Nolly

Perhaps this series makes more sense to those in the UK who have heard of Crossroads, the long-running television soap opera that starred the main character of this show, Noele Gordon. Otherwise there really isn't much here, just a few hours of soap opera intrigue and a glimpse at a woman who was very well known in the UK many years ago.

What makes this actually work well is Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Noele (or Nolly). Carter has been miscast so often in her career that she has occasionally ended up the worst performer in some of her shows. But in this role her acting chops are real, evident, and powerful: she pretty much turns the series into something extremely watchable as she is able to give her character powerful grace, depth, and sympathy. Watching Carter here is almost like a lesson in acting: the gestures, the slight grimaces, the slow smiles; everything she does here is nothing short of perfection.

For Carter alone, this show is eminently worth watching, even if like most Americans, Noele Gordon is a non-entity.

Crossroads oozed cheese and ham. What the heck was a Motel and where did they find those rough accents ?

Characters like Benny, Jim Baines and Amy Turtle were legend. Meg Mortimer played by Nolly was like the headmistress that you hated but kept everything under control. It was always a close thing between Crossroads and Bill and Ben as to who had the most wooden actors. It was with trepidation that one watched the new series and how Russell T Davies would treat such a precarious subject. Would it be a mirror of liquid cheese or glistening goo ?

Amazingly the script displayed humour, sensitivity and integrity. 15 million viewers couldn't all have been wrong ? Helena Bonham Carter nailed it. She captured the vulnerable and perceptive side of Meg, illuminating up the screen as if it were colour tv for the first time in 1938. Slowly drawing one in, by the third episode one was impressed by the complexities of behind the scenes and especially insidious male management. Cast is very good especially Larry Grayson played by the chap from League of Gentlemen, music is sympathetic, sets are spot on. Great script and directed with a great build up from Peter Hoar. A real surprise.

We take soap operas for granted these days but back in the 1970s there were very few to choose from and all of them in the days of just three channels were all on ITV. Emmerdale was just a farm, Coronation Street was on twice a week, and then you had crossroads the first five nights a week soap opera.

In years to come crossroads would become a byword for badly made television, wooden acting terrible scripts and shaky scenery. The star of the show was Noel Gordon who was already something of a star in her own right. But it was Crossroads who put her into the nation's living rooms five nights a week and in the days of three channels over 15 million people with tune into this rubbish because really there was nothing else on!

This is a wonderful nostalgic return to the 1970s and a reminder of how bad TV was in those days.

Helen Bonham Carter is terrific as the matriarch character Meg Richardson, But there was far more to this woman than just crossroads. Russell T Davies script and high production values make this a must watch for those like me who remember this period in television history. 9 out of 10.

I didn't really want to watch this but my wife was keen and Helena Bonham Carter is in it, so I succumbed.

I remember Crossroads as a dreadfully poor soap that my Grandparents used to watch. Cardboard sets and cardboard acting. It was popular of course, but that's no recommendation. Knowing nothing else of Noele Gordon I had little interest in a series about her. The advertised shocking truth about her firing did however raise some interest.

So I learned that Noele Gordon had more to her than Crossroads. Good for her. I also learned the far from shocking truth about her firing.

What makes this series more enjoyable than it might have been is the performance of Helena Bonham Carter. She is as good as you'd expect from such a distinguished actress.

Terrific performances and wonderful settings but parts of the script left a lot to be desired. The searching for why she was sacked is ridiculous, it's because she had a massive ego but little talent. This is clearly portrayed so to suggest it was because men were afraid of her is nonsense.

There is much to like about the show, particularly the performances of Helena Bonham Carter and Mark Gattis, although the rest of the ensemble were excellent as well. It was very well shot and the Manchester Opera House made a lovely substitute for whatever theatre they ere supposed to be in. It's definitely worth watching but don't believe everything you see or.