, Chalet Twelve, which they’ve taken away for examination. Ruth says when she returned to the room everything in it had been broken or damaged. She says it was like someone had ransacked the place but without stealing anything. Ruth then notes these damages were discovered just before the lorry crashed on the verge outside, so it fell out of being looked into. And then the police have had the chalet sealed off since last week so Mrs Richardson couldn’t really investigate it.
Drury Cars Office: Brian has a job suggestion for Janice’s father. At his factory, there is a vacancy for a ‘nightwatchman’. Janice is offended that Brian should think her Dad is so lowly that he’d accept such a position. Sam interrupts and says he would never have believed Ms Gifford is a snob.
Sam: “Let me tell you something, Janice. There are different kinds of pride. Me, I want the best job I can get. I want to be a millionaire. Great. But I’d take any job before I’d take dole or charity. I’m not proud, but I get pride. Know what I mean?”
Janice says she’ll mention the job to her father, it might be something he wants to do until he finds something more suitable for his experience.
Motel Kitchen: Sandy and Stevie are excited about the bonfire night fireworks. Marilyn tells Sandy to look after Stevie; ‘we don’t want no hands blown off or getting burnt’ she says, adding, ‘Don’t you be showing off with those fireworks.’ Carlos gives them a packet of sausages ‘to cook on the big flames’.
Meg’s Sitting Room: DI Rigby says he met Mr Martin, Ruth’s boss in the foyer. He said he called her Ruth. The DI finds that a bit odd. ‘I’d be Mrs Bailey. Always Mrs. Bailey’. He also observed Mr Martin was pretty quick to leave ‘when he realised Ruth was busy’ talking to him. Meg asks what conclusion this brings. Rigby says at the moment he isn’t sure. Later Brian pops into the motel and when he sees the DI he asks to speak to him about Gerald. He mentions that last Wednesday, at the Four Leaf Clover Café, he was lunching with his fiancé Janice when a few tables away Mr Bailey was engaged in a row with an unidentified woman.
Once Brian leaves DI Rigby tells Meg that there are lots of loose ends to tie up with this case, but he can tell her one thing; Unfortunately, the motel will have to keep Chalet Twelve out of operation for a while longer. ‘Gerald Bailey was killed in that room’. The F/S shot after the closing credits shows a policeman standing outside the chalet door.
| Jack Turner Sandy Richardson Meg Richardson Carlos Rafael Stevie Harris Detective Inspector Rigby Ruth Bailey Bernard Martin Brian Jarvis Janice Gifford Sam Redway Marilyn Gates |
ALLEN WESTON ROGER TONGE NOELE GORDON ANTHONY MORTON WENDY PADBURY PETER LAWRENCE PAMELA GREENALL LARRY MARSHALL DAVID FENNELL CAROLYN LYSTER JOHN PORTER-DAVISON SUE NICHOLLS |
| Episode 266 – November 8th | Written by: Ivor Jay | Directed by: Tim Jones |
Motel Kitchen: The gossip is spreading about Gerald Bailey’s murder, while Marilyn has also been ‘admiring’ the policeman standing outside Chalet Twelve. She asks the gathered whether they’ve ‘heard the latest?’ Sandy responds ‘No, but I’m sure we’re about to’.
Marilyn: “I could pass a remark, but I won’t as ‘e was done in ‘ere at the motel”
Carlos: “What you mean, ‘done in’ here?”
Marilyn: “Killed. Mr Gerald Bailey was murdered in Mrs Ruth Bailey’s chalet”
Sandy: “Who told you?”
Marilyn: “Never you mind! …But if people will talk so loud, I mean I can’t go around with cotton wool stuffed in me ears can I?”
Motel Reception: Meg and Ruth are looking at the morning newspapers. ‘We’re famous, or is it infamous?’ Meg says. She observes that everyone in the motel appeared to know the details before the papers went to press. Ruth asks how. Meg suggests one of the staff must have overheard and started the gossip mill going.
Motel Restaurant: Jack Turner, undercover, is trying to get information out of Marilyn who is serving him lunch. She suggests the curry, its new for their new lunchtime service. ‘Mind, it’s hot’ she tells him. He responds with ‘As hot as the scent the police are on?’. Marilyn does a surprisingly good job at pretending to know absolutely nothing. She even surprises herself.
Gifford House: Brian has popped in to see George Gifford to see how the job hunting is going. ‘There are two questions they always ask that end up showing me the door’ he observes. ‘How old are you’ and ‘Why did you leave your last job’. George says he’s 54 and can’t get a reference. He says the Labour Exchange have jobs, but not the kind he wants. ‘I want to use my brain, it’s self-respect isn’t it?’. Brian tells him about the nightwatchman job, but he says taking that would be ‘a confession of failure’.
Motel Reception: DI Rigby is asking Meg about anyone who visited the motel on the day of Mr Bailey’s death, but who wasn’t staying. She notes she can’t recall everyone as guests have visitors who don’t come to the reception, but she recalls that Ruth had two callers; although both didn’t see Mrs Bailey as she was out at the time. Bernard Martin her boss and Desmond Gough an old colleague of Gerald’s and an old friend of Ruth. Meg says Mr Gough came to the motel in a Drury hire car, she knows the driver who brought him to the motel, Sam Redway.
Outside the motel: Sam has dropped a guest off in his taxi. He makes small talk with Marilyn, but she is keen to get away from him. He asks her what is wrong. ‘I saw you, there, outside that room.’ Sam says he was looking for Mr Gough. ‘Likley story’ Marilyn replies. Sam moves towards Marilyn – incredulous and anxious – ‘Are you accusing me of killin’ Bailey?’
| Marilyn Gates Sandy Richardson Carlos Rafael Stevie Harris Meg Richardson Ruth Bailey DI Rigby Sally Morrison Jack Turner George Gifford Brian Jarvis Sam Redway |
SUE NICHOLLS ROGER TONGE ANTHONY MORTON WENDY PADBURY NOELE GORDON PAMELA GREENALL PETER LAWRENCE MARGARET CHRISTENSEN ALLEN WESTON RICHARD STEELE DAVID FENNELL JOHN PORTER-DAVISON |
| Episode 267 – November 9th | Written by: Ivor Jay | Directed by: Tim Jones |
Motel Kitchen: To gain his confidence Jack Turner has told Carlos he writes for a food magazine, and he’s been very impressed with the chef’s meals. He offers Carlos three guineas per recipe to publish in the magazine. Carlos tells Meg. She says as he’d be writing about his work at the motel she doesn’t see a problem with that permit-wise.
Meg notices Marilyn is distant. She’s washed up a plate containing a meal ready to serve and not even realised- even if Carlos has, ‘She sleeps standing up!” he barks. Meg asks Marilyn if anything is wrong. She says she has something on her mind but isn’t sure what to do about it. Meg ask if its personal. Marilyn says it in a way has to do with the motel so maybe she should talk about it. She tells Meg how she saw Sam lingering outside Mrs Bailey’s chalet the night Mr Bailey died. Meg says she knows, Sam dropped Mr Gough off. Marilyn says that doesn’t explain him behaving all odd outside the ‘murder chalet’.
The Clarion office: DI Rigby has decided to speak with Desmond Gough about Gerald Bailey and his activities over his final few days alive. Gough tells Rigby he’s given him all the information he can, including a full and truthful account of his whereabouts during the day of the murder. Rigby asks Gough why he used a hire car to go to the motel on the night of the murder, considering his own car is only seven months old and is running perfectly well – ‘I didn’t want to drive all that way up to the motel’. He says that when he learned Ruth was not present at the motel he went ‘to the pub down the lane for a drink’ while he waited for Sam to return (he’d asked for a return ride to the city centre ‘half an hour’ after they arrived). Gough tells Rigby the hire car was outside the motel, but Sam wasn’t to be seen anywhere.
Motel Reception: Meg is speaking with Sam about the information Marilyn has told her.
Sam: “She’d get you hung, she would. Tittle-tattle. Too much rabbit, that’s her trouble.”
Meg: “It’s true she loves gossip, but she doesn’t make things up. She’s certainly not malicious nor is she a fool. But never mind Marilyn, I’m more concerned about what you were doing outside Ruth’s chalet. I mean you didn’t have to be there at all…”
Sam: “Just havin’ a breath of fresh air…”
Sam later comes clean to Meg and says he caught Gerald going into Ruth’s chalet and was curious as to what he was up to. Sam says he didn’t get any sense from Mr Bailey – he was too drunk to put a sentence together. He notes he was on his way back to the reception to mention where Bailey was but Desmond Gough appeared and wanted driving back to the city centre ‘in a hurry’. So they both left.
