Nolly | Preview (ITVX)
A brand new 3-part drama from BAFTA-winning writer Russell T Davies, and starring Academy Award-nominee and BAFTAwinner Helena Bonham Carter.
Nolly explores the all-powerful reign, and fall from grace, of the inimitable Noele Gordon, TV legend and Queen of the Midlands, darling of the establishment until it turned on her and betrayed her Noele (or Nolly to her friends) was a legend in her own lifetime.
As flame-haired widow Meg Richardson in the long-running soap opera Crossroads, she was one of the most famous people in Britain. Then in 1981, at the height of the show’s success and the peak of Nolly’s fame, she was axed without ceremony, without warning and with no explanation.
With the boss’s words “all good things must come to an end” ringing in her ears, Noele Gordon found herself thrown out of the show that was her life for over 18 years.
Nolly brings the true Noele Gordon once more into the spotlight. A star who could be tough, haughty and imperious, grandly sweeping into rehearsals from her Rolls Royce, but also a hard-working actress who was fiercely loyal and loved by cast and crew alike. And at last, the biggest question of all can be answered – why was she sacked?
Nolly reveals the truth, the consequences, and the legacy of that terrible day. Nolly is a bold exploration of how the establishment turns on women who refuse to play by the rules, the women it cannot understand and the women it fears.
And it is a love letter to a legend of television, and to the madcap soap she starred in, Nolly is an outrageously fun and wildly entertaining ride through Noele Gordon’s most tumultuous years, and a sharp, affectionate and heartbreaking portrait of a forgotten icon.
Augustus Prew joins the cast as Tony Adams, Nolly’s Crossroads co-star, devoted friend, confidante, and her occasional chauffeur. Mark Gatiss joins as entertainer Larry Grayson, who also shared a close and enduring friendship with Gordon.
Richard Lintern is Ronnie Allen, who played Crossroads’ hotel manager David Hunter. Antonia Bernath is Jane Rossington, who starred as Jill Richardson, Meg’s daughter. Clare Foster is Sue Lloyd, who played Barbara, Chloe Harris is Susan Hanson, who played fan favourite Miss Diane, Lloyd Griffith is Paul Henry, who played handyman Benny.
Con O’Neill plays Jack Barton, producer of Crossroads, and Tim Wallers plays Barton’s boss, and ATV’s Controller of Programming, Charles Denton.
Nolly lands Thursday 2nd February on ITVX.