Victoria Wood Creator of Acorn Antiques, Victoria is actually a member of the Crossroads Appreciation Society and has gained a honourary status in the fan club. Whenever the CAS team visit her stage shows, she's always keen to throw in a "Crossroads joke" on our behalf. Acorn Antiques - the spoof of "television soaps" (including Coronation Street) - is very much made with love, only a fan would know such details of the UK soap opera format to get the observations so spot on! Victoria Wood found fame in the 1970s, reaching big audiences on talent show New Faces, before landing a job on the BBC's That's Life! series. Speaking To BBC North West, she said recently: BBC Reporter: "So was Mrs Overall based on Noele Gordon from Crossroads?" Victoria Wood: "No, if it was based on anyone, it was based on Amy Turtle or Mrs Mac from Take The High Road. It was a homage to Crossroads but also to a terrible radio series called Waggoners Walk which was on then."
	Paul O'Grady Paul loves soaps, in fact there is hardly any soap he doesn't like - well apart from the "new" versions of "Crossroads" which he hated. His love for the original series of the motel soap, saw him - like millions of others - rush home from work to catch the latest goings on in Kings Oak. Paul, who created the 'drag act' Lily Savage has worked his way up through television ranks, reaching the hights of chat show host. His own series, The Paul O'Grady Show, is currently one of the most popular talk shows on television.
	Judy Spires She once admitted to having a "photo of Amy Turtle" in her living room, and recalled the black and white days of Carlos the chef. Judi is more at home to radio presenting these days, but back in the 1970s, 80s and 90s was a popular face on both ITV and BBC TV. She fronted her own chat show, simply titled, "Judi" in the early 1980s, and before that worked for regional ITV station 'Westward' in the South West as a continuity announcer. In the late 1980s, she was hired by the BBC to front the relaunched chat show, Daytime Live. She later went on to become a co-presenter on the long running daily series, Pebble Mill.
	Terry Wogan Another chat show host, who would get Crossroads stars on his sofa whenever he could find a reason to. Terry is a fan of soaps, well the more odd side to the format. He seems to like the craziness of them, and he was often heard debating the bonkers plots of Crossroads on his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show. From debate on Doris Luke's "dodgy" hats to Meg's frocks - it was always high brow stuff. Terry has had a long career, working for BBC Radio One, and then moving to television with appearances on ATV, and later BBC TV. As host, he's presented programmes such as Come Dancing, Do The Right Thing, Eurovision and his own chat show, Wogan.
	Fern Britton Fern is a true fan of soap, she loves Coronation Street, Emmerdale and many of the American versions. She also has a soft spot for Crossroads. Her father, Tony Britton also appeared in the soap in 1964-65. Fern has worked for local ITV news programming, before finding national fame on the BBC's Breakfast Time news show in the early 1980s. In more recent years she's left the news presenting behind, opting for entertaiment with Ready, Stready, Cook! and Soapstar Superstar. Her co-host Phillip Schofield has also been quite kind about Crossroads too, and even dug out Nolly singing on one of his Christmas specials for ITV. Phillip has had a varied career, from presenting Children's BBC to the flagship Saturday morning show, Going Live! In recent years he's left the children's programmes behind, working on popular shows such as National Lottery Live, Schofield's Quest, Dancing On Ice and Talking Telephone Numbers.
	Alan Titchmarsh Alan let his Crossroads love out on the BBC's 30th anniversary celebrations of the soap opera. Yes, Crossroads' biggest celebration was left to ITV's rival channel! Alan presented a special 'Crossroads' edition of the lunchtime legend show - Pebble Mill. He did ask "How do we live without it?" With a huge cheer from the audience who thought it was a great idea to bring Crossroads back. Today Alan Titchmarsh is more known for his green fingers, through his presenting of many BBC TV gardening programmes - including BBC2's flagship blooming programme, Gardeners World. He has also presented games shows, including Ask The Family and for the most part of the 1990s was the main presenter of Pebble Mill along with Judi Spires and Ross King.
