Nolly review: a tender tribute to the ‘Queen of the Midlands’

Nearly four decades after the death of Noele Gordon, the soap star’s “pioneering achievements” are all but forgotten, said Christopher Stevens in the Daily Mail. But Nolly, which was written by Russell T. Davies (and which can be seen on ITVX), “aims to bring her back to the fore – and castigate the chauvinistic male TV establishment that cancelled her for the crime of being female and forceful”.

Gordon is played by Helena Bonham Carter sporting “a mink coat that reeks of gin and ciggies, and an auburn hairdo that could scrub pans”. The drama focuses on 1981, when she was sacked from Crossroads, then one of the most popular British programmes ever made, after 17 years in the role. Davies clearly has a huge affection for the TV of that era, and Bonham Carter is fabulous as “the imperious soap queen”.

“This is a big, brassy period drama about a big, brassy star,” said Camilla Long in The Sunday Times. And I quite enjoyed it. “If you’re into soaps or dramas about dramas, the detail is rollicking.” But Bonham Carter’s Sybil Fawlty-esque Nolly doesn’t entirely convince in this “shiny, lost, camp world”.

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With a cast of characters that includes Larry Grayson, Nolly serves as a “tender tribute to British television”, said Rebecca Nicholson in The Guardian. And though it could have done with a touch more “acidity”, it’s such a joy to watch that it’s hard to care. “It is warm, thoughtful and gorgeous, and by the end of it, I was a little bit in love with Nolly myself.”