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.

From Queer As Folk to It's A Sin, Russell T. Davies has a near-perfect record for delivering top class television drama. But Nolly isn't quite up there with his best work, despite being an enjoyable exercise in nostalgia and camp. The problem is partly Nolly herself. Noele Gordon certainly was something of a TV legend in her time and much loved by fans of Crossroads. But is being much-loved by the fans of an extremely creaky bygone soap opera enough justification for all this hoopla? There are any number of other soap divas who lived extraordinary lives and had thousands of devoted fans (Pat Phoenix & Julie Goodyear to name just two), and who would be equally worthy, if not more so, of this kind of dramatic tribute. What supposedly sets Gordon apart is the mystery around why she was fired. Except there isn't that much of a mystery. She was exasperatingly difficult and she wore out her welcome. In Nolly Davies contends that they wouldn't have treated a man the same way. But that just isn't true. There are any number of male soap stars who also became too big for their boots and were given the chop in much the same way. And, let's be honest, it wasn't as if Noele Gordon was a huge talent. Helena Bonham Carter's performance pretty much acknowledges that with the hammy re-creations of Gordon's TV performances, as well as a fairly accurate depiction of her subsequent stage work in Gypsy (Gordon's Madame Rose can be found on Youtube if you want to see just how ordinary she was). And therein lies the real problem with Nolly: you can't maintain that the woman was a hugely talented legend who was unfairly cut off in her prime at the same time as cheekily sending her up. So while Davies skilfully whips up the nostalgia and tugs at our heartstrings, he never quite convinces us that Nolly is either the grand heroine or the tragic victim he's writing her as.

Noele Gordon, Nolly was famed for appearing in Crossroads, the soap opera set in a Motel, she and The Nation were stunned to learn that her character Meg was to be killed off.

Russell T Davies does it once again, I went in to this knowing virtually nothing about Noele Gordon, someone that would have switched Crossroads straight off, after this, I felt like I knew her a little better.

It's entertaining, it's moving, it's very funny, what an obscure story to tell, but it works. I wish they'd gone into her early years perhaps a little more, although I totally get why they focused on The Crossroads era.

After episode one, I was left in no doubts as to where Acorn Antiques came from, wonky sets, improvisation, demanding leading lady, I could just see Mrs Overall.

Helena Bonham Carter absolutely nails it, she's fabulous throughout, August's Prew is great as Tony, and a special mention for Mark Gatiss, who creates Larry Grayson incredibly well.

Charming and funny.

8/10.

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.

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.