	Mary Wilson In the 1960s Mary Wilson was possibly the most vocal Crossroads supporter around. The wife of then Prime Minister Harold Wilson, she was furious when the new Thames Television decided not to screen the Midlands soap. All had been fine while Associated Rediffusion ruled the London airwaves, but replacement ITV station Thames Television wanted a new look for their local programme schedules. It didn't last though! The support from Mary, and many other thousands of Crossroads fans in the London area saw Thames Television reinstate Crossroads six months later, although London stayed six months behind the rest of the country for quite some time. Mary as well as being the loyal wife to Harold also became a poet in her own right, and she also wrote the foreword to Noele Gordon's autobiography in 1975.
	Tommy Nutter Speaking to TV Life magazine in 1974 the fashion guru commented: "I went with a friend and client of mine, Cilla Black, to a big television occasion in London and was thrilled to bits when none other than Amy Turtle asked me the way to the ladies' clockroom. I was so full of it the next morning that everyone else in the business has not stopped teasing me since. I finish work early everyday to make absolutely sure of getting home in time to see Crossroads and I particularly like Amy because she reminds me of my 80-year-old grandmother who lives in Kilburn, London, and keeps pigeons and is a very amusing laugh-a-minute lady." Tommy Nutter was a famous fashion designer who styled such names as Elton John, 'The Beatles' and 'The Rolling Stones' - he had a store on the famous Savile Row in London which has been described as "the golden mile of tailoring."
	Tony Blackburn Tony spoke out in defense of Crossroads, pointing out that many people watched it and enjoyed the show - himself included. Speaking in 1974 he said: "I enjoy Crossroads so much that I have any episodes that I am going to miss taped on a video cassette machine at home so I can watch them when I get in. I suppose its because basically I am nosey - I like watching other people's lives. I like sharing their problems, dropping in on their homes. Noele Gordon is Meg Richardson to me, ok - I know its not 'real' but if I compare it to the BBC's Wilkins Family, Crossroads is more convincing." Tony of course is famous for being the first DJ heard on Radio One when it launched. He has also presented TV music show, Top Of The Pops and more recently became 'King of the Jungle' when he won the I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! reality show. Tony has never been far away from the television screens, and during the 1990s he was a regular on entertainment shows The Big Breakfast and Noel's House Party and in the 2000's has presented segments on breakfast show GMTV.
	Anne Diamond Speaking on TVS' 'The Television Show' in 1987 she commented that Crossroads was her 'late night viewing' (being up at 3am for TV-am at the time) and how she was sad that Susan Hanson was leaving the soap. "It's sad that she's leaving, she's one of the great pillars and one of the great strengths of the programme." Later speaking of Noele Gordon she commented: "Shortly before she died actually, she gave me an interview. She was a lovely lady, a very strong lady. Been in the business years, been through everything. And I know what Susan means if it were possible to bring her back." Anne worked at ATV and Central in the local news departments before becoming a national household name at TV-am. In the 1980s she fronted the follow up series to The Television Show, TV Weekly and later fronted BBC One's Good Morning with Anne and Nick, with her former TV-am co-host, Nick Owen.
	Bill Buckley A big fan of the original Crossroads, so much so that when Queen of Soap, Noele Gordon was axed in 1981 he released a record in an attempt to save her. Meg Is Magic bankrupted the record label! Bill at the time was working for a local Birmingham newspaper, but after appearing on ATV Today, singing Meg Is Magic, it wasn't long before his talent for writing witty songs was noticed by Esther Ranzen. He became one of the presenters on the BBC entertainment and consumer issues programme, That's Life! - which Esther was main host. Bill has in more recent years been heard on various local radio stations as a presenter.
	Roy Dotrice Actor Roy spoke of his love of Crossroads in TV Life magazine in 1974: "I am hooked on Crossroads. When I was doing my one-man show, Brief Lives, at London's Mayfair Theatre, I had to spend three hours making up at the theatre every evening from 5 o'clock to curtain up at 8-15 and during that time I never missed seeing Crossroads on my portable TV. I don't think its always the best acted series in the world or the best-directed but it has a good storyline going through each episode and has all the classic cliffhangers too. It is totally compulsive stuff." After working for the RAF, Roy decided in a career change and took the route to acting when in 1957 he joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford, England, (later to become the Royal Shakespeare Company - where also Elizabeth Croft, the motel's Edith Tatum spent many years too) and since then has starred in many theatre, film and television productions. In 2000 he received a Tony award for his outstanding performance in A Moon for the Misbegotten, and has starred in ten Broadway roles.
