Our Crossroads Favourites: David Hunter

David Hunter had a very contrasting 1980: the horror of being shot in the motel office by his deranged ex-wife, Rosemary, and marriage to the lovely Barbara Brady.

David Hunter, played by Ronald Allen, was Meg's partner in the motel through most of the 1970s. He was a close friend and confidante of hers for years but, in the early 1980s, suddenly began to resent her sentimental regard for the motel as a 'family business' (which, in reality, it hadn't been since she first sold shares to Mr Lovejoy and Mrs Hope in the late 1960s), and became determined to get more profit out of the place.

David was an absolute boon both to Meg and the motel for a decade.

But he wouldn't have featured that highly in my personal Crossroads greats list if it hadn't been for his final three years in the show. I always liked David, but I always saw him as a bit of a background character - the main emphasis being on the Richardsons. If David had a romance, it always felt a bit like filler to me - simply to give the character something to do.

In the main, I saw him as Meg's friend, business partner and supporter.

Let's canter through David's Crossroads era...

David arrived at the motel circa 1970 as a director and quickly became Meg's closest ally outside of her family - despite her initial suspicions about him. She feared he was pals with her murderous ex-hubby Macolm Ryder. 

But David was not, and quickly proved his worth to Meg. Whenever a crisis threatened he was there for her, and vice-versa.

David's family life was a disaster - his wife, Rosemary, was a drunk and a neurotic. Son Chris seemed a nice enough lad, although not unaffected by his mother's influence, but a change of actor and direction saw him becoming a pain in the neck and, inadvertently, positively dangerous. And then there was David's rascally Uncle Timothy.

David was hugely popular - when he struck Rosemary in one storyline, viewers' opinion backed him, which is pretty unheard of.

David searched for love. Was Laura Marshall the one? Or Kate Hamilton, mother of truculent Lucy? Or what about journalist Kelly ….? No. None of them were.

Having divorced Rosemary, David seemed destined never to find true love again.

Rosemary still lent on him. Whenever she had a crisis, David flew to her aid.

And on at least one occasion she tried to interfere in the running of the motel, even suggesting she bought some shares.

David had no luck in love and found plenty of other angst in the 1970s - including awful Jim Baines and his wife, Muriel, squatting in his cottage. He also had a brush with a gambling addiction.

And then Hugh Mortimer died in 1978 - while being held captive by a terrorist group with links to David's son, Chris.

In 1979, Meg ceased to be an equal or majority shareholder in the motel (I can't remember which), with Adam Chance holding the balance of power.

The 1980s began hopefully for David as he became engaged to Barbara Brady. However, the very night of their engagement party, he was shot in the motel office by the deranged Rosemary.

Adam sold David some of his motel shares, making David the majority shareholder - and this led to a clash with Meg.

1981 saw David facing a huge crisis. He learned that Rosemary had married him bigamously and that Chris was not his biological son.

David colluded with millionaire J Henry Pollard to sell the motel to him, but when that failed, didn't mend his bridges with Meg.

And finally, in November 1981, Meg departed on the QE2.

David's marriage to Barbara nearly collapsed, but the two were reconciled and faced the future together.

For me, now, David entered his greatest era.

I loved his relationship with Barbara; his prickly (but rather droll) relationship with J Henry Pollard; the way he saw through Valerie's accusation of sexual assault against Mr Paul (David described the Pollards as 'deadly Daddy and murderous Mummy' in 1982); his chivalry when Kate Hamilton turned to him in a crisis; his distrust of, and occasional alliances with, Adam; and his fatherly attitude towards Jill. I once had a fascinating conversation with Peter Ling, co-creator and storyliner for Crossroads, on that last subject and will talk about that in a future post.

And then, in 1984, the serpent entered paradise and swept David straight into a passionate kiss.

This particular serpent was one Sarah Alexander - an old love of David's - and very soon she was pregnant.

Sarah made it clear - she wanted both David and the baby - or just the baby. She'd make access rights for the child's father extremely difficult if David did not join her.

But David didn't love Sarah and did love Barbara.

In 1985, the couple left to start life afresh elsewhere.

