MAN TROUBLE (NOLLY)

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Deep down in the recesses of my mind, I can recall seeing posters of Noele Gordon appearing in panto in Belfast.

I, therefore, had to scour the web for evidence of this while watching Russell T Davies' 'Nolly' on ITVx - just in case my memory was playing tricks on me.

Lo and behold, I came across a website that documented the 'Crossroads' star's theatrical performances.

It confirmed she did indeed appear briefly in 'Mother Goose' in the city's Grand Opera House in 1983.

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However she had to quit the role during the run due to illness, undergoing an operation for stomach cancer. 

The noelegordon.co.uk website also notes that The Belfast Telegraph reported a shopping expedition by the star in the city during a publicity visit for the show, observing Gordon's trek through the city centre proved she was "still a housewives favourite".

"She was mobbed on a shopping spree in the city centre. Passengers in a bus brought traffic to a standstill when they made an unscheduled stop to talk to her."

Anyone who has watched Davies' ITVx miniseries will be struck reading this that it has similar scenes of members of the public gushing over the star in restaurants, on buses and on the streets of Birmingham.

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But it is hardly surprising for anyone who grew up in the 1970s and early 1980s and remembers 'Crossroads'.

Broadcast on ITV at 6.30pm, four episodes aired throughout the week, blaring Tony Hatch's distinctive theme tune and with weird end credits which swept across the screen. 

At its height, the frankly daft, cheap soap opera about a motel in the English Midlands attracted audiences of 15 million.

But there was also no doubt that Gordon was its queen, with her performance as the motel owner Meg Richardson earning her the TV Times award for Britain's Most Popular Actress eight times.

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'Crossroads' was brilliantly parodied by the comedian Victoria Wood with her spoof soap opera 'Acorn Antiques' on her BBC1 sketch and stand-up show 'Victoria Wood As Seen On TV' with Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Derek Ireland, Rosie Collins and Wood pretending to be regular characters on the pretend soap.

Wood wickedly lampooned the wobbly sets, the ham acting, the fluffed lines during live recordings and even spoofed the sacking of Noele Gordon in a faux documentary in which Walters' Mrs Overall was dumped.

As the decades passed since the axing of 'Crossroads' by Central Television in 1988, the soap has faded from public memory.

It was briefly revived by Carlton Television in 2001 but the plug pulled two years later due to low ratings.

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As it has faded from memory, a lot of people have forgotten the extent of Gordon's celebrity.

But all that is about to change - thanks to Davies' drama and Helena Bonham Carter's spirited performance as the veteran soap star.

Many people will also have blanked out the huge furore over Gordon's shock sacking from the show by ATV in 1981.

But this is the event that Davies' miniseries is most concerned about.

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Viewers may be surprised to learn at the start of the miniseries that Gordon was the first woman in the world to be broadcast in colour on TV in 1928.

However Davies' drama mostly focuses on Gordon at the height of her fame and the gradual disintegration of her relationship with the Midlands broadcaster ATV who made the popular soap for the ITV network.

In the first episode, we see Bethany Antonia's Poppy Ngomo arriving for her first day in rehearsal for the role of Melanie Harper, the first black character in the soap (played in real life by Hazel Adair) and the adopted daughter of Gordon's character Meg Richardson.

Poppy is introduced by the cast as they prepare to read through their lines and almost makes the mistake of sitting in Gordon's chair.

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Breezing into rehearsals, Bonham Carter's Gordon smirks as she is introduced to Poppy and asks if she nearly sat on her chair.

On hearing Poppy deliver her lines, she insists the new cast member ditches her Midlands accent to deliver her lines in "Received Pronunciation".

Broadcasting standards must be maintained, she insists.

Although, this is the first real sign that her values will soon be at odds with a television industry that will revel in dramas delivered in regional accents.

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It is clear from the off that Gordon, or "Nolly" as she is affectionately known by the cast is regarded as the beating heart of the soap.

Shs is so powerful on set she can call the shots, often clashing with the 'Crossroads' producer, Con O'Neill's Jack Barton.

