60 years on from its first release, TV bosses have issued a caution against the long-running soap opera ‘Crossroads’ (The Daily Mail). The low-budget soap opera, known for its wooden acting, dodgy sets and questionable writing may offend viewers.
Some classic episodes of the serial, set in a fictional Midlands motel, have been released on the streaming service ITVX. However, they are accompanied by a content warning which states the programme “contains broadcast standards, language and attitudes of its time.”
Crossroads ran from 1964 to 1988 with a brief revival in 2001. It saw the creation of some of the most popular characters in soap history including matriarch Meg Mortimer played by Noele Gordon, gossiping cleaner Amy Turtle (Ann George) the dim-witted Benny played by Paul Henry
The soap opera was praised for having a major character in a wheelchair – Meg’s son Sandy who was played by Roger Tonge – and for its high-profile black characters.
Although it was made quickly and with low production values, Crossroads was one of the most popular programmes on British TV, inspiring Victoria Wood’s parody Acorn Antiques.
The decision to give the show a trigger warning has been slammed as ‘pathetic’ and condescending. Actress Fiona Curzon, who played motel temptress Faye Mansfield between 1975 and 1977, has made no bones about her criticisms of the decision.
She said: “I just think it is absolutely pathetic. I am so sick of all of this. You cannot say boo these days.
“I don’t think anyone sitting down and watching Crossroads would be shocked by anything. On the contrary I think they would think, ‘what is the matter with the people who are issuing these warnings?’ The point is we were very moderated in those days.”
Professor John Sutherland, the author of Triggered Literature, echoed Curzon’s concerns, arguing that: ‘The implication of the warning ‘contains broadcast standards and language and attitudes of the time’ is we are the supremely enlightened generation capable of judging, from our eminence, all our deluded predecessors. You think so? Look around you.’
ITVX declined to comment but an insider said a content warning ‘is standard practice to allow viewers to make informed choices’.
Worth reading in full.
Increasingly, actors are speaking out about trigger warnings with Judi Dench recently arguing that ‘people who need trigger warnings shouldn’t go to the theatre.’ In May, she joined a small but distinguished group of performers, including Sir Ian McKellen, Ralph Fiennes and Simon Callow, in calling on theatres to ditch the trigger warning.
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