Coffee Bar: Marilyn is trying to get Benny to enter a songwriting contest she’s seen in a hits magazine. She suggests that he enters the song he wrote about her – ‘Marilyn’ – as it is ‘ever so lovely’. He says he’s moved on from sloppy ballads now. ‘I don’t think he’s keen’ Sandy observes. When Benny goes off Sandy suggests if Marilyn thinks it is a winning song she should send it in herself. ‘Easier said than done’ she observes – the song has to be performed ‘on tape and sent in’. Sandy hatches up another plan – he asks Marilyn if she has a tape recorder…
Meg’s Sitting Room: Meg is talking to Carlos about Sam Redway and what he’s told her. Carlos suggests she should inform the DI.
Carlos: “You should tell the police. If they find out you knew before they find out then they will ask you why did you not tell them you knew before they knew. And that would not be pleasant, but maybe give Sam warning you are putting the fingers on him”
Meg thanks Carlos for the advice ‘I think I understand what you’re saying’, and I think you’re right she responds.
Carlos then asks if Meg believes in ghosts. The pots and the pans in the kitchen, he says, have been moved and the staff swear they haven’t been doing it to annoy him. Meg says that before the current house another large manor used to stand over where the new motel building is, so it’s possible but unlikely to be a spirit from 200 years ago.
Drury Cars Office: Marilyn pops in to see Sam who is working late. ‘Your landlady said you were still here’ she notes. Sam asks what she wants, not another round of ‘amateur Miss Marple’. Marilyn says she’s come to apologise. He tells her bluntly that he thinks she’s a ‘troublemaker’ and Mrs Richardson is probably going to tell the police. Marilyn says she, herself, already has done that..
| Carlos Rafael Meg Richardson Sandy Richardson Marilyn Gates Stevie Harris Desmond Gough DI Rigby Sam Redway Benny Wilmot |
ANTHONY MORTON NOELE GORDON ROGER TONGE SUE NICHOLLS WENDY PADBURY GEOFFREY DENTON PETER LAWRENCE JOHN PORTER-DAVISON DEKE ARLON |
| Episode 268 – November 10th | Written by: Ivor Jay | Directed by: Tim Jones |
Drury Cars office: Sandy has popped in to see how ‘Sam got on at the cop shop’ last night. Sam asks how Sandy knew. ‘Marilyn of course’. He tells Sam she’s very upset, crying while peeling the potatoes.
Sandy: “You never saw anything like it this morning. Marilyn cryin’, Carlos walkin’ on the ceiling because his pots and pans have been moved through the night again. Stevie playin’ up with mum because she’s taking her to the doctor as Stevie apparently isn’t getting enough sleep.”
‘Home sweet home’ Sam responds. He then tells Sandy that there is very little to report from the police station. ‘I made a statement and they took my fingerprints. That was it’.
Motel Reception: Jack Turner and Gordon Amos see each other, after ‘must be at least six years’. Gordon says he is back in the midlands following the death of his brother Victor, and he didn’t fancy returning to South Africa. Gordon asks if Jack is still ‘big on the London scene’ Jack says he is, that crime stories pay. Gordon asks if he still goes undercover, ‘like that time you pretended to be a window cleaner to get into a hospital to ask that dying criminal questions…’ Jack says he sometimes does, but (lying) tells Gordon he’s in the midlands strictly on holiday. Gordon doesn’t believe him.
Motel Kitchen: Meg tells Marilyn the visit to the doctors with Stevie wasn’t much use. They said it probably is just a phase she’s going through wanting to stay up late. Carlos complains about the pots and pans being moved around the kitchen through the night as it happened again. Third night in a row. Meg notes ‘I wouldn’t worry Carlos, it is most likely just a harmless domesticated ghost’. He responds that ‘this spook is not very domesticated if he keeps moving my saucepans, he has no right’.
Motel Restaurant: Brian has come to see how Ruth is doing. They are having dinner. ‘Are the police still putting you through it?’ he asks her. She tells him ‘Not so much now, now they have suspects’. But she also observes ‘I know what a hunted stag feels like – terrified.’.
Chalet Nine: Carlos pops in to give Jack Turner a number of ‘Crossroads Recipies’ for the non-existent food magazine Turner has pretended he writes for. It isn’t long before Carlos and Jack are talking about Gerald Bailey’s murder – and Carlos reveals to him all he knows. Jack’s plan worked a treat.
Coffee Bar: Marilyn and Sandy are putting their plan into action to record Benny singing ‘Marilyn’ the song he wrote for her. He won’t enter it into a songwriting contest so Sandy and Marilyn have decided to do it behind his back. But they need a tape of him performing the song for it to be submitted. ‘Do you know how to work that tape recorder?’ Marilyn asks. Sandy replies ‘Of course’ and then hides under the counter. Marilyn then, when Benny arrives to do some more painting in the barn, pesters him to sing the song. He tells her he will sing it one last time, if she promises never to ask him for any favours – including singing it – ever again. She agrees. Benny sings ‘Marilyn’ as the closing captions roll.
| Sandy Richardson Sam Redway Gordon Amos Marilyn Gates Jack Turner Meg Richardson Carlos Rafael Brian Jarvis Ruth Bailey Stevie Harris Mr. Grainger Benny Wilmot |
ROGER TONGE JOHH PORTER-DAVISON ANTHONY HOWARD SUE NICHOLLS ALLEN WESTON NOELE GORDON ANTHONY MORTON DAVID FENNELL PAMELA GREENALL WENDY PADBURY ANTHONY KENYON DEKE ARLON |
| Episode 269 – November 11th | Written by: Ivor Jay | Directed by: Tim Jones |
Coffee Bar: Benny has performed his song ‘Marilyn’ for Marilyn one final time. She says how wonderful it was. He thinks she’s being very ‘over the top’ even more so than usual. He goes off to continue his work. Sandy, dishevelled, emerges from under the counter. She asks if the recording went all right. He says he thinks so. Marilyn says ‘Well if not I’ll just have to get him to do it again’. Sandy says ‘he’s not putting his neck through that again’.
Motel Reception: The next morning DI Rigby asks Meg if she has any idea who is leaking information to the press, he shows her the front of the Heathbury Post, ‘Police seek mystery woman: Motel mystery killing takes new turn‘. Meg tells him she nor her staff are likely to provide the newspapers with such information, ‘it doesn’t reflect well on the motel’. She suggests maybe it’s a police worker. Rigby thinks it is unlikely – there is plenty they know that hasn’t gone public.
Meg’s Sitting Room: Ruth and Meg are talking about the newspaper coverage and how information is being leaked. Meg mentions how DI Rigby thinks it is coming from a source at the motel.
Ruth: “Surely you don’t think anyone here would give out details to the newspaper?”
Meg: “Where else could it come from, about this mystery woman? There is only Brian, Janice, you and me who know. Other than the police. And they’re certain it’s not an inside leak from the station.”
Ruth: “Would any staff have possibly overheard a conversation?”
Meg: “Well, there is Marilyn. I know she certainly would gossip in the kitchen, but she’s loyal. She wouldn’t speak to the journalists. I made it clear no one must speak to the press, and I’d trust them all not to do that.”
Ruth thinks the only other answer would be if the motel was ‘wired, you know secret microphones’. Meg is concerned for Ruth’s mental well-being. Ruth suggests she might have a night out and try to take her mind off everything that has happened. Meg says it can’t do any harm – but to herself doesn’t think it’ll really be much help either.
Motel Reception: Rita Gough has arrived at the desk and is asking Marilyn to speak with Detective Inspector Rigby – she was told she would find him at the motel. Marilyn confirms he is on-site, but isn’t sure if he’s to be disturbed. ‘Look it’s very important, the policeman at the station said if it was urgent I should speak to him here’. She tells the DI that she is the woman who was spotted rowing with Mr Bailey in the café. Later Brian spots Mrs Gough leaving the motel – he tells DI Rigby that she is the woman from the café. Rigby says he knows – she came to tell him about the incident. She isn’t a suspect. ‘Before you find someone guilty, you have to find a lot of people innocent Mr Jarvis’.
The Crown Inn: Jack made sure he ‘got chatting’ to Ruth at the motel. He observed she needed ‘cheering up a bit, if at all possible’ and suggested they go for a drink away from the motel. She thought it would be a lovely idea.
During the evening Ruth compliments Jack on being a great listener, she then of her own doing ends up talking about Gerald. ‘Lies can be ugly’ she tells him, continuing, ‘Gerald was a liar and the truth about Gerald was ugly, utterly ugly.’ Jack says she clearly was vulnerable and Gerald obviously thrived on that.
Ruth: “In the beginning, there were three words in our marriage; ‘I love you’. By the end, there were still three words; ‘I hate you’.”
Jack: “He must have done some pretty appalling things.”
