Nolly

Terrific performances and wonderful settings but parts of the script left a lot to be desired. The searching for why she was sacked is ridiculous, it's because she had a massive ego but little talent. This is clearly portrayed so to suggest it was because men were afraid of her is nonsense.

There is much to like about the show, particularly the performances of Helena Bonham Carter and Mark Gattis, although the rest of the ensemble were excellent as well. It was very well shot and the Manchester Opera House made a lovely substitute for whatever theatre they ere supposed to be in. It's definitely worth watching but don't believe everything you see or.

From Queer As Folk to It's A Sin, Russell T. Davies has a near-perfect record for delivering top class television drama. But Nolly isn't quite up there with his best work, despite being an enjoyable exercise in nostalgia and camp. The problem is partly Nolly herself. Noele Gordon certainly was something of a TV legend in her time and much loved by fans of Crossroads. But is being much-loved by the fans of an extremely creaky bygone soap opera enough justification for all this hoopla? There are any number of other soap divas who lived extraordinary lives and had thousands of devoted fans (Pat Phoenix & Julie Goodyear to name just two), and who would be equally worthy, if not more so, of this kind of dramatic tribute. What supposedly sets Gordon apart is the mystery around why she was fired. Except there isn't that much of a mystery. She was exasperatingly difficult and she wore out her welcome. In Nolly Davies contends that they wouldn't have treated a man the same way. But that just isn't true. There are any number of male soap stars who also became too big for their boots and were given the chop in much the same way. And, let's be honest, it wasn't as if Noele Gordon was a huge talent. Helena Bonham Carter's performance pretty much acknowledges that with the hammy re-creations of Gordon's TV performances, as well as a fairly accurate depiction of her subsequent stage work in Gypsy (Gordon's Madame Rose can be found on Youtube if you want to see just how ordinary she was). And therein lies the real problem with Nolly: you can't maintain that the woman was a hugely talented legend who was unfairly cut off in her prime at the same time as cheekily sending her up. So while Davies skilfully whips up the nostalgia and tugs at our heartstrings, he never quite convinces us that Nolly is either the grand heroine or the tragic victim he's writing her as.

We take soap operas for granted these days but back in the 1970s there were very few to choose from and all of them in the days of just three channels were all on ITV. Emmerdale was just a farm, Coronation Street was on twice a week, and then you had crossroads the first five nights a week soap opera.

In years to come crossroads would become a byword for badly made television, wooden acting terrible scripts and shaky scenery. The star of the show was Noel Gordon who was already something of a star in her own right. But it was Crossroads who put her into the nation's living rooms five nights a week and in the days of three channels over 15 million people with tune into this rubbish because really there was nothing else on!

This is a wonderful nostalgic return to the 1970s and a reminder of how bad TV was in those days.

Helen Bonham Carter is terrific as the matriarch character Meg Richardson, But there was far more to this woman than just crossroads. Russell T Davies script and high production values make this a must watch for those like me who remember this period in television history. 9 out of 10.

Perhaps this series makes more sense to those in the UK who have heard of Crossroads, the long-running television soap opera that starred the main character of this show, Noele Gordon. Otherwise there really isn't much here, just a few hours of soap opera intrigue and a glimpse at a woman who was very well known in the UK many years ago.

What makes this actually work well is Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Noele (or Nolly). Carter has been miscast so often in her career that she has occasionally ended up the worst performer in some of her shows. But in this role her acting chops are real, evident, and powerful: she pretty much turns the series into something extremely watchable as she is able to give her character powerful grace, depth, and sympathy. Watching Carter here is almost like a lesson in acting: the gestures, the slight grimaces, the slow smiles; everything she does here is nothing short of perfection.

For Carter alone, this show is eminently worth watching, even if like most Americans, Noele Gordon is a non-entity.

I am a Brummie and remember Crossroads from my childhood, I could never relate to the other English soaps and I think this is the reason why.

It answers the question of why CrossRoads had to end the way it did and why the other soaps have kept going,

Benny was one of my favourite characters and Miss Diana, but without Meg the show didn't have a leading lady. They is only so much you can do in a motel, which was so out of place in the Birmingham I know.

It was a bit awkward listening to the Brummie's accent during the show, but it is what it is and I think it shows a very positive view of what happens to a very strong women.