"Nolly was a dear, dear friend," he says quietly. "We went to see her in hospital soon after we lost our jobs.
By that time she was very sick. We didn't mention we'd been axed and neither did she. It was too painful to open
old wounds.
"When we left she took my hand as I walked away and gently whispered, 'I know. I know. I've been there.'
It was the last time we saw her and she was simply saying 'I know how you feel.'
"She knew how hurt we were because she'd been hurt just as badly. We were younger and had more strength to take
the blow, yet her determination to pick herself up and get back on the stage was a great example to us." Loyal fans
also helped soften the blow.
"Before we left there were viewers handing in petitions and standing outside the studios in the bitter cold writing 'Save
our David' in the snow. It was reassuring and gratifying to know you hadn't been wasting your time and that people didn't
want to see you go."
The last straw for many fans came when Miss Diane was killed off after a road crash. "That's when we knew the end
of the show was near," admits Ronnie.
"The show depends on familiarity," adds Sue. "Characters in soaps like Coronation Street and Crossroads have been
part of some people's family for years. "So it isn't just the cast we feel sorry for, it's the viewers, too. They
don't want to lose their friends. They're the people who will be hit then the show comes off the air."
Ronnie and Sue made dozens of friends at Crossroads and their happy memories are now tinged with sadness. Noele
Gordon died during Ronnie's reign at the motel. So did Roger Tonge, the actor who played Sandy, Meg's wheelchair-bound
son. "Rog was one of my closest friends, I still miss him," says Ronnie.
Then his pal and flatmate Brian Hankins, who once played a doctor in the soap, died of cancer. Another bitter blow.
"There were people who tried to insist the show was jinxed but deaths happen in any big organsiation," says Ronnie.
But the best friend he ever made was Sue. She joined the team three years before they left the show and it wasn't
long before their on-screen love affair became a passionate off screen romance. And they're as madly in love as ever,
says Ronnie.
"We've worked together, been out of work together, and it's still marvellous. Even marriage couldn't bring us closer.
It sounds terriblt complacent but we're happy as we are. We don't want a family, we like being able to zip about because
we have no ties."
Although they have two London flats, they permanently rent another in Beverly Hills, with an idyllic roof-top patio and
a panoramic view. "We'd never want to leave London - that will always be our base. But at the moment we're in
the nice position of being able to switch backwards and forwards as the mood and the work suits us."
There's certainly been no shortage of offers or variety. Ronnie's success in comedy roles is quite a contrast to dull
old David. "He was such a square, I agonised over him at times," laughs Ronnie. "And those awful suits he wore.
I wouldn't be seen dead in them."
The Comic Strip shorts and the film The Supergrass have won Ronnie a new generation of fans - even some who secretly
liked him as David Hunter! "The last time I was along King's Road in London a punk came up to me and said, 'Man,
you were cool in The Supergrass. Real cool.' Then as he walked away he whispered over his shoulder, 'I liked you
in Crossroads, too!'" Ronnie recounts the tale with glee.
So is he glad he's had a two-year start on the Crossroads actors who next year will be adjusting to life outside
the motel? "No. Given the choice I'd have preferred to have gone when everyone else goes rather than being shoved
out in the cold. It'll be less traumatic all going together, sad though it will be."
And will Sue and Ronnie tune in for that final episode next year, just for curiosity? They both shake their heads
defiantly. "No way," says Ronnie. "It'd be far too depressing. Why make ourselves miserable just when we're
having the time of our lives?"