Ruth: “I like this place, I’m very happy here”.
| Benny Wilmot Marilyn Gates Sandy Richardson Jack Tuner Carlos Rafael Stevie Harris Meg Richardson DI Rigby Gordon Amos Ruth Bailey Rita Gough Brian Jarvis Desmond Gough |
DEKE ARLON SUE NICHOLLS ROGER TONGE ALLEN WESTON ANTHONY MORTON WENDY PADBURY NOELE GORDON PETER LAWRENCE ANTHONY HAYWARD PAMELA GREENALL DIANE DOVE DAVID FENNELL GEOFFREY DENTON |
| Episode 270 – November 12th | Written by: Ivor Jay | Directed by: Tim Jones |
Motel Kitchen: It’s the middle of the night and Stevie is wandering around the kitchen ‘in a trance’; she is moving the pots when Carlos turns on the lights. ‘Stevie’ he calls. She doesn’t respond. Eventually, she begins to awake ‘I’m cold, so cold’ she tells Carlos. He tells her she will soon be warm, and not to be frightened. She asks him what she’s doing in the kitchen. He gently takes her to her room.
Motel Reception: The next morning Marilyn has just listened to the tape recording she and Sandy secretly made of Benny singing his song about her. She notes ‘I didn’t dare ‘ope it’d be this good’. Sandy tells her ‘Well you had a genius at the sound controls’. Marilyn says they must send it off to the songwriting competition. But there is a problem, she can’t send it under her name – or they’ll think she is very manly. Sandy suggests they post it with his name and address.
Motel Restaurant: Meg is planning the menu for the week ahead. Carlos asks if he can have a word with her. He tells Meg that ‘this morning, I come back from my night off. Is about one ‘o’clock, maybe.’ He says as he walked through reception he heard a noise in the kitchen. ‘I think I will catch this ghost and my pans’, adding, ‘I am not frightened’… Meg asks if he’s trying to ‘kill her with suspense’. He cuts to the point ‘Stevie was sleepwalking’. She doesn’t seem to recall it as she said nothing to him this morning. Meg says she will have to talk to the doctor again.
Drury Cars office: DI Rigby is asking about Ruth and her involvement with the old Night and Day Car Hire. Sam says she only worked there for a short while when Janice was unable to work due to being in the hospital, it wasn’t permanent employment. Sam asks if that is what he’s really come to speak to him about. Rigby asks if Sam ever ‘saw Mrs Bailey in a temper’. He responds, no, never. Then tells the DI:
“Now look Mr Rigby, you didn’t come here to do the work of a bobby. You came here to pump me about Ruth Bailey. You’re really up the creek if you think she had anything to do with her ex-‘s death. Whoever did him in had to be a man, Ruth couldn’t drag that body to a car, then chuck it off the motorway bridge…”
Motel Kitchen: Marilyn has bought some new teabags for the staff. She says she saw the advert on TV and thought they sounded fun. Marilyn sings the jingle; ‘Zip Tips – put a zip in your teapot and go! go! go!’ Meg says the song puts her off the drink, ‘I’m not a combustion engine’. Sandy and Stevie return from school. He tells Marilyn he’s posted the tape. Meg asks to speak to Stevie alone.
Motel Office: Meg is asking Stevie if she can remember sleepwalking around the motel. Stevie says she doesn’t remember doing that at all. She asks Meg why people do such a thing. Meg responds with ‘I don’t really know anything about it’ then adds, ‘I did read once that this kind of thing can be caused by deep anxiety. Are you worried about anything?’ Stevie says ‘no’ and that she is very happy living at the motel.
Stevie has lied to Meg about going to Mr Grainger’s bedsit to help with out-of-hours school projects saying instead she got a babysitting job. Meg tells her she thinks schoolwork and the babysitting may be too much for her, and suggests she gives the latter up. Stevie is horrified that she might have to stop seeing Mr Grainger.
Motel Reception: Bernard Martin has once again returned to try and see Ruth. He has tried several times with no luck. Sandy tells him the ‘past two weeks have been very difficult for Mrs Bailey’ Mr Martin says he understands that, but why hasn’t she returned any of his messages or popped into the office? Sandy says he will make sure she gets his message to contact Mr Martin as soon as possible. Bernard tells Sandy; ‘Please tell her as soon as you can, it is very important’.
Jarvis’ Shop: Meg and Ruth have popped in to see Owen, but he’s gone out into town. Amy is running the store. She mentions it was terrible the incident at the motel. She recalls the murder was the same night she saw Ruth at the cinema. Amy notes it’s a shame Ruth left not long after the film started, she missed ‘a good ‘un’ but she can see why she gave up watching it, the first part was a bit dull. Meg realises Ruth’s alibi of being in the pictures when Gerald was killed is no longer valid.
| Carlos Rafael Stevie Harris Sandy Richardson Marilyn Gates Meg Richardson Sam Redway Inspector Rigby Bernard Martin Mr. Grainger Ruth Bailey Amy Turtle |
ANTHONY MORTON WENDY PADBURY ROGER TONGE SUE NICHOLLS NOELE GORDON JOHN PORTER-DAVISON PETER LAWRENCE LARRY MARSHALL ANTHONY KENYON PAMELA GREENALL ANN GEORGE |
| Episode 271 – November 15th |
Written by: Hazel Adair and Peter Ling | Directed by: Alan Coleman |
Motel Kitchen: Ruth and Meg have returned from their shopping trip to Heathbury. Marilyn tells Ruth that Mr Martin popped in quite ‘flustered’ and asked if she could get in touch with him ‘as soon as possible’. She tells Ruth he said it was a matter of urgency.
When Marilyn goes to work in the restaurant Meg turns her attention to Amy Turtle’s conversation in the shop.
Meg: “Oh Ruth, for goodness sake! Did Mrs Turtle make a mistake when she thought you left the cinema early?”
Ruth: “That’s what you’d like me to say, isn’t it? That I popped out for an Ice cream and just sat somewhere else. But that isn’t true. I didn’t stay to watch the film.”
Meg: “But when you returned that night, I asked if you enjoyed the movie, and you said yes.”
Ruth: “All right I lied about it. I didn’t mean to. You know what a state I was in that night, I never wanted to go to the pictures at all, but Gould was coming here and I didn’t want to see him. After ten minutes I left the cinema and walked around Birmingham, probably for miles.”
Ruth adds she didn’t see anyone she knew while walking around the city centre, but Meg says if someone recognises her she might be in trouble. She’s lied to the police.
Motel Office: Sandy and Carlos are looking at the posters for the grand opening of the coffee bar. Carlos says ‘What a waste of money’, while Sandy notes it’s a shame ‘Mum has delayed the opening’ due to the demise of Gerald Bailey. Carlos notes ‘it is a good thing Senora Richardson delays. ‘Drop in for coffee at the ‘murder motel’ will attract sightseers with the morbid streak’. Sandy suggests as they have the food already in the cold store they should open anyway and just have a low-key party.
Motel Reception: Stevie’s father has arrived, after Meg asked him to pop in to discuss her recent issues. He says he’s not surprised she’s having problems. ‘Very unstable is Stephanie, she takes after her mother.’ Meg says she’s more interested in medical matters. Anything she should know. Meg tells him how Stevie has been ‘sleepwalking’. Mr Harris says ‘Oh, she’s started that again?’. He explains she began wandering in the twilight hours when her mother first packed her bags and left them. Meg says maybe Stevie is worrying about paying back the five pounds her father loaned her. He tells Meg he hasn’t loaned Stephanie any cash. ‘If she’s been lying again she deserves a good hiding’. Meg says there is no need to talk like that, she may have misunderstood what Stevie had said (she knows she hasn’t), and she will deal with the issue suitably.
Chalet Nine: Jack calls into the news desk. ‘Just making sure you got the copy of the Ruth Bailey exclusive,’ he asks, adding; ‘It certainly is sensational. You know how it is, I turned on the sympathetic uncle routine and she talked her head off.’ He confirms the dates, the fact that Gerald forced himself on Ruth sexually, he was a raging violent alcoholic and womaniser. ‘Once we’re able to publish we can be 24 hours ahead of everyone else on this’, he notes. ‘We have the biggest story from the whole incident’.
Jack also adds he’s heard the motel is cashing in on the killing by ‘right in the middle of the investigation’ opening a coffee shop next to the ‘death road’.
Police Station: Ruth has gone to the local police station to speak with DI Rigby at his request. He brings out her statement and says he has one or two things to ask about it. She tells the DI that she’s ‘told them over and over, and over again’ the events of the night of the murder. He says to her that sometimes ‘little things, things that don’t seem important’ get missed.’ He says Ruth told them she was, at the time Mr Bailey was murdered in her chalet at Crossroads, in Birmingham at the cinema. Ruth confirms again that is correct. Rigby says ‘you told us the film was called ‘Until Tomorrow’. She nods. He says however just for ‘confirmation you watched it, can you tell me what happened in the story’. Ruth says she has a terrible memory when it comes to TV or movie plotlines.
Detective Sergent Collins enters the questioning room. Ruth recognises him from the motel. She realises he must have overheard the conversation between herself and Meg in the kitchen the day before. Rigby asks if she’d like to repeat what Collins heard last evening. (Viewers saw him standing outside Chalet Twelve opposite the kitchen – the kitchen windows were open, but the blinds were closed).
