Valerie Pollard, played by Heather Chasen, only appeared intermittently in Crossroads from 1982 to 1985, but she certainly left her mark on the motel - and our affections.
We adored Valerie.
Naughty but capable of being very nice, Valerie popped a button off Adam Chance's shirt upon her arrival in April 1982 - and bore him away to his boat for a night of 'lurve'.
This resulted in the breaking of Adam's engagement to Jill Chance - and the departure of Adam on the midnight plane to Paris - to avoid the wrath of Val's husband, J Henry Pollard.
Val had only done it to get up her hubby's nose.
Valerie, of course, was a millionaire's wife, leading an elegant beach bum life abroad with a host of 'pneumatic young men' - as her husband put it.
And when J Henry imprisoned her in a grotty motel in the English Midlands, well, darling, you surely couldn't expect her to take that lying down, could you?
The motel bored Valerie so much she once ordered a Pussyfoot Special in the bar.
While Valerie and J Henry were at loggerheads, they actually DID care about each other. J Henry even told her how to spell 'grotesque' - 'q-u-e, not k'.
Poor Miranda, the couple's daughter, dodged the bullets flying between her parents.
Valerie once told Miranda she thought J Henry was the only member of the family who really knew how to love - and she didn't mean sleeping around.
What was so wonderful about Valerie was that you didn't know what to expect from her. Here was a rich super bitch who was also kind and considerate enough to give pregnant motel waitress Glenda Banks a lift home to save her catching the bus, and hand-hold distressed Kate Hamilton as she awaited a court appearance.
But she was also willing to falsely accuse motel restaurant manager (and her husband's spy) Paul Ross of sexual assault. Fortunately, David Hunter saw right through that - and Valerie just reacted as though she had been caught out in a piece of trivial mischief.
She also sent her own daughter an anonymous letter in an attempt to stop Miranda's romantic pursuit of Mr Paul - which caused much angst and resulted in police bribery.
Valerie lit up the screen. Her bitchery, her languidness, her kindness - she was fascinating and very witty to boot.
A Crossroads legend to us at the blog, she made Joan Collins of Dynasty look like Hilda Ogden after a bout of flu and sixty fags.
Fabulous.
Now, we're off to the bar to toy with the peanuts - and perhaps even order a Pussyfoot Special. Unless, of course, you'd like to show us your boat...
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