How accurate is Nolly? Russell T Davies separates fact from fiction

He began writing the series during the COVID-19 lockdowns, taking extended Zoom calls with the surviving Crossroads cast to gain an understanding of life on the show and the circumstances that brought about its biggest twist.

As a result, Nolly is a largely accurate depiction of the true events, although there are some elements that have been tweaked or invented for the purpose of quality drama.

Be warned – there are spoilers ahead for Nolly.

Russell T Davies: "Everything that's said on-screen is true"

Speaking at a launch event for Nolly, creator Russell T Davies was quizzed on what parts of the show are factual and which have come from his imagination.

He confidently assured the audience that all of the anecdotes mentioned about Nolly are true, placing particular emphasis on the enormous sense of loyalty she had to the cast and crew of Crossroads.

Davies was taken aback by the story of a Crossroads staffer whose parents were killed in a tragic accident shortly before her wedding day. As a result, Nolly drove her to the church in her Rolls Royce.

"All those things are true," he said. "They're all absolutely true. They're real stories."

The moving memory is brought up in the second episode of Nolly, as the titular soap icon prepares to film her initial exit from the series that turned her into a household name.

Meanwhile, in the finale, Nolly is arrested in a strip club while travelling in Bangkok, which is another strange-yet-true moment from a highly eventful life.

Davies continued: "That really happened. Fiona Fullerton told me that."

There is a slight degree of TV deception going on, however – as lead actor Helena Bonham Carter interjected that the Bangkok-set scenes in Nolly were actually filmed in Bolton.

Did Tony Adams really sail out to meet Nolly?

One of this show's standout moments takes place on Nolly's last day at Crossroads, when she films a teary goodbye aboard famous cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2 (or QE2 for short).

The cast feel great sadness over her forced removal from the show, which is only heightened by the realisation that Nolly would actually have to sail away on the QE2 completely alone for the purpose of getting the desired farewell shot.

Her co-star and dear friend Tony Adams couldn't stomach the idea of Nolly being lonely on an already vulnerable day, so he sails out on his own yacht to see her off.

This has the added benefit of breathing life into the scene between Nolly and her on-screen daughter Jane Rossington (who played Jill Richardson on the soap), which was awkwardly flat prior to Adams's surprise intervention.

"She really was having trouble, difficulty waving, you know, it was all a bit lacklustre," began Helena Bonham Carter. "And then suddenly, bonkers man comes in from left field and then she really did come alive... and he gave her the send-off. It was really touching."

Augustus Prew, who portrays Adams in Nolly, added that the surreal moment was a perfect example of how the Crossroads cast were "a bunch of wonderful weirdos".

Are any Nolly characters fictional?

One of the fictitious elements of Nolly is the insertion of a character named Poppy Ngomo, played by Stay Close star Bethany Antonia, who is introduced in the first episode as a young actor preparing to make her Crossroads debut.

Poppy is an invention of screenwriter Russell T Davies, who clarified at the show's launch that neither she nor her character, an adoptive daughter of Meg Mortimer (Nolly) named Honour, ever actually featured in the ITV soap.

However, there is some truth to be found in the nature of Poppy's relationship with Nolly, who becomes a stern-yet-supportive mentor figure.

"There wasn't an actress called Poppy and I just had to invent someone to come in as a newcomer," said Davies. "But I spoke to a lot of people – Wendy Padbury, for example, who is an ex-Doctor Who companion [and] played Meg’s daughter in the '60s.

"I spoke to people who had been younger actors with Nolly and it's very accurate – I hope it's accurate – that she took them under her wing. She disciplined them a bit, but she’d teach them good studio manners and good professionalism."

This maternal side to Nolly led to her being nicknamed "The Godmother" on the set of Crossroads, with Bonham Carter describing the numerous younger stars who joined the show over the years as her "surrogate children".

This was particularly true of her bond with actor Roger Tonge, who played her son, Sandy, for the better part of two decades, but sadly passed away from cancer in 1981.

As Nolly did not have any children in real-life, Tonge became like a son to her, which made her sudden firing mere months after his death a "really kind of cruel" move, according to Davies.

Of Nolly's surviving colleagues, Davies added: "They all spoke of her with love, they properly did... This is 50 years later, 60 years later, and still speaking with so much love and affection."

Did Nolly find out why she was fired?

One other aspect of this story that Davies changed for the screen comes in the finale, when Nolly sits down with Crossroads head writer Jack Barton, who finally reveals to her the reason why she was fired from the show.

Davies explained: "In real life, there's no evidence that she ever did [find out]. So that’s for drama, I had to give it some sort of conclusion."

The fact that Nolly (probably) never discovered why she was so abruptly dropped from a show she helped build is another reason why she found it so painful to be constantly asked about it by fans – there was no answer she could give.

Davies concluded: "I hope we've made Nolly to give Noele Gordon some status again, to reintroduce her to the public and to say ‘well done, Nolly’."

Nolly is available to stream free on ITVX from Thursday 2nd February 2023. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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