	Julian Clary The popular 'camp' comic told the TV Times: "Crossroads is another of my choices. Not because we were all laughing at it. We were all quite gripped because the storylines were very dramatic. I suppose it was of its time, and as a child I realised it was very camp." Julian picked Crossroads as one of his favourite TV programmes for an ITV series called Thats What I Call Television. For this special the motel set was remade, and some of the ex-cast returned to Kings Oak with Julian to question them on the soap.
	Russell Harty A chat show queen of the 1970s and 1980s. Lew Grade disliked Harty with a passion and ATV were known to either not show his series, or move them into slots that were not well watched. Harty himself could be 'quite vicious' to guests recalled fan club boss Peter Kingsman, but with Noele Gordon he enjoyed her company. She appeared on his BBC series a couple of times (no doubt ATV banned her from his ITV series') and they even performed a song together in 1983.
	Les Dennis A fan of the original Crossroads of sorts, he had a lot of respect and admiration for the stars of the original, as he told the Sun newspaper in 2003. He spoke of Crossroads due to the fact he was about to join the spin-off series: “It was great to work on Crossroads because I remember the original series. When I was just starting out, I appeared on New Faces in Birmingham and the then Crossroads cast were filming there. I saw stars Noele Gordon and Ronald Allen.” Les is best known as the longest serving host of ATV's Family Fortunes game show which started in 1980. He presented the show from 1987 through to 2002. Other work includes performing with Russ Abbot on his comedy series'.
	Philip Voss Shakespeare star Philip Voss knows exactly what his dream job would be - a role in new-look TV soap Crossroads I would love to be asked," he cries, "I really can't wait for Crossroads to come back. It was marvellous."  The Midlander appeared on the soap favourite in the early days and says he loved every minute of it. "I loved Noele Gordon and we had a wonderful time," he remembers happily, "but it was fraught with anxiety. We had limited editing facilities and if you went wrong that was it. It meant go right back to the beginning and doing the whole scene again. We were always worried about over-running and under-running and a big speech could disappear in an instant if we ran out of time." Philip appeared in several episodes of the TV soap as scheming businessman Walter intent on taking over the motel.
	Others In Brief: Barbara Windsor A fan of at least the new series (we're not sure about the original) Barbara is a legend of stage and screen. She may love to watch soaps, but of course in recent years she's also featured in one of the most successful, EastEnders. Geraldine McNulty Her agent told us Geraldine was a big fan of the original Crossroads, and would have loved to have appeared in the show. "Although our client Geraldine McNulty was a big fan of Crossroads and would have loved to have appeared in it – she never did." - Thea Martin, PDF. Janice Long When a long lost episode from 1965 was discovered in 2008 the Janice Long show on BBC Radio West Midlands covered the news. Janice interviewed an ITV Executive and also a member of the Crossroads Fan Club. During the interview she supported the show, commenting that "it wasn't really as bad as the critics made out." Royals: The Queen Noele Gordon recalled, having met her maj at a Royal Variety show, how Queenie enjoyed watching the soap and knew who everyone at the motel was. Prince Phillip Phil was such a fan he visited the ATV Centre and Crossroads sets in the 1971. Phillip also confirmed to reporters that his missus was a regular viewer. The Queen Mother Another meeting with Noele at another Royal Variety show revealed that she was also a fan of the soap and seemed to know far too much about the current storylines of the time. Diana, Princess Of Wales It is noted that at another glittering royal performance when meeting the motel's Susan Hanson,  Diana had quite a discussion about recent events at Crossroads. Princess Margaret She liked a few things did dear Maggie, but when she was sober she'd tune into Crossroads and watch the motel goings-on. Daily Star reporter - turned showbiz PR - Geoff Baker once wrote an article suggesting that Princess Margaret was to appear in Crossroads.