Crossroads 2001 - Celebrating ITV's hotel soap from Carlton Television

Celebrating Crossroads 2001 – The second series of ITV’s hotel soap from Carlton Television



	CROSSROADS: EARLY PRODUCTION DOCUMENTS – PAGE 2
	In the previous article we examined some of the (ultimately unused) continuity from Carlton Television’s early production notes. In addition to this, the producers also mapped out some early character ideas and we present them for you here…
	THE CROSSROADS FAMILY
	To Conrad Hawkins’ mind, if something works you don’t mess around with it. The hotel was never so well run or so popular as it was under Meg Mortimer, something Hawk Properties is determined to revive. So history is, in some sense repeating itself. A strong, glamorous – matriarchal – figure is once again at the helm of the new Crossroads.
	SHIRLEY RUSSELL
	SHIRLEY RUSSELL (Nee Arnold), 44 has never shirked from a challenge in her life. Youngest of five children raised in the Halesowen suburb of Birmingham, she learned the hard way that guts and determination were her most useful assets. When other girls her age were opting for secretarial or nursing careers – Shirley knew she wanted a bit of glamour, the finer things in life. Then she met IVAN RUSSELL and all her plans went to pot. Ivan was a good looking barman with lots of ambition but no application. He moved into Shirley’s bedsit and Shirley found herself being the breadwinner when scheme after scheme of Ivan’s failed to materialise. When she became pregnant with their son MARK they married – just two months shy of the birth. It was a pathetic little ceremony and, as time passed, Shirley began to doubt she would ever see the high life she dreamed of. But, against all the odds, Ivan talked his way onto a management job in a large working man’s club in the city centre. The job came with live-in accommodation. Things were looking up. With the baby on her hip, Shirley joined Ivan behind the bar and took over organizing simple bar fare. She discovered she had a talent for it – she was efficient, resourceful, tireless and – most importantly – very popular with the customers. But as she grew in confidence, Ivan lost interest and started spending more and more time with friends at the bookmakers and the races. Then, one night he never came back and five thousand pounds was missing from the safe. The brewery was very reasonable about it, considering, and agreed to Shirley’s offer to pay off the debt. She was good at her job and they didn’t see the sense in sacking her. Still shell-shocked by Ivan’s disappearing act, Shirley took stock of her life: no husband, toddler in tow and – the worst news of all – pregnant again. She persuaded the brewery to let her take on more staff but continued to work right up until the last minute. NICOLA was practically born behind the bar, September ‘81. Ivan never returned. It would be ten years before Conrad Hawkins came into Shirley’s life, but in that time she virtually reinvented herself. She never stopped working, but somehow found the time to take night school classes in basic accounting and business management. Lovers came and went but Shirley always put her kids first – sending Mark to a private boarding school when she could afford it because he showed a talent for sport. In 1996 she was 36 but looked much younger; Conrad was 30 and had just opened his first wine bar. She saw a cocky young chancer who was heading for a fall – he saw an immaculately groomed, very attractive and capable manager who could do his burgeoning business a lot of good. He told her he was opening up two more bars and wanted her to train his staff. She turned him down but a year later he returned, now considerably more successful, and offered her an area manager’s job. Impressed, she gave in and never looked back. In the last nine years, their relationship has threatened to become personal more than once but Shirley has always resisted, firmly believing that it would be the end of everything she’s worked for to mix her work and private life. The bitter legacy of Ivan still rankles. Conrad did not hesitate about putting Shirley in charge of Crossroads. There was never any question that she was the right person for the job. Over the years, he’s come to see her as a friend – even confidante – as well as an indispensable part of his growing empire. For Shirley, Crossroads hotel is the reward for twenty years of hard graft. She was involved in every aspect of its re-launch and is the first place she’s really thought of as her creation. And woe betides anyone seeking to take it from her.
	CROSSROADS – LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
	MARK RUSSELL, 23, has more than a little of his father about him. Good looking, somewhat feckless – a real charmer, he is also the product of one too many bad boarding schools. He’s never without a girl in tow and has yet to decide what he wants to do with his life. Shirley knows she indulges him but she adores him. HE is currently employed as the SQUASH AND TENNIS COACH at the hotel but he’s just as likely to be mixing cocktails behind the bar and running up a tab. NICOLA RUSSELL, 18, is much shyer, more introverted than her brother. She’s just started a course in hotel management at college, but what she really wants to be is a chef. For now, she’s gaining valuable experience by working as a kitchen hand in the ARDEN RESTAURANT, three nights a week. From time to time she wonders about the father she’s never met and is never referred to.

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