ITV to screen lost episode of soap Crossroads online

by Staff Brand Republic 14-May-08, 15:25

LONDON - ITV is to screen a 1965 lost episode of its defunct soap 'Crossroads' online as part of a major relaunch of its archive, which also includes shows such as 'Rising Damp', 'Survival' and 'Joe 90'.

It is the earliest surviving episode of the ITV soap 'Crossroads' that has been uncovered and will get an exclusive airing on itv.com this Friday, with the chance to buy it on DVD the week after.

The 1965 episode was discovered in an unmarked tin in the old ATV archive, which now resides in west London. It had been thought by archivists that most of the episodes from the decade had been lost as it was standard procedure at the time to tape over episodes.

After finding two reels of film from 1973, a third can, labelled only "BM TR 2096", was discovered and it was this that contained episode 126 from 1965, a year after the show first launched, giving a distant snapshot of the earliest days of the long running soap.

'Crossroads' ran for more than twenty years before it was cancelled in 1988. It briefly returned in 2001, but was axed just months after its return after poor viewing figures.

ITV.com will be showing the lost episode online from Friday morning allowing fans to view one more time the wooden acting and sets.

Fans will be able to pre-order the DVD which includes two missing episodes from 1973.

The find marks a major re-launch of ITV.com's archive video section, which contains full-length episodes of many classic ITV shows.

Marc Webber, head of content at ITV.com, said: "Crossroads will always have a place in people's hearts. People poked fun at it for its wobbly sets and bad acting, but it continually attracted millions of viewers every week. Hopefully, some of those fans will join us on itv.com for a brilliant trip down memory lane this weekend."

Tim Beddows, from Network DVD, said: "The discovery has wowed fans of classic British television, as it's by far the earliest surviving example. It dates from April 1965, just months into the series' run, when the show was broadcast five nights a week. At the time the only comparable serials were Granada's 'Coronation Street' and the BBC's 'Compact', both of which could be seen twice a week -- so a five nights a week soap was a completely new idea -- and particularly hard work to produce."

Famously the show was parodied by comedienne Victoria Wood in her spoof soap 'Acorn Antiques', which played upon the show's wobbly scenery, fluffed lines and transparent scripts.