You can sense Jack bristling every time she overrules him or dismisses his ideas in rehearsal.

Poppy is also stunned when she realises Nolly doesn't memorise her scripts before rehearsal.

However it is clear the bulk of the cast and crew admire Nolly for exercising her star power, for speaking her mind and for dressing flamboyantly.

Her closest companion is Augustus Prew's mustachioed fellow cast member Tony Adams, who played the accountant Adam Chance on the hit show.

Their close friendship is rather touchingly portrayed by Davies throughout the miniseries, with Tony living in a flat opposite, trading gossip with her, giving her pep talks, revelling in them meeting adoring fans on a bus and taking Nolly out for late night window shopping excursions in Birmingham.

They soon become co-conspirators after Nolly is told she is being axed from the soap.

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However she is given no indication of whether Meg will be killed off for good or just written out with the slight possibility of a return.

Nolly's initial response is to fight her sacking by going directly to the media.

Davies and his director Peter Hoar show how this cuts little ice with the ATV bosses and there is a real sense of a society and a TV industry changing all around them.

Within a matter of years, the Thatcher era will see a growth in the number of commercial channels in the UK with the advent of Sky and satellite television.

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ATV will also be replaced by Central Television as the ITV company serving audiences in the Midlands.

Some things don't change, either.

Nolly begins to suspect her sacking has been decided by men in suits who are keen to clip the wings of an accomplished, outspoken woman.

And this makes her reflect on other men who betrayed her in love as well as showbiz.

While devoting two episodes to the axing of Nolly from the soap, Davies documents her battle to remain relevant after her time in 'Crossroads' ends.

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And for the most part, he conjures up an entertaining wheeze thanks to a vibrant performance from Bonham Carter that really embraces the camp in Davies' script.

There's a lot of mischief in Bonham Carter's performance as Nolly exercises her star power.

But she also does a very good job gradually drawing out the star's self-doubt following her unceremonial dumping by ATV as she struggles with the lead role in a production of 'Gypsy' that never makes it to the West End.

Prew gels perfectly with her as Adams, extracting plenty of camp laughs out of his role as the soap hearthrob and younger man who is often by her side.

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Antonia gets the tongue in cheek tone right as Poppy but so do Antonia Bernath who plays 'Crossroads' star Jane Rossington, Richard Lintern and Clare Foster as fellow cast members and Lloyd Griffith as Paul Henry who played the soap opera's other iconic character Benny.

There's a delightful cameo for Mark Gatiss as the very camp 'Generation Game' host and comedian, Larry Grayson who had a running joke that audiences loved about being Noele Gordon's fiance.

And if there are villains of this largely gentle show, they are O'Neill's Barton and Tim Wallers' Charles Denton - although the former doesn't quite turn out as you expect.

Ultimately, though, 'Nolly' is a vehicle for Bonham Carter who gets behind the steering wheel and drives it with real vigour.

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Hoar serves up a three part miniseries that fully showcases Bonham Carter's talent.

However he also does an excellent job recreating 'Crossroads' in all its tacky glory. 

It seems no detail is missed.

The first episode, it has to be said, gets off to a sluggish start but there's no doubt 'Nolly' really gets motoring in the second series and when it does, it never really lets go.

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If it is Davies' intention to reclaim Gordon's place in the history of British television, he certainly achieves it with this light, frothy drama.

'Nolly' may not pack the same kind of narrative punch as his recent masterpiece 'It's A Sin' nor match the heights of his tongue in cheek Jeremy Thorpe scandal drama 'A Very English Scandal' but it is not far off.

And that makes for a pretty decent binge watch.

It may lead you down a bit of a rabbit hole of searching for clips of dreadful 1980s soaps on YouTube and reminiscing about their stiff acting and really wobbly sets.

Or you can always watch 'Acorn Antiques' afterwards instead which, coming to think of it, isn't a bad result either.

('Nolly' was made available for streaming in the UK on ITVx on February 2, 2023)