"I think I'll just dead-head me roses and then pop down the bowls club to see old Jenks..."
So, who were our favourite Crossroads characters? Which did we love to love or love to hate? Which made the most impression on us and became true Crossroads Greats? We'll begin with Mr Arthur Brownlow, played by Peter Hill, from late 1979 until late 1982. Arthur was the grumpy husband of lovely, motherly Kath and the father of motel waitress Glenda and oil rig worker Ron. He certainly was grumpy, and an early story-line featured him being diagnosed with a terminal illness. The diagnosis turned out to be mistaken, and Arthur survived to gripe at Kath when she got the housekeeper's job at the motel (he had a very real and genuine high regard for traditional family roles), be falsely accused of improper behaviour with his niece-in-law, Iris "I ain't dun nuthink, Auntie Kath" Scott, and join a highly dubious 'residents' protection group' when young black couple Joe and Trina MacDonald moved in next door with their infant son, Ben. On the plus side, Arthur was no stick-in-the-mud when his daughter, Glenda, provoked horrified reactions from Kath and her husband, Kevin, by suggesting she had a test tube baby. Arthur backed her but didn't live to see the birth of his granddaughter, Katie Louise, as he was run down by a car the year before. Arthur drove me potty at times, but I loved the Brownlows set-up and he was an integral part of that for almost three years. I often wondered what Kath saw in him, but the devastating effect of his death was testament to the fact that theirs was a marriage built on love.
And, yes, I kind of missed him when the character died.
Arthur and Kath Brownlow in 1982. This is how we remember them!
Thanks to Solly who writes:
Regarding your query about the characters of Arthur and Kath Brownlow: they were originally played by Hilary Martin and Brian Haines very briefly in 1976, when Glenda was attacked by a lorry driver. They were just in a few episodes. Towards the end of 1979, they were recast with Peter Hill and Pamela Vezey taking the roles into the 1980s as permanent characters.
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).
Sir Billy Butlin died in 1980, and Butlin's introduced us to a new catchphrase: "Butlin it Once and You'll do it Again". On YouTube, I've found a clip of the Christmas 1980 episode of Crossroads, complete with commercial break.
At the motel, Meg was having a disco, and at the Brownlows' Arthur set the table cloth on fire (?!). The new Butlin's commercial, complete with the "Butlin it Once and You'll do it Again" ditty lights up the break, together with an advertisement for an indigestion remedy featuring a Space Invaders style turkey.
I'm too young to remember the original broadcasts of Crossroads, but I saw the '80s episodes on UK Gold some years ago and became a great fan of the late Pamela Vezey as Kath Brownlow/Fellowes.
I read on IMDB that Pamela Vezey played Kath from 1976 to 1987, and have recently purchased Network DVD Crossroads episodes from the mid-to-late 1970s to see more of Kath's story - but she isn't in any of them and Glenda, her daughter, only appears periodically.
What's going on, please?
Well, Gavin, firstly, we share your feelings about Pamela Vezey's portrayal of Kath - she was absolutely spot-on and the character seemed very real. There were Kaths in households up and down the land.
The reason why Kath does not appear in your Network DVD 1970s episodes is simple: she wasn't around. The character of Kath Brownlow appeared very briefly in 1976 as part of the Glenda rape story-line. She was then played by actress Hilary Martin. Glenda (Lynette McMorrough) appeared on-and-off until late 1979 when it was decided that her family would move to King's Oak. And so, Pamela Vezey and Peter Hill made their debuts as Kath and Arthur, with Ian Liston as their son Ron.
Glenda became a full-time character, too!
In 1980, David Moran appeared as Kevin Banks (he married Glenda in 1981) and Angela Webb as the enjoyably twisted Iris Scott, Kath's niece.
To sum up: the IMDB entry is misleading as it does state that Pamela Vezey was Kath from 1976 to 1987, when in actual fact Kath was a brief passer-through in 1976, played by actress Hilary Martin, and permanent only from late 1979 to 1987 - played by Pamela Vezey.
