first woman to interview a British Prime Minister, when Harold Macmillan was in office. Initially commissioned as an emergency schedule filler, the show became so successful that Gordon gave up her executive position to concentrate on presenting. She then moved on to present a daily live entertainment show, Lunchbox, an early daytime programme. Crossroads In the summer of 1964, Lunchbox came to an end after more than 2,000 episodes. It made way for a new daily soap opera, Crossroads, in which Gordon played the role of motel owner Meg Richardson (later Meg Mortimer), a part which had been developed with Gordon in mind, as she was still under contract to Lew Grade's ATV. First in 1969, and over the following decade, she won the TV Times award for most popular television actress on eight occasions. Gordon was the only member of the Crossroads cast who had a permanent contract; all other cast members were booked on an ad hoc basis. Gordon stayed with the programme until she was sacked in 1981, when ATV was in the process of being re-constituted into a new company, Central Independent Television. Central were obliged to continue ATV's commitment to Crossroads; however, Head of Programmes Charles Denton and Head of Drama Margaret Matheson wanted to end the soap opera in favour of more expensive and lavish drama productions. The decision to dismiss Gordon – the show's most popular cast member – was taken in the hope that viewers would desert the show, giving Central a valid excuse to axe it. The British press had stated that Denton was the one responsible for the sacking of Gordon, though it was later revealed that Jack Barton, producer and head writer of Crossroads, was responsible for Gordon's sacking. Margaret Matheson had stated that it was not Denton or herself who sacked Gordon. According to Denton, "I simply carried out the request of the Crossroads producer [Barton] to dismiss her. I took the flack as that was part of my job to protect my staff." She returned to Crossroads in August 1983 for two episodes. In 1985, Matheson's successor Ted Childs ordered Crossroads to be revamped; one element in the updating of the show was its renaming as Crossroads Motel. The programme's new look was designed to bring back Gordon on an 'as and when' basis, starting with a three-month stint from April 1985. Gordon's return as Meg was