Meg’s Sitting Room: Meg is talking to Stevie about why she lied about her father loaning her five pounds (to pay Meg back the five pounds she had to pay back to a guest that Stevie stole from his wallet). ‘You haven’t answered where you really got the money from’ Meg states, Stevie responds that she didn’t steal the money, but she’d rather not say where she obtained it. Meg says she believes that it isn’t stolen, but she has to be honest about how she earned it.
Stevie: “You have to promise not to tell Sandy, that’s why I said it was from my father – because if Sandy knows the truth he will laugh at me.”
Meg: “We can leave Sandy out of this, its between you and me”
Stevie: “Well, I lied about babysitting too. I borrowed the money from a teacher at school. I explained about the broken watch and everything. And he said he would lend me the money to pay you back”
Meg asks if it is Mr Grainger. She’s heard Sandy mention him and how Stevie is his ‘pet’. Stevie says Sandy makes fun of them because Mr Grainger ‘is kind’ to her. She says instead of babysitting she’s been, with others, helping to make costumes for the school plays. Meg says she finds her avoidance of the truth in this matter baffling – as there was nothing terrible to hide.
Police Station: Ruth has given the DI the true events of her movements on the night of her ex-husband’s murder. However, she remembers ‘at around ten o’clock I popped into a café for a cup of tea’. She tells them its called ‘Ted’s Tuck In’. Rigby says he will look into her alibi. Later the counterhand is brought into the station to take a look at Ruth. He can’t remember seeing Ruth. ‘Maybe she was there, maybe not. I can’t recall the face of every customer’.
| Marilyn Gates Meg Richardson Ruth Bailey Detective Sergeant Collins Stevie Harris Sandy Richardson Carlos Rafael Jack Turner Mr. Harris Detective Inspector Rigby Bewlay (counterhand) |
SUE NICHOLLS NOELE GORDON PAMELA GREENALL STUART SHERWIN WENDY PADBURY ROGER TONGE ANTHONY MORTON ALLEN WESTON RAYMOND LLEWELYN PETER LAWRENCE NICHOLAS BRENT |
| Episode 272 – November 16th |
Written by: Hazel Adair and Peter Ling |
Directed by: Alan Coleman |
Motel Reception: Sandy is keen to use the posters to promote the opening, tomorrow, of the coffee bar at the barn. Meg says no, she wants due to the circumstances a ‘low key’ opening. Sandy is disappointed..
Ruth comes in from her chalet, Meg asks how things are going. Sandy goes to get her a coffee ‘as Mrs Bailey looks like she needs one’ and Ruth tells Meg how the sergeant had been eavesdropping on them and DI Rigby now knows the truth of her whereabouts on October 29th.. ‘I’m pretty sure the police don’t believe my story at all’ She tells Meg, adding ‘They caught me out on one small lie and now they think the whole story is fiction – Rigby thinks I killed Gerald.’
Motel Reception: Meg tells Gordon Amos she’s disgusted by the way the press is going on, ‘those newshounds stalking Ruth’. She tells him how they were outside the police station last night taking photos and asking disgraceful questions. Gordon responds that they are all only ‘doing their jobs’. She tells him to leave, he won’t get any story out of her or the staff. Ruth, who has been listening, says Gordon can’t possibly understand how much more stress the press’ behaviour puts on someone in her situation. Gordon suggests, as she knows the people at The Clarion, she should ask them to help – if she gives a little story to that paper it should make the rest give up as the story is out, and they have nothing to scoop any more. He says as her old friend Desmond Gough is the Managing Editor he would make sure they did it as a sympathetic piece rather than a tabloid scandal like the Fleet Street lot. Meg and Ruth think it probably is the best way of dealing with the situation.
Drury Cars office: Sam says it is a most wonderful morning. ‘One of the best possible mornings that ever happened. It just goes to show it’s no good reading horoscopes.’ He continues, ‘They said I was going to have a difficult and disappointing day today, but they were wrong’. Janice asks what on earth he is going on about. He tells her she will be issued the compensation cheque today from the insurance company following the accident in the car hire vehicle that left her in hospital. Sam tells her she’ll be getting £950. Sam says Brian will be pleased, just in time for the wedding. Sam then suggests she marries him instead, ‘Oh Janice… I love everything about you; your eyes, your hair and your bank balance..’
Coffee Bar: Marilyn and Benny are making the final preparations for the coffee shop to open, called ‘That Place‘. Carlos says the plates and cups have arrived – and a nice job for Marilyn – they all have to be washed before they can be used.
Jack pops into the coffee bar, looking for Carlos ‘to discuss more of those recipes’ (the pretence the journalist is using to get info on Ruth Bailey). Carlos asks Jack what he thinks of ‘That Place’. Jack says it all looks ‘very attractive’. Benny says it gets better and asks Marilyn to turn on some switches. ‘It ain’t gonna make that coffee machine explode again is it?’ (It had blown a fuse when William tried to fix it previously). As she flicks the switches an array of coloured fairy lights and coloured lanterns, in several places around the barn, light up.
Marilyn: “Ooh I never! It’s just like Blackpool Illuminations.”
Carlos: “Magnifice! Pretty, like the gardens of Alcazar in Seville.”
Jack says he can see they’re all busy, so he’ll speak to Carlos later, as he goes Meg walks in. Benny says Mrs Richardson has her own ‘version of the Moulin Rouge’. Meg says it all looks very pretty, but she’s sticking to her original feeling that postponing the grand opening is the best thing to do – she thinks it would be in bad taste while Chalet Twelve is a crime scene
The Clarion Office: Ruth has popped in to see Desmond Gough, a bigwig in the newspaper who is an old friend of Ruth and her recently departed ex Gerald. She tells Desmond ‘I’ve come to ask you a favour, I need your help’. He tells her that even the influence he has doesn’t stretch to London, and he can ask his journalists to stay away from the motel but ‘as it’s caught the attention of the nationals I’m afraid I can’t be of much help to you’.
| Sandy Richardson Meg Richardson Ruth Bailey Gordon Amos Janice Gifford Sam Redway Marilyn Gates Benny Wilmot Carlos Rafael Jack Turner Brian Jarvis Sylvia (Gough’s Secretary) Desmond Gough George Gifford |
ROGER TONGE NOELE GORDON PAMELA GREENALL ANTHONY HOWARD CAROLYN LYSTER JOHN PORTER-DAVISON SUE NICHOLLS DEKE ARLON ANTHONY MORTON ALLEN WESTON DAVID FENNELL BRIDGET BRICE GEOFFREY DENTON RICHARD STEELE |
| Episode 273 – November 17th |
Written by: Hazel Adair and Peter Ling |
Directed by: Alan Coleman |
Gifford House: Having discussed it with Brian, Janice has offered her father half of the money she has been awarded as compensation. He flatly refuses to take it. ‘I don’t understand’ she tells her father. He responds ‘You don’t have to understand it, I can’t take your money’. After a while, he explains to his daughter that he hadn’t been entirely honest about being sacked. He tells her how he helped with a fraud insurance claim and his ‘fondness for the woman’. He tells Janice ‘They knew I couldn’t have overlooked the forgery by accident; they put two and two together. After all its happened before in the business. Insurance collectors and lonely women.’
Motel Kitchen: Benny arrives with the morning newspaper, he asks Meg if she’s seen it. ‘Murder Motel – coffee bar opening tonight‘ states the headline, the article notes ‘Business like Mrs Richardson is extending the scope of her already flourishing motel – which has been packed with customers since the recent unhappy events’. Meg says any of the motel guests could have told the journalists about it, and it has forced her hand – she’ll have to open it. She isn’t going to turn people away.
Police Station: DI Rigby is telling DS Collins some new information has come to light in the Gerald Bailey case. An anonymous letter was sent to the police HQ containing details about the murder. ‘It’s anon for now, but the boys up at the lab are working on it.’ The letter puts Ruth out of the suspect line.
Motel Restaurant: Brian and Janice are having dinner at the restaurant, however, she is very distant. ‘The credit squeeze? or ‘Rising unemployment?’ Which is it that is weighing heavily on your mind? He asks her. Janice says she has been thinking ‘about Dad’. She tells Brian what George had told her earlier. Brian says he’s surprised he admitted it – Janice is shocked Brian already knew. ‘What sort of marriage are we going to have if you keep secrets from me?’ she asks him.
Motel Foyer: DI Rigby has turned up looking to speak with Ruth. He tells her, that he has some information that might put her mind at ease – she is no longer under suspicion of murder. He tells Ruth that there is new evidence that has come to light, which he can’t talk about as yet, but it certainly puts Mrs Bailey out of the investigation – well unless she wrote the letter, but test will prove or disprove that.
