When the low-budget soap opera Crossroads originally aired on British TV, the only warning viewers might have needed was that it contained wooden acting, dodgy scripts and wobbly sets.
But 60 years on from the first episode, TV bosses have issued a caution that the long-running show, which originally aired in a teatime slot, may cause offence.
Some classic episodes of the serial, set in a fictional Midlands motel, have been released on the streaming service ITVX, but they come with a content warning which states the programme ‘contains broadcast standards, language and attitudes of its time’.
But the decision has been slammed as ‘pathetic’ and condescending.
Among those criticising the warnings was actress Fiona Curzon, who played motel temptress Faye Mansfield between 1975 and 1977.
Paul Henry, as Benny Hawkins in ‘Crossroads’ – a British ITV soap opera which ran from 1964 to 1988
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.’
And Professor John Sutherland, the author of Triggered Literature said: ‘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.’
Crossroads, which ran from 1964 to 1988 with a brief revival in 2001, created some of the most popular characters in soap history including matriarch Meg Mortimer played by Noele Gordon, the dim-witted Benny played by Paul Henry and gossiping cleaner Amy Turtle (Ann George).
It was praised for having a major character in a wheelchair – Meg’s son Sandy, played by Roger Tonge – and for its high-profile black characters.
Although one of the most popular programmes on British TV, it was made quickly and with low production values, which inspired Victoria Wood’s parody Acorn Antiques.
ITVX declined to comment but an insider said a content warning ‘is standard practice to allow viewers to make informed choices’.
BEWARE: THESE SOAP OPERA LEGENDS MAY CAUSE OFFENCE
Sandy Richardson
Sandy Richardson, who was matriarch Meg’s son, became the first disabled character in a British soap after Roger Tonge, the actor who played him, developed Hodgkin lymphoma, which affected his mobility.
Instead of writing the character out of the show, the producers decided to make him a wheelchair user after a car accident. Tonge died aged just 35 in 1981.
Noele Gordon as Meg Mortimer and Roger Tonge as Sandy Richardson in Crossroads
Benny Hawkins
Benny Hawkins, the simple-minded handyman, proved an instant hit on joining the show in 1975.
Famous for his woolly hat and friendship with ‘Miss Diane’, Benny – played by Paul Henry, now 78 – stayed until the show ended its original run in 1988.
In 2017 Henry proved his real-life intelligence by winning Celebrity Pointless.
Meg Mortimer and David Hunter
Meg Mortimer, played by the late Noele Gordon, was the doyenne of the Crossroads Motel and her sacking from the soap in 1981 provoked a national outcry.
Fans breathed a sigh of relief when bosses decided not to kill the character off and instead sent her off on the QE2 to start a new life overseas. The character returned in 1983 for two episodes set in Venice. Gordon died in 1985.
David Hunter was the hotel’s co-owner, played by Ronald Allen. The actor parodied his staid persona in several episodes of the alternative comedy series The Comic Strip Presents and died in 1991, aged 60.
David Hunter, as played by Ronald Allen, with Meg Richardson, as played by Noele Gordon in ‘Crossroads’