Poor David. Finding out that his son was not his biological son, that his first wife was a bigamist, and being denied access to a child that was biologically his.

We wished the Hunters well - and those final three years of David's reign at Crossroads will always be remembered as a golden era for us here at the blog.

And a golden era (one of many) for the show.

Our Crossroads Favourites: Valerie Pollard

Valerie in 1982: 'Birmingham? Darling, where on earth's that?'

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...

Our Crossroads Favourites: Barbara Brady/Hunter

Barbara Brady (Hunter from 1980), played by Sue Lloyd, was one of the classiest, loveliest and most compassionate Crossroads characters it was ever our good fortune to see on-screen. Novelist Barbara arrived in King's Oak in 1979 as housekeeper to American psychiatrist Lloyd Munroe. And we were soon suspicious of her. Well, she was a complete unknown in the neighbourhood, and she kept asking Lloyd odd questions... was she out to poison him or something?

We did wonder.

But all was happily resolved - Barbara was simply posing as a housekeeper. She was actually a novelist and was researching a new book, undercover. Why? I forget, but it all made sense at the time.

Barbara wrote novels under the pseudonym of Eleanor Ruskin.

She quickly attracted the attention of two local eligible men - Dr Farnham, of the King's Oak group practice, and David Hunter, of the Crossroads Motel.

In 1980, Barbara became engaged to David but, on the night of their engagement party, he was shot in the motel office by his deranged ex-wife Rosemary.

David survived, and married Barbara a couple of months later.

But plain sailing things weren't.

The couple rented the Old Coach House in the village and began married life, but their tranquility was shattered by the shock news that David was not Chris Hunter's biological father and that his 'ex-wife' Rosemary was already married when she 'married' him. David's attitudes had already begun to change - he wanted to sell the motel with no regard for Meg, for instance, and Barbara felt alienated from him. And then there was the intervention of Jimmy Corbett - who was romantically interested in Barbara. But don't let's mention him. By late 1981, the couple were planning to separate.

Barbara was on the point of leaving for Paris when she realised she loved David too much to go. She returned to the Old Coach House and the couple were reconciled. 

And then the motel burned down. 

The terrible catastrophe helped to strengthen the Hunters' marriage.

Barbara had always been a "people person" - she found herself caught up in the strange saga of Eddie Lee in 1980, a man serving time for a murder committed by a woman he loved. This served as inspiration for an  Eleanor Ruskin novel.

In late 1981, Barbara took on young working class Carole Sands as housekeeper at the Old Coach House. Barbara had a lively social conscience and was painfully aware that Carole did not come from a moneyed background. But Carole caused Barbara much trouble by telling the police about her involvement with the aforementioned Mr Lee. Oh dear.

Barbara marched on through the early-to-mid 1980s, kindly, stylish and beautiful.

When David's old love Kate Hamilton turned up in 1982 in the middle of a crisis, Barbara became jealous and briefly left David. But the rift was soon healed and Barbara did all she could to help Kate.

She was interested in Benny Hawkins's sudden outbreak of ESP and conducted some tests with him, becoming convinced he was very gifted.

She took in poor old tramp Horace Jackman - 'Jacko' - whilst researching material for a new book - and became a concerned and sympathetic listener to the tale of the death of his son - and how 'Jacko' blamed himself for it.

She and David moved out of the coach house and into the motel living accommodation, but although Barbara was on the premises and participated in the running of the business, she was never another Meg. Her work as an author remained important to her.

Her brother Douglas Brady paid a couple of visits to King's Oak and Barbara was dutiful towards him, but he always caused trouble and heartache.

However, things with David were good.

Then, in 1984, the serpent entered paradise.

And David went right off the rails and into the arms of his ex-love Sarah Alexander, who simply walked into the sitting room and within minutes was engaged in a passionate embrace with him.

Sarah became pregnant. And she wanted David as well as the baby.

Barbara was on the point of leaving David when David finally made the decision to stay with her. But the pull of the child was strong as 1985 came in. Sarah remained adamant that David would have no part in its life.

David almost returned to his compulsive gambling habit of years before, but Barbara stuck with him.