Coffee Bar: ‘The first cup is free’ Benny tells the customers as he welcomes them into the ‘That Place’. The coffee bar is busy with young people, Meg tells Sam that it would be ironic if the coffee bar does more for her income than the motel. Sam says he can only hope the filling station and garage gets booming business like this.
A man then approaches Meg with a question that leaves her cold,
Mr Strange: “Excuse me, they told me that you own the motel.”
Meg: “That’s right.”
Mr Strange: “Good, then can you show me where the murder was committed…”
| Janice Gifford George Gifford Sandy Richardson Stevie Harris Carlos Rafael Meg Richardson Marilyn Gates Benny Wilmot DI Rigby DS Collins Brian Jarvis Jack Turner Sam Redway Gordon Amos Mr Strange (man) Ruth Bailey |
CAROLYN LYSTER RICHARD STEELE ROGER TONGE WENDY PADBURY ANTHONY MORTON NOELE GORDON SUE NICHOLLS DEKE ARLON PETER LAWRENCE STUART SHERWIN DAVID FENNELL ALLEN WESTON JOHN PORTER-DAVISON ANTHONY HOWARD PETER CHILDS PAMELA GREENALL |
| Episode 274 – November 18th |
Written by: Hazel Adair and Peter Ling |
Directed by: Alan Coleman |
Motel Kitchen: Sandy is looking through a newspaper, he says there is a nice write-up on the coffee bar. ‘Bright and friendly’, he suggests his mum will be pleased. Carlos says she might be, but let her read it later as she has a lot to deal with at the moment.
Marilyn – distracted by the latest newspaper gossip – has forgotten to take sugar to some guests in the reception who are waiting for it. ‘Does your head rattle when you move it?’ Carlos asks her, ‘Because you must have a brain the size of a pea – probably wrapped in the cotton wool…’
Coffee Bar: Meg and Benny are looking over the figures from the opening last night.
Benny: “If you reckon that two-thirds of our business last night we gave away free, you get some idea what sort of money we could make.”
Meg: “It’s marvellous Benny, it really is. Mind you, we can’t expect to do as well as that every night.”
Benny: “Once we build up a bit of regular trade, I think the place will make a small fortune.”.
Motel Reception: Sandy is telling Stevie how annoyed he is with the police. ‘It’s my home, I should be able to go where I want’. Stevie tells him that no one is allowed in Chalet Twelve. She asks what Sandy wanted to go in for anyway. ‘I didn’t want to go in, I just wanted to take a picture of the outside’. Stevie says ‘what on earth for?’. He explains that his pal Geoff Wilson has a ‘criminal museum’ and he wanted a photo of Gerald Bailey’s murder chalet.
‘Do you know Geoff has a bit of brick from that farm where the train robbers hid out?’ Sandy also adds he could have sold copies of the photo to the morbid curious lot for a few bob each. Stevie says ‘Aunt Meg wouldn’t like that’ he tells her ‘business is business’.
Motel Driveway: DI Rigby catches up with Ruth as she arrives back at the motel from visiting her new flat and checking the work that had been carried out on it. Ruth asks Rigby if he can cut to the point as she’s had a very busy day and wants to relax. He tells her he has ‘only a few questions’ so it won’t take long. He asks her if she recognises the paper on which the ‘anonymous note’ was written. She says ‘no’. Rigby then asks if she recognises the handwriting. She says she doesn’t. Di Rigby asks her to come to the station...
| Carlos Rafael Sandy Richardson Marilyn Gates Stevie Harris Jack Turner DI Rigby DS Collins Brian Jarvis Sam Redway Janice Gifford Meg Richardson Benny Wilmot Mr Grainger Ruth Bailey |
ANTHONY MORTON ROGER TONGE SUE NICHOLLS WENDY PADBURY ALLEN WESTON PETER LAWRENCE STUART SHERWIN DAVID FENNELL JOHN PORTER-DAVISON CAROLYN LYSTER NOELE GORDON DEKE ARLON ANTHONY KENYON PAMELA GREENALL |
| Episode 275 – November 19th |
Written by: Hazel Adair and Peter Ling |
Directed by: Alan Coleman |
Motel Kitchen: Carlos is writing out another recipe idea for Jack Turner and his fictional cookery magazine. Jack tries to get more information on the latest details of the murder but the chef doesn’t have much to say, although he mentions how he was at one point a murder suspect.
Carlos: “That Bailey, he was an evil man, he drank too much and he was cruel to Mrs Bailey. I had a big fight with him. The police hear this and naturally, they think I do him out”
Jack: “You must get a lot of people thinking that might be true then?”
Carlos: “The police have not locked me away, so I am ‘off the hinge’. I mean, all the people in the next village – I go to Kings Oak two, three, times every week – and no one make chat about the murder”
Clarion Office: DI Rigby has popped in to ask Desmond Gough a few questions, he’s on the phone with his wife Rita when the DI enters. He tells her hurriedly something urgent has cropped up and he’ll call her back. The DI says there is no need to be urgent about his visit – it’s strictly informal.
The DI tells Desmond that the police received a letter claiming Ruth Bailey is innocent. The letter goes on to explain how they know she isn’t the killer of her ex-husband. Gough responds that ‘everyone who knows Ruth could tell you she isn’t capable of murder’. Rigby shows Desmond the letter, he tells him it was written on Clarion office paper, minus the letterhead. The DI is asked if the note contains information that no one else would know, he confirms ‘indeed it does’ and it is why the police are taking it seriously. ‘It says Gerald Bailey met his death by falling and striking his head against the corner of the bedside table in the chalet’. The DI says he wants a list of visitors to the newspaper office in the days after the murder.
Motel Reception: Ruth is having a coffee in the sofa area when Bernard Martin finally catches up with her. She apologises for not being able to attend work, but with the police and the press, she’s just been too distracted. He tells her he sympathises and hopefully everything will be over soon for her concerning Gerald. A group of roudy youngsters looking for the coffee shop have entered the foyer, so Ruth asks Mr Martin if he’d like a coffee in her chalet, where they can talk privately…
Chalet Eight: Ruth and Bernard Martin both sit at the desk. Bernard says that Ruth surely must be in a ‘better state of mind’ now the DI has the letter explaining about the fight in her chalet she’ll be in the clear. Ruth has a realisation, no newspaper has mentioned the broken fittings in the chalet or a fight.
Ruth stands up and confronts Bernard ‘You were here? You… you killed Gerald?’.
| Carlos Rafael Jack Turner Desmond Gough Detective Inspector Rigby Brian Jarvis Meg Richardson Marilyn Gates Sandy Richardson Benny Wilmot Ruth Bailey Bernard Martin |
ANTONY MORTON ALLEN WESTON GEOFFREY DENTON PETER LAWRENCE DAVID FENNELL NOELE GORDON SUE NICHOLLS ROGER TONGE DEKE ARLON PAMELA GREENALL LARRY MARSHALL |
| Episode 276 – November 22nd |
Written by: Hazel Adair and Peter Ling |
Directed by: Reg Watson |
Chalet Eight: Ruth and Bernard are alone in the chalet, it’s late evening and most of the staff have gone home while most of the guests have gone to the coffee bar. Ruth realises she’s put herself in a dangerous position. But isn’t backing down.
Ruth: “You were here? You… you killed Gerald?”
Bernard: “Ruth, why are you talking like this? I didn’t harm Gerald…”
Ruth: “I know I’m right, why did you kill him, why?”
Bernard: [Moving menacingly towards her] “I didn’t, you should know that very well. My dear this is no time for us to fall out.”
Bernard explains he saw her ‘rushing out of the chalet’ when he came to the motel, on the night of the murder, to make sure she was okay after Gerald had turned up at the advertising agency office and upset her earlier. He says the chalet door was open and the room wrecked. He saw Gerald on the floor and realised the only way to help Ruth from getting blamed was to make it look like Gerald had fallen from the M1 bridge near the motel.
Ruth says she didn’t murder him, she was in Birmingham. She asks him to think very hard about what this person, this woman, looked like who rushed out of the chalet. He tells her it was dark, but she was dressed like Ruth – that’s the only reason he interfered, to help her get away with it.
Bernard: “I did it for you… I’ve loved you for such a long time my dearest Ruth.”
Motel Kitchen: Monday morning and Marilyn brings in the newspapers. ‘Carlos, you’re famous’ she tells him. ‘On the front of a national’. He asks what the papers are doing talking about him. She reads the front of ‘The Echo’ which has the headline ‘Motel cook chief suspect in murder case‘. Marilyn reads, ‘Carlos Rafael, a Spaniard who is a chef at the Crossroads Motel, near Birmingham, the scene of the mystery killing of journalist Gerald Bailey has been helping police with their enquiries. Detectives questioned Rafael for several hours…’ Marilyn notes Mrs Richardson won’t be pleased about the article. Carlos says he’s not very thrilled by it either. Marilyn asks if he’d mentioned his altercation with Gerald to anyone. ‘No’ he replies. Then Carlos remembers his conversation with Jack Turner…
Meg’s sitting room: Ruth is telling Meg about Bernard and how he is madly in love with her – and how he found Gerald dead in her chalet – then moved the body to the road because he thought she’d murdered him. She also tells Meg that she has urged Mr Martin to go to the police and explain before they find out for themselves.
