Before his world is encompassed once again by the walls of the TARDIS and Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies has a new telly project headed into production. Helena Bonham Carter is aboard to play Noele Gordon in a three-part drama about the all-powerful reign, and fall from grace, of the inimitable TV legend and Queen of the Midlands, the darling of the establishment until it turned on her and betrayed her.
Noele (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. With the boss’s words “all good things must come to an end” ringing in her ears, Noele Gordon found herself thrown out of the show that was her life for over 18 years.
"Noele Gordon was a fascinating, complex, brilliant and gutsy woman – none of which I knew before I read Russell T. Davies’ script. I’m so thrilled to help tell Nolly’s long overdue and largely forgotten story," Says Carter. "Russell’s screenplay is a work of brilliance and I hope I’ll do him and Nolly justice. I can’t wait to start."
"One of my very first jobs in TV was a trial script for Crossroads, and I've wanted to write the story of behind the scenes on that show for 40 years," says Davies. "At last, the truth can be told!"
It's A Sin's Peter Hoar will direct the drama, which we'd guess will be on screens next year.