Helena Bonham Carter to star as Birmingham soap queen Noele Gordon from Crossroads

A new ITVX series will tell the extraordinary life story of actress Noele Gordon who played the role of motel owner Meg Mortimer in the long-running Birmingham-based soap opera Crossroads from 1964 to 1981.

The new series will star multi-award winning Helena Bonham Carter as Noele Gordon. The three-part series entitled Nolly, which was Noele’s nickname, was created by the new Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies.

Crossroads revolved around a fictional motel on the outskirts of Birmingham. It was packed full of drama, with the opening plot involving a family feud with Meg and her sister Kitty, and attracting up to 15 million viewers for ATV in its hey day. After ending in 1981, Carlton Television attempted to revive it in 2001, but it finally ended in 2003.

For her role as motel-owner Meg, Noele won the TV Times award for most popular television actress eight times. Noele briefly returned to the show, which was shot in Birmingham, in 1983. She died of stomach cancer in Birmingham in 1985.

“The series is largely set in Birmingham – the series details the story of Noele Gordon’s infamous sacking from Crossroads, which at the time was filmed at ATV Central’s Broad Street studios in Birmingham. It will launch on ITVX in February 2023,” ITV said.

Helena said playing Noele was a dream role for her, according to Mirror UK. The 56-year-old The Crown actress said: “When I read the script, it was like a gift. A dream. It’s like meeting someone and falling in love. I watched Crossroads. So I knew Noele Gordon as a figure, but I hadn’t really taken on board the sacking.”

Noele was reportedly fired from Crossroads without any reason in 1981. Helena said: “I went on YouTube and, the night she was sacked, she went on Russell Harty and sang Some People and I thought, ‘My God, that woman has such guts.’ I thought if I play her and some of her guts rub off of me, then that would be just a bonus. I think she really is an extraordinary woman and I think she was buried.”

Meanwhile, Nolly creator Russell T Davies said: “I was 18 in 1981 when she was sacked and it made front page headlines in every single newspaper. And it always stayed with me because it was a very mysterious sacking. She was sacked overnight - no lunch, no dinner, no warning, no little chat with the agent. It was just absolutely ruthless.”

Russell added that he wondered about it for many years and found out the reason after researching.

Mark Gatiss, the co-creator of Sherlock, will play Noele’s great friend, the TV presenter Larry Grayson.

“I kind of fell in love with him all over again. I watched so many videos and I’d sort of forgotten how much of a part of our lives he was and just how effortless and brilliant he was,” Gatiss said. “It was a joy to do.”

Crossroads’ deep links with Birmingham

There is no Crossroads without Birmingham. The Midlands-based British soap opera was created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling and produced by ATV until 1981. The final show aired in 2003.

Apart from Noele’s character, some of the other iconic characters inlude Kitty Jarvis (played by Beryl Johnstone), Diane Lawton (played by Susan Hanson who went on to marry Birmingham-born musician Carl Wayne), and Benny Hawkins (played by Aston-born Paul Henry).