Was Crossroads Renamed "Crossroads Motel" In 1985?

Doris: "Well, I know it's called Crossroads, but I'd no idea it's a motel!"

Sandie writes:

I keep reading some slightly dubious stuff about Crossroads being renamed "Crossroads Motel" in the mid-1980s. I don't recall this. Was it?

It's a little confusing, but I don't think so, Sandie, not officially, not at the time.

In the show's new mid-1980s opening credits, the words "Crossroads Motel" were displayed across some fashionable vertical boardroom blinds. I think this was just for effect - a fancy new logo for the motel - but you can see how the confusion has arisen in more recent years, especially as many of the show's keenest modern day fans were small children back in the 1980s - or not even born - and the show's opening credits did end with the words Crossroads Motel!

Episodes from the 1970s and early 1980s would sometimes begin with a view of the motel sign - but we viewers never thought that episode was called Crossroads Motel Bar Restaurant Swimming Pool Open To Non Residents.

I don't recollect the show's producers announcing a name change (or rather extension) in 1985, and we viewers certainly did not from then on refer to the show as "Crossroads Motel". The emphasis was on the word Crossroads.

The 1985 opening titles were the first set of proper opening titles the show had ever had, so perhaps the designers decided to make a real splash. The 1980s had been greeted with a small change to the closing credits - the yellow on black lettering was changed to white on orange, apparently in an attempt to "brighten up" the show. The 1985 closing boardroom blinds were actually quite a sophisticated effect at the time.

The show did later formally extend its name, becoming Crossroads, King's Oak in 1987, however, this fact was formally announced by the producer - and clearly incorporated into the opening titles.

Whilst the first half of the 1980s had been as common as muck, the yuppie era was well and truly  getting into its stride in 1985. It's doubtful whether Mrs Tardebigge, who became the motel cleaner in late 1986, ever gave the blinds more than a flick of her feather duster.