Chalet Nine: Carlos has confronted Jack Turner about the front page expose on him which implies he was the killer of Gerald Bailey. ‘You devil man’ he shouts at Jack, adding, ‘this newspaper business is a very nasty business’. Jack says his news editor was very pleased with the story. Carlos rolls up the newspaper and then proceeds to repeatedly hit Jack with it; ‘This is for Carlos Rafael, this is for Senora Richardson and this is for all the lies you have written…’
Motel Kitchen: Meg is looking for Carlos. Marilyn says he was there a few minutes ago, she thinks he’s gone to confront a gossip. Marilyn mentions he was ‘very angry, much more than usual’. She then explains how she and Carlos think Mr Turner isn’t a food writer – he’s a rotten reporter in disguise. Meg says if it’s true Turner will be departing the motel – today – and she will have ‘one or two things to say to him’.
Motel Reception: Gordon Amos has popped in to see if he can persuade Ruth to give him any more details, she is stunned when he tells her Mr Martin has gone to the police ‘with a confession it seems’. The DI told Amos ‘he always thought two people were involved’ Now he has one of them, it shouldn’t be long until they find the other, seemingly a woman. Gordon then gives Ruth a ‘knowing look’.
At the reception desk Jack Turner is checking out, he spots Gordon and says his goodbyes. Meg is surprised they know each other. ‘We used to work on the Midland Star, many years ago’ Gordon tells her. When Jack leaves, after Meg tells him she hopes never to see him again, she asks Gordon why he didn’t let her know earlier who Turner was. ‘You saw him here the other day, you could have warned me’. Gordon says journalists don’t ‘shop one another’ even if he disapproves of the methods Jack used.
Police Station: DI Rigby is questioning Bernard Martin. He explains once more how he came to find Gerald dead in Chalet Twelve. He then explains he moved the body because he saw Ruth Bailey running from the chalet. ‘You say you’re fairly certain it was Mrs Bailey. Fairly certain isn’t good enough.’.
| Ruth Bailey Bernard Martin Marilyn Gates Carlos Rafael Meg Richardson Jack Turner Gordon Amos Detective Instpector Rigby |
PAMELA GREENALL LARRY MARTIN SUE NICHOLLS ANTHONY MORTON NOELE GORDON ALLEN WESTON ANTHONY HOWARD PETER LAWRENCE |
| Episode 277 – November 23rd |
Written by: Hazel Adair and Peter Ling |
Directed by: Reg Watson |
Motel Reception: Ruth, Gordon and Meg are discussing Gordon’s revelation that Bernard Martin has done what Ruth never thought he would – gone to the police. Meg however says she hopes Sandy changes his mind about becoming a journalist, ‘I’d hate for any son of mine to grow into such a hard-faced cold-hearted person’. Gordon sticks to the issue; ‘Unrequited love can take people in strange directions’, he tells them, adding; ‘If he’s really desperate – trying to save his own skin – then he might turn malicious.’ Gordon tells Ruth to remember everything about him, every incident and any evidence that might help her side of the story.
Chalet Nine: Ruth has asked Meg to come to her chalet as she wants to show her something. She opens a drawer and takes out a pile of letters. Gordon’s suggestion of looking for any evidence made her remember them. Ruth tells Meg how she didn’t think the letters mattered – as she didn’t understand what they were about. Bernard had told her how they were scattered around the chalet along with the broken table, chair and lamp. So he picked them up and put them in his pocket.
Meg looks at some of the letters to Gerald; signed ‘R’ with love. ‘Bernard thought the letters were from me to Gerald, but I’ve never seen them before,’ she tells Meg. Meg reads some. She notes ‘There is a mention of a baby in these letters’. The woman who came here was the mother of Gerald’s child. Ruth says Gerald had played around ‘several times’ with many women, he even under her very nose had a fling with Rita Gough.
Meg: “Gerald was desperate to get his job back at The Clarion. What better way than to blackmail Rita into helping him…”.
Gough Kitchen: Rita and Desmond are talking about the latest developments Desmond has heard from Gordon Amos. She says Gerald threatened to expose to their son Robin that he was his real father and not Desmond.
Desmond asks his wife to explain what happened on October 29th. ‘Gerald had these letters I’d written years ago, about the baby, and our affair’. She says ‘he threatened to show them to Robin unless I helped him get a job at the newspaper’.
Rita: “He was waving these letters in my face, he drunkenly fell onto a chair and broke it. There was no fight. But when he got up he started laughing, then said they should recapture the ‘good old days’ and he tried to kiss me, grab me…
“So I pushed him away and he fell. He crashed into the table smashing the lamp and banging his head. I realised I’d killed him – but it was an accident”
Desmond: “It’s all right darling, it’s going to be all right.”
Motel Reception: Cyril Devon tries to check in, but when Carlos learns he is a journalist he says he must leave. Vacate the premises, and stay elsewhere. Mr Devon says he’ll only do such a thing if the owner tells him to do this, not the cook. ‘Believe me, I only wish to stay one night in this dump’ he adds. Carlos reluctantly gives him the key to Chalet Four. ‘If your cooking is as warm as your welcome, I may change my mind about eating in’ Cyril states as he heads to the chalet.
Gough Kitchen: Meg and Ruth have decided the best course of action is to speak with Rita and Desmond about the death of Gerald. Rita explains what happened in the chalet and adds she didn’t know what to do – so she wrote the anonymous letter to make it clear Ruth wasn’t involved in the incident. Desmond says it will all be over for Ruth shortly – they have decided to go to the police and tell them everything. Meg says she is sure the DI will be sympathetic.
| Meg Richardson Ruth Bailey Gordon Amos Desmond Gough Rita Gough Cyril Devon Marilyn Gates DI Rigby |
NOELE GORDON PAMELA GREENALL ANTHONY HOWARD GEOFFREY DENTON DIANE DOVE RAYMOND CLARKE SUE NICHOLLS PETER LAWRENCE |
| Episode 278 – November 24th |
Written by: Hazel Adair and Peter Ling |
Directed by: Reg Watson |
Motel Reception: Meg and Ruth arrive back from visiting Rita and Desmond Gough and the revelation Rita accidentally killed Gerald. ‘What we both need is a stiff drink’ Meg suggests. ‘Wasn’t it awful’ Ruth says, adding, ‘I don’t think I shall ever get over it’.
Ruth: “Poor Rita, what she must have gone through. Gerald was inhuman in his cruelty. He deserved what he got. It’s a terrible thing to say, but he really did”.
Meg can see that Ruth is overought, and holds her hand. She tells her Rita has quite an ordeal ahead of her; but once people know the circumstances she should have people’s sympathy. And she has the support of Desmond which will be a great help.
Gordon Amos has been sitting opposite the bar and is curious as to what ‘they’re celebrating with Scotch.’ Meg says it isn’t a party. Ruth says that if he wants all the facts the police will most likely release an update on the death of Gerald in the morning. He asks, off the record, if she can give him any information. He promises not to print anything. Ruth tells him ‘Firstly it was an accident, not murder’ and then notes, ‘It was Rita Gough, your boss’s wife’. Gordon asks for a Scotch.
Brian/Janice Flat: Brian has been working on renovating their flat. Janice is very impressed with the progress made, ‘It’s beginning to look like something we can live in, I mean it’s going to be a real home.’ Brian observes that it might not be their castle, but as long as they manage to keep paying the ‘three pounds and fifteen a week’ they’ll have a roof over their head.
Brian tells Janice they’ve had some more wedding presents delivered. She looks in the boxes and ponders ‘What are we going to do with five salad bowls? …well at least one is made of wood’.
Motel Reception: Cyril Devon asks Meg if he can speak with Sandy Richardson. She tells Devon that ‘Sandy is at school’ He is rather surprised.
Cyril: “I’m from the Musical Echo, we’ve been running a song competition you know, and Mr S. Richardson is the Midland area finalist”.
Meg: “You must be joking…”
Cyril: “No, he’s written a very good little number. He’s got talent, but I didn’t realise he was so young.”
Motel Kitchen: Meg pops in to speak to Carlos about how he spoke to Mr Devon last night. She tells him that he should have found out what kind of reporter he was before ‘going off on one’. Meg tells him Mr Devon works for a music magazine so isn’t the same as Jack Tuner. Marilyn asks if he works for The Musical Echo. Meg says ‘something like that’ and adds that he was looking for Sandy, who apparently had submitted a song to a competition. Meg also notes that she’s put Mr Devon right on that – it was obviously a joker. Marilyn makes an excuse and rushes off.
She catches up with Cyril outside the motel and tells him he is at the right place – and he can meet the composer of the song this evening.
