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Real People Magazine Article

Deirdre Costello's third visit to the Motel

When the Motel's new cleaner, Annie Farrant, appeared briskly working over Meg's sitting room with dustpan and brush, many regular Crossroads viewers asked themselves, haven't we seen her before somewhere?  The answer, if anyone is still wondering, is yes, indeed!  Deirdre Costello, who plays Annie, is quite a veteran of life at the Motel, even if her appearances have never really lasted very long.

"i've been in the show twice before," Deirdre explained.  "Once I was a waitress, called Betty as I remember.  When Diane went off for a while to live in Oxford, I was her friend there.  The other part was a girl from London who came up to the Motel and turned out to be a confidence trickster.  That's really going back a few years."
 
Playing Annie is just the sort of part Deirdre Costello enjoys.  "It's smashing," she says.  "I don't really like playing glamorous people.  It's more fun playing people that look pretty terrible.  After all, when you get up in the morning looking a wreck it's alright because you know that by the end of the day you'll look even worse.  But if you're playing a glamorous role, there's all that worrying about make-up, hair and so on."
 
When she's not working her occasional roles at the Crossroads Motel, Deirdre has a full and varied acting career.  She's been on the Dick Emery Show and done a guest appearance on the ever popular 'On The Buses'.  And she played a glamour role in 'Coronation Street'.  She's currently working on another series called 'I Didn't Know You Cared'.  "I play this very outgoing extrovert factory girl."  She's also looking forward to playing a criminal's wife in an upcoming episode of TV's toughest cop show, 'The Sweeney'.
 
Meanwhile, Deirdre is helping Crossroads keep its lofty position at the top of the ratings chart with her portrayal of the new char at the Motel.  "She's really quite a jokey, comic character, but sometimes a bit of sadness does creep in.  After all, her husband is out of work and that's obviously not particularly funny.  Still, on the whole, she does come across as quite a jolly person."
 
As a veteran of the show, even if her appearances are few and far between, Deirdre has no doubts that Crossroads is both enjoyable and highly efficient.  "The pressure is amazing, of course, but everyone here is so sensible about it.  There's no big fuss, we just get on with it.  If anything you find more messing about in a show where there's far less to do and everyone keeps rushing around worrying.  They're always saying 'Do you think you'll be ok?' and so on.  Up here everyone just accepts that you'll be ok, that you'll get on with the job as efficiently as everyone else does."
 
By the time this edition of Crossroads Monthly appears, viewers will be saying goodbye yet again to Deirdre Costello.  But whether she's a waitress, a confidence trickster or a charlady, there's no doubt that anytime Deirdre wants to drop in at the Crossroads Motel, she'll prove yet again a popular member of an ever-popular team.   

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