They went for a walk. They talked about their relationship - and Barbara's six years in King's Oak.

And they decided to start afresh elsewhere.

One of Barbara's final acts at Crossroads was just so typical of her: she put in a good word for Benny Hawkins with incoming manager Nicola Freeman.

Barbara and David were greatly missed. But I must confess to thoroughly enjoying what was to follow.

However, Barbara's golden era as Mrs Hunter/Miss Ruskin, motel executive and author, remains etched in my mind as one of the show's many high points.

If only we could have had Nicola Freeman AND the Hunters!

Our Crossroads Favourites: Paul Ross - "Mr Paul"

Of British/Swiss parentage, Paul Ross, known to his subordinates as Mr Paul, played by Sandor Elès arrived at the Crossroads Motel in 1982 to take on the role of restaurant manager. He aimed to rule with 'subdued charisma', but was not quite what he seemed.

The 'un-spot changing leopard' (as Kate Hamilton once called him), Mr Paul (I always felt subordinate to him) soon turned out to be trouble. He was secretly in the employ of wealthy businessman J Henry Pollard, and worked as his spy at the motel, undercover of the restaurant manager role.

He acted abominably at first - breaking down Diane Hunter's defences by taking her away for the weekend and then treating her like dirt after she'd fallen under his spell. But Mr Paul was to mellow. A year or two later, he was instrumental in securing Diane a job back at the motel after she'd gone off on some daft training scheme devised by J Henry Pollard, and comforted her when she bemoaned the fact that she'd lost her cold trolley job and come back as a lowly waitress. A lowly waitress?! Being a waitress was no such thing!

Mr Paul's love life was a disaster. He was pursued by that young high flier Miranda Pollard, which led him into trouble with Daddy and Mummy Pollard. Then he fell for the lovely young Georgina Moran, but suave Richard Lord soon saw him off.

Mr Paul had a past - a long-lost daughter called Lisa Walters. She didn't know he was her father, and after he secured her a job as a receptionist at Crossroads, she became attracted to him. Mr Paul had to acquaint her with the facts. He was later distressed when that nasty smoothy Douglas Brady hurt Lisa dreadfully. This was an interesting story, two of its components being that Douglas intended to emigrate to South Africa, and that Lisa was of mixed race parentage.

Lisa left and Mr Paul soon fell for Polish dissident Anna Radek. But she fell in love with Douglas Brady too - and poor Mr Paul married her so that she could stay in England because he was so devoted to her.

When the authorities got hold of the facts, Mr Paul and Anna were both in the soup. Anna was deported, but Mr Paul extracted revenge on the female immigration officer by spurning her when she revealed she had feelings for him.

One of the joys of Mr Paul was the way he spanned breathless high drama to the mundane, teasing Jill Chance with the notion he might sack Shughie McFee, upbraiding the waitresses because their hair was straggling, moaning about the presentation of the restaurant table cloths - surely they could find a better laundry service? - and so on.

In 1985, Mr Paul moved in to a cottage with his old love Miranda Pollard. Purely platonically. The motel staff were sceptical. And, sure enough, very soon the flame between them was rekindled.

Poor Mr Paul. His perfectionist zeal was his undoing in the end. Having decided that the restaurant flowers were not up to par one day, he went into the village for more, and came upon some robbers, intent on stealing the motel staff's wages, on his way back. He got whacked over the head, went into a coma and emerged with an impaired memory.

It was all very sad because in the meantime Miranda had decided she definitely loved him.

But the post-coma Paul had other fish to fry, and soon left King's Oak to work elsewhere.

I missed him and the era of wondering whatever Mr Paul would do next remains one of the shining highpoints of my Crossroads viewing years.

Some 1982 Crossroads Cliffhangers...

Thank you, YouTube! Included here are Jill Harvey (Jane Rossington) attempting to intervene in some marital strife between Barbara (Sue Lloyd) and David Hunter (Ronald Allen), the tragic death of Arthur Brownlow (Peter Hill), and the agonising story of whether or not Kate Hamilton (Frances White) had killed casino owner Tony Moran (John Laurimore).