Jarvis’ sitting room: Kitty and Dick have just arrived back from Australia. They’re greeted by Janice and Brian. Later Sandy and Meg join them to welcome them back. Kitty says she’s looking forward to Brian and Janice’s wedding while Dick is keen to find out how things are going at the car hire business.
Coffee Bar: Marilyn has introduced Cyril to Benny. However, Benny has no idea who Cyril is. While she’s away fetching some coffee Cyril asks ‘Sandy’ about his song. Benny says there must be a mistake – he’s Benny – and he was in a band called Georgie Saint and the Dragons.
Cyril is annoyed. He tells him the song contest was for amateurs, and he’s had enough of the lying – Benny/Sandy/Georgie is disqualified from the competition.
| Meg Richardson Ruth Bailey Gordon Amos Brian Jarvis Janice Gifford Cyril Devon Carlos Rafael Marilyn Gates Sam Redway Sandy Richardson Kitty Jarvis Dick Jarvis Benny Wilmot |
NOELE GORDON PAMELA GREENALL ANTHONY HOWARD DAVID FENNELL CAROLYN LYSTER RAYMOND CLARKE ANTHONY MORTON SUE NICHOLLS JOHN PORTER-DAVISON ROGER TONGE BERYL JOHNSTONE BRIAN KENT DEKE ARLON |
| Episode 279 – November 25th |
Written by: Hazel Adair and Peter Ling |
Directed by: Reg Watson |
Coffee Shop: Benny has asked Marilyn to explain what is going on with the fella from Musical Echo. She explains that she thought it might be ‘a nice surprise’ for Benny to find out how good his song was. So Sandy recorded it to tape cassette and sent it off to the magazine which was running a competition to find hit songs. Benny tells her, ‘I’m not interested in the song, I’m not interested in the contest and right now I’m not interested in you either’.
Drury Cars office: Sam is getting the paperwork organised and ready for the return of Dick to work next week. Janice asks ‘Do you think you should be referring to my future father-in-law as ‘Old Man Jarvis’, Sam doesn’t see a problem with the name. ‘Dick is old, he’s called Jarvis and he’s a man – works for me’.
Motel Reception: DI Rigby has come to the motel to give Ruth an update. He tells her that they are looking at Rita’s situation as self-defence, and with plenty of people able to note what a violent man Gerald was her solicitor should be able to prove ‘she struck him under extreme provocation’. However, it isn’t such good news for Bernard Martin. ‘He unfortunately has tried to obstruct the course of justice, not to mention tampering with a body.’ Rigby observes they could have cleared up this case in half the time if Martin hadn’t meddled in it.
Fairlawns Hotel Reception/Banqueting Suite: Brian, Janice and her parents are being shown around Fairlawns, from the reception through large double doors into an impressive banqueting suite. Hotel Manager Graham Cowley shows them a choice of menus for the wedding party. Mable Gifford tells Cowley that they’re all very so grateful to Mr Mortimer for arranging it all. She notes ‘We’d never have been able to provide anything like this ourselves’. She then asks if Hugh will be at the gathering on Saturday, Graham Cowley says Hugh is in London at the moment on business so sadly he won’t be able to make it, but he has sent his best wishes for the big day.
Meg’s sitting room: Ruth tells Meg she needs to start looking for a new job, seeing as things have come to pass with Gerald’s demise. Meg says with the expansion happening at the motel with the new ventures she really could do with a secretary to lessen her workload, but she understands if Ruth doesn’t want to be around the motel. Ruth says if Meg really needs a secretary, she’d happily take on the job.
Fairlawns Hotel Bar: George Gifford has popped into the bar for a drink – where he finds former lover Daphne having a sip of wine. They make small talk and he mentions why he’s at Fairlawns. She says she’s at the hotel to meet friends later.
Daphne: “I felt terrible about you losing your job. I know it was all my fault”
George: “No, it was just as much my fault as anyone’s. I knew the risk I was taking”
Brian and Janice enter the bar, she asks why he looks so worried, ‘Your father is sitting talking to Mrs Wallace and your mother is coming to join us at any moment…’
| Marilyn Gates Benny Wilmot Cyril Devon Sam Redway Janice Gifford Meg Richardson Ruth Bailey Detective Inspector Rigby Carlos Rafael Dick Jarvis Kitty Jarvis Brian Jarvis Mable Gifford Graham Cowley (Fairlawns Manager) Mr Gifford Daphne Wallace |
SUE NICHOLLS DEKE ARLON RAYMOND CLARKE JOHN PORTER-DAVISON CAROLYN LYSTER NOELE GORDON PAMELA GREENALL PETER LAWRENCE ANTHONY MORTON BRIAN KENT BERYL JOHNSTONE DAVID FENNELL PEGGY ANN WOOD TONY WRIGHT RICHARD STEELE YSANNE CHURCHMAN |
| Episode 280 – November 26th |
Written by: Hazel Adair and Peter Ling |
Directed by: Reg Watson |
Fairlawns Hotel Bar: Daphne has noticed Brian and Janice looking at her and suggests to George she should go and sit elsewhere. He says ‘That would make our conversation look suspicious, at least finish your drink’. Janice and Brian join them, they say the banqueting suite is going to look lovely with the flowers and decorations. Daphne wishes them the best, but notes as its a family occasion she best be off.
Motel Kitchen: Ruth has started her first day as secretary. She asks Carlos if he can arrange tea/coffee and biscuits for Meg’s sitting room later, Meg has asked Ruth to interview some new people for the waiting staff roles. ‘I hope we can find some nice quiet staff, ones who bring no trouble’ Carlos observes as he looks pointedly at Marilyn – who is distracted by a letter addressed to Benny from the Musical Echo and doesn’t hear him. Benny comes in to have breakfast. He takes the letter, Marilyn asks if he’s going to open it now; he says ‘no’ he’ll look when he’s ready, noting ‘The way that writer went on it’s probably from their lawyers suing me for false pretences’.
Fairlawns Reception: Mable is talking with Graham about the finer details of the wedding party, Daphne introduces herself as ‘an old customer of Mr Gifford, we hadn’t met for years until today’. She then offers Mable her apologies, saying she felt responsible for Mr Gifford losing his job. Mable responds by saying ‘Well it’s all in the past now, no need to go raking over old soil’. When Daphne suggests she buys Mable a drink, she declines saying ‘Probably for the best I don’t’ which George coming into the foyer hears. When Daphne departs he asks ‘What that was about’. Mable tells her husband ‘I don’t accept drinks off someone you’ve had an affair with’.
Coffee Bar: Benny opens the letter from the music magazine. He reads, ‘Because of your professional status we have been forced to disqualify you from entering the contest… However, the publishing company are very impressed with your track and would like you to call in at their London offices at your earliest convenience to discuss a possible professional recording of it.’
Fairlawns Reception: George Gifford is stunned his wife knew about his fling with Daphne. He asks how long she’s known, ‘from when it was going on, I could tell’.
Mable: “There wasn’t any reason to discuss it with you. I knew it wouldn’t last forever, and when it was over you came back to me. That’s all that matters in the long run.”
George then kisses Mable passionately ‘For goodness sake, behave! This is a sophisticated hotel… everybody’s looking.’
Drury’s Car Office: Sam is trying to find cars for the Jarvis wedding tomorrow. He’s overbooked and doesn’t have any free. He tells Dick, who says at worst he has a car, so does Meg, and there is Sam’s but that still won’t take everyone. Other than hiring a bus, they’ll have to try all the other firms in the area. Sam then mentions he’ll be putting his notice in with Mr Mortimer shortly to leave the car hire. With the filling station due to open in a few weeks, he can’t do both jobs. Dick is quietly thrilled.
| Daphne Wallace George Gifford Brian Jarvis Janice Gifford Graham Cowley Mable Gifford Benny Wilmot Carlos Rafael Marilyn Gates Ruth Bailey Meg Richardson Kathleen Donovan Sam Redway Dick Jarvis Sandy Richardson Rev. Guy Atkins |
YSANNE CHURCHMAN RICHARD STEELE DAVID FENNELL CAROLYN LYSTER TONY WRIGHT PEGGY ANNE WOOD DEKE ARLON ANTHONY MORTON SUE NICHOLLS PAMELA GREENALL NOELE GORDON LEANNE O’NEIL JOHN PORTER-DAVISON BRIAN KENT ROGER TONGE WILLIAM SHERWOOD |
| Episode 281 – November 29th |
Written by: Roy Russell |
Directed by: Tim Jones |
Monday’s episode is set on Saturday, November 27th:
Gifford House: Jill comes downstairs and asks Mr and Mrs Gifford about ‘something borrowed’ Janice doesn’t have anything. George says ‘it’s nothing but an old suspicion’, Jill says she remembers she has some hair clips, and Janice can ‘borrow those’.
