Nolly: ITVX release date for Noele Gordon drama, trailer, and cast with Helena Bonham Carter and Mark Gatiss

Helena Bonham Carter stars in Nolly, a new biopic of Crossroads star Noele Gordon written by Russell T Davies for ITVX
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Nolly, a new drama from Russell T Davies, is coming to ITVX on Thursday 2 February.

The series, which stars Helena Bonham Carter in the title role, charts the life of soap star Noele Gordon. For decades, Gordon was the star of Crossroads – until one day she was suddenly and unexpectedly sacked.

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Here’s everything you need to know about Nolly ahead of its arrival on ITVX.

What’s it about?

The official ITVX synopsis for Nolly explains that “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.”

“Nolly brings the true Noele Gordon once more into the spotlight. The Queen of the Midlands, 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. The series 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.”

Who stars in Nolly?

Helena Bonham Carter as Noele ‘Nolly’ Gordon in Nolly, wearing a fur coat at night (Credit: ITVX)Helena Bonham Carter as Noele ‘Nolly’ Gordon in Nolly, wearing a fur coat at night (Credit: ITVX)
Helena Bonham Carter as Noele ‘Nolly’ Gordon in Nolly, wearing a fur coat at night (Credit: ITVX)

Helena Bonham Carter plays Noele ‘Nolly’ Gordon, the star of Crossroads. In recent years, you’ll have seen Helena Bonham Carter play Princess Margaret on The Crown, but Carter is still best known for starring in films like A Room with A View, The Wings of the Dove, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

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Augustus Prew plays Tony Adams, another Crossroads actor and a close confidante of Nolly’s. You’ll know Prew from appearances in American dramas like Pure Genius, Prison Break, and The Morning Show; more recently, he played Médhor in The Rings of Power.

Mark Gatiss plays Larry Grayson, a popular entertainer and friend of Nolly’s. As an actor, Gatiss is probably best known for playing Mycroft Holmes in Sherlock (which he also co-created), but you might also recognise him from appearances in Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, and The League of Gentlemen.

They’re joined by Con O’Neill (Our Flag Means Death) as producer Jack Barton, Clare Foster (The Bill) as Crossroads actor Sue Lloyd, Max Brown (Spooks) as agent Michael Summerton, and Bethany Antonia (Stay Close) as new actor Poppy Ngomo amongst others.

Who writes and directs Nolly?

Nolly was written by Russell T Davies. You’ll know Davies from his work on shows like It’s A Sin, A Very English Scandal, Years and Years, and Queer as Folk; Nolly marks his first drama for ITV since Mine All Mine in 2004. Davies is currently working on the next series of Doctor Who.

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Peter Hoar, meanwhile, directed all three episodes of Nolly. Hoar previously collaborated with Davies on It’s A Sin, and recently directed the third episode of The Last of Us (the one with Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett). He’s also worked on Daredevil, The Umbrella Academy, Altered Carbon, and Doctor Who (which he’ll surely return to direct again?).

Is there a trailer?

Yes, there is! You can watch the trailer for Nolly right here.

When and how can I watch it?

Nolly will arrive on ITVX as a boxset on Thursday 2 February, with all three episodes available to stream at once.

As with all ITVX dramas, it will eventually get a traditional broadcast on ITV1, though there’s no date set for that just yet.

How many episodes are there?

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Nolly is a three-part drama, with each episode around 45-50 minutes total.

Where can I watch classic Crossroads online?

If Nolly has you feeling nostalgic for Crossroads – or maybe interested to check it out for the first time – you’ll probably be pleased to know that both Britbox and ITVX have a selection of different episodes. Neither have the full series, but they’ve both got a run of classic episodes – including several referenced in Nolly, like Meg and Hugh’s wedding, the fire, and Noele Gordon’s eventual departure.

(And if you ended up here by mistake, the Britney Spears movie from 2002 is on Amazon Prime Video at the moment.)

Why should I watch Nolly?

Because it’s a Russell T Davies drama – do you need anything else?

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