Russell T Davies: 'Nolly is a story of a queen losing her crown'
The drama tells the true story of former Crossroads star Noele Gordon after she was sacked from the soap.
With brand new streaming service ITVX having finally launched today (Thursday 8th December), TV viewers can look forward to a host of exciting new dramas in the coming weeks and months – and one of the most hotly-anticipated is Russell T Davies's Nolly.
The three-part drama arrives in February 2023 and stars Helena Bonham Carter as Noele Gordon, the late Crossroads actress whose career was suddenly halted when she was unceremoniously axed from the soap at the peak of her fame.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com at a launch event for the new streamer, Davies explained what it was about the true story that appealed to him.
"It’s a story of a queen losing her crown, of a woman falling from grace and having it all taken away from her by men," he said. "So even if I'd invented this story, I'd be very proud of it because it's a great story of a woman in the workplace fighting."
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"There's lots in it," added Bonham Carter. "There's loyalty, betrayal, friendship, there's a certain amount of misogyny, I would say, and how women are treated and were treated, particularly in the '70s and '80s. And a certain amount about ageism, too."
Meanwhile Mark Gatiss – who plays entertainer Larry Grayson in the series – said that it doesn't matter whether fans are already familiar with details of Crossroads, adding that "it's a very moving and very funny story".
In the same interview, Davies also assured fans that even though some of the aspects of the story might be a little hard to believe, everything that is depicted in the programme really did happen in real life.
"I can promise you when you watch it, everything's true," he said. "It's a quite an extraordinary story, and quite an eccentric story. It’s very mad in places. A whole generation will remember Benny and Miss Diane of the Crossroad reception, so there's lovely sigh of recognition, but that's not what it's about.
"It's also genuinely about the hard work of making a soap opera. This still goes on today. Those actors work so phenomenally hard and never get appreciated for it, so I hope it's waving a flag for all of them."
Additional reporting by Abby Robinson.
Nolly will air on ITVX in February 2023. For more news, interviews and features, visit our Drama hub, or find something to watch now with our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
