Our Crossroads Favourites: Daniel Freeman

Yuppie Daniel endured much at the motel - Growler and Mrs Tardebigge included.

Daniel, played with great skill by Philip Goodhew, was basically a selfish little swine.

He was the son of the late Herbie Freeman and the step-son of Nicola. He had a twin sister, Joanna.

And he had obviously been spoilt rotten.

What mattered to Daniel was Daniel.

He first turned up at the motel after the sell-out to MIH in 1985, and caused Nicola much angst - by calling her "Queen of the Bunny Girls" one night in the Rally Bar whilst in a drunken rage - and by telling Jill Chance that Nicola and Adam were having an affair.

What a ratbag!

But Daniel had been denied access to his heritage - a very large sum of money indeed - as one of the dying acts of his father, who loved the boy dearly, but knew him well. Daniel was not very mature for his age. And he wouldn't get the dosh until he was thirty. 

And because of this, Daniel was not a happy bunny.

He fell for Tracey Hobbs whilst he was working at the new motel leisure centre, and was shattered to discover that she was Nicola's long lost daughter.

He told Nicola exactly what he thought of her. And, judging by what he said, it seemed that a fair amount of jealousy went into the mix when it came to his feelings towards his stepmother. When Nicola had originally entered Herbie Freeman's life, Daniel had obviously sensed competition for his father's affection - and resented it.

And, even after his father's death, he still resented her. He told Nicola that Herbie had always loved his own mother much more than he had loved her.

Not that Daniel had it all his own way.

For a start, working at the leisure centre and clashing with Adam Chance were not exactly what Daniel was used to. And then there was sharing a staff chalet - first with barman Barry Hart and then with chumpish Charlie Mycroft.

Charlie was particularly difficult. Daniel thought he should have carte blanche to "entertain" ladies in the chalet whenever he chose - all night if he wanted. Surely, Charlie should make himself absent on such occasions? But with Charlie's toy dog, "Growler", guarding Charlie's pillow and Charlie being a clean living "early to bed early to rise" type of chappie, Daniel grew increasingly fed up. At one point, he plotted with his girlfriend, Fiona, and deposited "Growler" in the leisure centre swimming pool. Of course, Charlie was horrified, but fortunately "Growler" recovered.

Daniel later left Crossroads, but returned in April 1988 - a yuppie in the making. "Even my car phone's got its own Filofax!" he chortled.

And he definitely had the last smirk over Adam when it turned out he was representing the Three Crowns company, Jill and Adam's competition for buying Crossroads.

A joy to dislike - that was Daniel. But his story wasn't without some depth and he didn't have all the luck with the ladies. Mrs Tardebigge, the cleaner, who first appeared at the motel in late 1986, thought Daniel adorable and wasted no opportunity to demonstrate that fact.

Poor lad...

Our Crossroads Favourites: Darby

Darby:  "Please extinguish that cigarette, Mrs  Tardebigge!"
Mrs Tardebigge: "It's me bit of pleasure, lover."

Mr Thomas Darby, played by Patrick Jordan, was the hall porter at the Crossroads Motel in the mid-to-late 1980s. Thomas was just about always called and referred to as "Darby" or "Mr Darby". Use of his first name no doubt seemed a little too informal to him.

Fiercely devoted to Nicola Freeman, Darby always made sure she received her newspaper and cuppa each morning. As soon she was settled in her office for the day, he was in with a tray - and woe betide anybody who smoked in her office, for Darby would be in with the air freshener (it was called "Whispering Glen" or something).

Darby had quite a rigid mindset and clashed with the likes of cleaner Mrs Tardebigge and new motel owner Tommy "Bomber" Lancaster. He hated Mrs Tardebigge smoking in the staff room. 

Like all the best "pain-in-the-neck" soap characters, he always believed he was acting for the best. 

Sometimes his was the voice of doom and gloom. When Tommy took over the motel in 1987, Darby droned on endlessly - saying that it was just like the old Station Hotel at Buxton years before, and that the staff would soon be out on their ears. 

Perhaps if he wasn't so apt to get worked up about things, Darby could have avoided the heart attack he survived. But he was soon back to his old self.

He developed a friendship with Margaret Grice's mother, Mrs Babbitt, herself a gloomy old fusspot. 

At the end of the series in 1988, as the Three Crowns took over the newly-renamed King's Oak Country Hotel, Darby was heard saying that it was just like the old Station Hotel, Buxton, all over again...