Jarvis’ House: ‘Just remember Brian you’re gaining a mother-in-law, you’re not losing anything’ Sam tells Brian. Kitty says everyone needs to take today seriously. ‘Brian, you’re going to take some serious vows. The most serious in your whole life probably’.
Church: Sequences show guests arriving at the church, the wedding service highlights accompanied by organ music and then, later, another scene shows Brian and Janice leaving the church.
Fairlawns banqueting suite: Janice and Brian are waiting for the guests to arrive, he’s trying to remember his speech. Graham Cowley comes over and notes ‘I think you will find everything all right, Mr Mortimer’s last words to me before he left for London was to give the couple anything they wanted, so if there is anything else, just say’.
Fairlawns Reception: Sandy and Stevie are mingling with the gathered wedding guests. Stevie asks ‘when are we going to do it?’ Sandy replies ‘When they start the speeches in the suite, no one will miss us’. Jill comes up behind them and asks what they’re plotting. ‘It’s a secret, not for those snobby London types to know about’ Sandy replies. Jill says she only works in London, she’s not stuck up. When Jill wanders off Stevie asks ‘You don’t think Brian and Janice will be angry do you?’.
Fairlawns banqueting suite: Brian’s best-man Sam, has started the speeches.
Sam: “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you. As the best man Brian could get, I’ve got very little to say….”
Dick: “That makes a change”
Sam: “But thankfully, we’ve had lots of telegrams. This one is from a sailor in Gibraltar; ‘Congratulations on your big day, love Uncle Andy Frazer’. Another here from Mr and Mrs Webb, ‘Best wishes on the day you will always remember’ and ‘Wish we were there to wish you everything you deserve in life. Love from Australia, Lesley and James’.
“This telegram is from closer to home, from London. ‘Sorry, cannot be present at the signing of this contract. Will be a most successful union, however. Have a wonderful day. Hugh Mortimer’.”
Outside Fairlawns, at the front car park: Sandy and Stevie are seen sneaking between cars, they keep looking around to make sure they’re not seen. As this happens the sound of Brian making his speech is heard:
Brian: “I did prepare a speech, but all I want to really say is thank you to everyone for making it such a marvellous day for my wife and I. As Mr and Mrs Webb said we’ll never forget this day as long as we live. Thank you…”
Brian and Janice leave Fairlawns as confetti is thrown again. Wilf, the car hire driver, has taken offence at Brian’s jokes he was ‘too slow’ when driving to the hotel so in a change of plan Dick offers to drive them off to their honeymoon instead in his car. ‘It would be an honour’ he tells them. Sandy and Stevie look disappointed, then find it hilarious as Wilf drives off with Sam and Kitty – who are sat in the back of his taxi – with a huge ‘Just Married’ sign fixed to its rear..
| Rev. Guy Atkins Janice Gifford Brian Jarvis Mable Gifford George Gifford Jill Richardson Sam Redway Kitty Jarvis Dick Jarvis Wilf Hartley Stevie Harris Sandy Richardson Meg Richardson Graham Cowley (Fairlawns Manager) Marilyn Gates Kathleen Donovan Carlos Rafael |
WILLIAM SHERWOOD CAROLYN LYSTER DAVID FENNELL PEGGY ANN WOOD RICHARD STEELE JANE ROSSINGTON JOHN PORTER-DAVISON BERYL JOHNSTONE BRIAN KENT DAVID ALDRIDGE WENDY PADBURY ROGER TONGE NOELE GORDON TONY WRIGHT SUE NICHOLLS LEANNE O’NEIL ANTHONY MORTON |
| Episode 282 – November 30th |
Written by: Roy Russell |
Directed by: Tim Jones |
Motel Kitchen: Kathleen, who has been rehired by Ruth – and given a second chance by Meg – asks Sandy and Stevie how the wedding went at the weekend. Sandy says ‘it was great’ (not entirely enthusiastically) while Stevie clearly enjoyed it more ‘Yes, it was gorgeous. I wish there was another one today, except I’d miss school’. [thinking dreamily of Mr Grainger] ‘I miss school at the weekends…’
Kathleen is pleased that she’s been working at the motel for a few days now, and this time around nothing has broken while she’s been operating or handling it. The first time she worked at the motel she was deemed accident-prone, although she blamed bad luck cast upon the motel. (Culminating in episodes 212/213 from August where it is noted Kathleen has blown up one hoover, broken the food mixer and smashed crockery. She blamed ‘the leprechauns’)
Motel Reception: Meg is sorting through the mail. The new motel-headed paper has arrived, but Sandy spots an error. The telephone number is incorrect. Burbank 87846 instead of 87346. ‘Oh how stupid’ Meg notes, ‘The most important thing to get right’.
Meg says she can’t use them, some poor person at 87846 would get motel calls, and she won’t have them crossed out manually as ‘it looks a mess’.
Sam pops in and asks why everyone looks so unhappy. He has something to cheer them up – he’s been told the filling station will be ready for action on Thursday. Now he just needs to think of a good gimmick to launch the Crossroads Petrol & Service Station. He says he wants something a bit different. Sandy suggests ‘How about a big sign that tells customers everything they need to know’ – just four letters – ‘O P E N’. He leaves swiftly before Sam can respond.
Soho Restaurant: Brian and Janice are honeymooning in London – not that they’ve told anyone exactly where they are. They have popped out for dinner but are struggling with all the fancy wording on the menu. Brian says he understands the word for coffee. Janice responds, ‘I want something substantial, not just coffee.’ Brian orders two plates of vegetables and a bucket of ice…
Brian: “I’m sorry Janice, honestly. I didn’t think everything on the menu would be in French, or I’d never have brought you here.”
Janice says for dessert she is going to ask Charles the waiter to tell her what they all are in English. ‘But Janice, we don’t want everybody to think we’re ignorant’…
Jarvis’ shop: Dick is trying to persuade Kitty to retire from the store. He tells her now that he is financially sound she doesn’t need to be stressing and rushing around running a business herself. Kitty tells him the shop isn’t a burden, she enjoys working in it and she’s ‘become very attached to the old place’. Dick suggests stepping back a bit, giving Amy Turtle a few more hours. Kitty likes that idea – she could learn to drive. Dick thinks he’s heard wrong.
Kitty: “Why shouldn’t I learn to drive? Meg drives. Lots of women do these days. Why is it so surprising I might want to?”
Dick says he imagines her driving ending up like the Bob Newhart sketch…
Motel Reception: A severe thunderstorm has halted the buses from running to Kings Oak and the surrounding areas. Meg is worried as to how Stevie will get home, she’s about to call the school when Mr Grainger brings her into the motel foyer. He explains about the buses and how he’s dropped off some children in his car but Stevie living the furthest out took the longest to get home and he apologises. When Stevie goes off to get changed Meg asks Mr Grainger for a word, in private. He looks curious as to what she wants to discuss.
| Kathleen Donovan Sandy Richardson Stevie Harris Carlos Rafael Meg Richardson Sam Redway Charles Janice Jarvis Brian Jarvis Marilyn Gates Dick Jarvis Kitty Jarvis Mr Grainger |
LEANNE O’NEIL ROGER TONGE WENDY PADBURY ANTHONY MORTON NOELE GORDON JOHN PORTER-DAVISON TERRY WALE CAROLYN LYSTER DAVID FENNELL SUE NICHOLLS BRIAN KENT BERYL JOHNSTONE ANTHONY KENYON |
The rest of this week continues in December.
Without any explanation, the Crossroads Motel has expanded from having an initial six chalets to now having twelve. Ruth is located in ‘Chalet Twelve’. Where previously only chalets one to six have been mentioned. Also, the programme revamps and introduces more regular sets around this time including the coffee bar, Meg’s sitting room and the petrol station/garage.
An extensive set was created for the Fairlawns Hotel – an office, reception area, bar and banqueting suite.
The production notes confirm they have one chalet set that is ‘redressed’ for each different chalet scene.
♦Frederick Payne appears as a journalist as part of the murder storyline. Fredrick is best known for his long-running role in Yorkshire Television’s Emmerdale Farm as Matt Skillbeck. Nicholas Brent, ‘Bewlay’ in episode 271, will return in another minor role, ‘Mr Carlson’ in 1967. Geoffrey Denton will return for a couple of further episodes in 1968 as Jean Barbier.
William Sherwood returns as the local vicar having first appeared in July 1965 as ‘Rev. Jim Aston-Fenner’ a character name he would reprise later. However, in November 1965 he is called ‘Rev Guy Atkins’; a character that would later be played by Dad’s Army regular Arnold Ridley. (There is no explanation of why the character names were swapped around.)
Film footage recorded on location in November is mostly contained in episode 281 which includes: “Church Sequence” (three scenes, some of which, but not all, survive in the archive), and “Fairlawns Hotel Exterior” (two scenes).
Synopsis written by Mike Garrett for The Crossroads Years. With thanks to Bob Hope for additional cast information from TV World listings.
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