''Nolly'' is a British three-part biographical miniseries, created by
Russell T Davies
Stephen Russell Davies (born 27 April 1963), better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer whose works include ''Queer as Folk'', '' The Second Coming'', ''Casanova'', the 2005 revival of the BBC One scien ...
, starring
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award a ...
as ''
Crossroads
Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to:
* Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet
Film and television Films
* ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa
* ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...
'' star
Noele Gordon
Joan Noele Gordon (25 December 1919 – 14 April 1985) was an English actress and television presenter. She played the role of Meg Mortimer (originally Richardson) in the long-running British soap opera '' Crossroads'' from 1964 to 1981, wit ...
. The series premiered on 2 February 2023, on the new streaming platform
ITVX
ITVX (formerly ITV Hub) is a British online video-on-demand service operated by ITV. The service offers predominantly features content from ITV1, as well as ITV Digital channels and some licensed content. The service was known as ITV Player fr ...
. It will be broadcast on PBS in March 2024.
Synopsis
The series tracks the great success of the TV star Noele "Nolly" Gordon, and then the betrayal and sudden firing that followed.
Cast
*
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award a ...
as
Noele Gordon
Joan Noele Gordon (25 December 1919 – 14 April 1985) was an English actress and television presenter. She played the role of Meg Mortimer (originally Richardson) in the long-running British soap opera '' Crossroads'' from 1964 to 1981, wit ...
*
Max Brown as
Michael Summerton
Michael Summerton (22 December 1943 – 16 June 2009) was an English actor and talent agent who began his career as one of the original Dalek operators in '' Doctor Who'', later forming his own talent agency, Michael Summerton Management Ltd. ...
*
Antonia Bernath
Antonia Geraldine Audrey Lee Bernath (born 1980/1981) is an English actress, voiceover artist and singer. She began her career in the CBS series ''Elvis'' (2005) and the Bollywood film '' Kisna: The Warrior Poet'' (2005). She then starred in the ...
as
Jane Rossington
*
Bethany Antonia
Bethany Antonia (born 25 December 1997) is an English actress. As of 2022 she plays Lady Baela Targaryen in the HBO ''fantasy'' series ''House of the Dragon''.
On television, she is known for her roles in the BBC iPlayer teen series '' Get Even ...
as Poppy Ngomo
*
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', ''Sherlock (TV series), Sherlock'', and ''Dracu ...
as
Larry Grayson
Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names.
Larry may refer to the following:
People Arts and entertainment
*Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer
* Larry Boon ...
* Emily Butcher as
Fiona Fullerton
Fiona Elizabeth Fullerton (born 10 October 1956) is a British actress and singer, known for her role as Alice in the 1972 film ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and as Bond girl KGB spy Pola Ivanova in the 1985 James Bond film ''A View to a ...
*
Augustus Prew
Augustus Prew (born 17 September 1987) is an English film and television actor. He is known for his roles in '' About a Boy'' (2002), ''The Secret of Moonacre'' (2008), '' Charlie St. Cloud'' (2010), '' The Borgias'' (2011), '' Kick-Ass 2'' (20 ...
as
Tony Adams
Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. He spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre back at Arsenal, making 672 t ...
*
Richard Lintern
Richard Charles Lintern (born 8 October 1962) is an English stage, voice and screen actor.
Early life
Lintern was born in Taunton, Somerset. He studied English Literature at Durham University. He subsequently won a scholarship to the Royal ...
as
Ronnie Allen
Ronald Allen (15 January 1929 – 9 June 2001) was an English international football player and manager. He was a professional footballer for nineteen years, between 1946 and 1964, making 638 appearances in the Football League, and scoring 2 ...
* Chloe Harris as
Susan Hanson
Susan Hanson (born 11 February 1943, in Preston, Lancashire) is an English actress who played the part of Diane Lawton (later Parker and Hunter) in the long-running British soap opera ''Crossroads'' from 1965–87, when her character was contro ...
*
Clare Foster
Clare Foster (born 24 July 1980) is a British actress, known for portraying the role of PC Millie Brown in the ITV series ''The Bill''. Foster appeared in the 2011 London revival production of '' Crazy for You'', which played at the Novello ...
as
Sue Lloyd
Sue or SUE may refer to:
Music
* Sue Records, an American record label
* ''Sue'' (album), an album by Frazier Chorus
* " Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a song by David Bowie
Places
* Sue Islet (Queensland), one of the Torres Straits isla ...
*
Lloyd Griffith as
Paul Henry
*
Con O'Neill as Jack Barton
* Tim Wallers as
Charles Denton
* Boro’ Brass as the Brass Band on the docks
Production
''Nolly'' was the debut commission for
Nicola Shindler
Nicola Shindler (born 8 October 1968) is a British television producer and executive, and founder of the independent television drama production company Quay Street Productions, having founded and run Red Production Company from 1998 to 2020. S ...
's ITV-backed Quay Street Productions. In November 2021, it was announced
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award a ...
would star as
Noele Gordon
Joan Noele Gordon (25 December 1919 – 14 April 1985) was an English actress and television presenter. She played the role of Meg Mortimer (originally Richardson) in the long-running British soap opera '' Crossroads'' from 1964 to 1981, wit ...
in the three-part series.
In June 2022, it was announced
Augustus Prew
Augustus Prew (born 17 September 1987) is an English film and television actor. He is known for his roles in '' About a Boy'' (2002), ''The Secret of Moonacre'' (2008), '' Charlie St. Cloud'' (2010), '' The Borgias'' (2011), '' Kick-Ass 2'' (20 ...
would play
Tony Adams
Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. He spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre back at Arsenal, making 672 t ...
and
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', ''Sherlock (TV series), Sherlock'', and ''Dracu ...
would play
Larry Grayson
Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names.
Larry may refer to the following:
People Arts and entertainment
*Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer
* Larry Boon ...
. Also joining the cast were
Richard Lintern
Richard Charles Lintern (born 8 October 1962) is an English stage, voice and screen actor.
Early life
Lintern was born in Taunton, Somerset. He studied English Literature at Durham University. He subsequently won a scholarship to the Royal ...
,
Antonia Bernath
Antonia Geraldine Audrey Lee Bernath (born 1980/1981) is an English actress, voiceover artist and singer. She began her career in the CBS series ''Elvis'' (2005) and the Bollywood film '' Kisna: The Warrior Poet'' (2005). She then starred in the ...
,
Bethany Antonia
Bethany Antonia (born 25 December 1997) is an English actress. As of 2022 she plays Lady Baela Targaryen in the HBO ''fantasy'' series ''House of the Dragon''.
On television, she is known for her roles in the BBC iPlayer teen series '' Get Even ...
,
Clare Foster
Clare Foster (born 24 July 1980) is a British actress, known for portraying the role of PC Millie Brown in the ITV series ''The Bill''. Foster appeared in the 2011 London revival production of '' Crazy for You'', which played at the Novello ...
, Chloe Harris,
Lloyd Griffith,
Con O'Neill, and Tim Wallers.
Principal photography took place in and around
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. In May 2022, Bonham Carter was spotted filming at
Salford Lads' Club
Salford Lads' Club is a recreational club in the Ordsall area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The club, on the corner of St. Ignatius Walk and Coronation Street, was established in 1903 as a boys' club but today welcomes people of both ...
in
Ordsall. Cast and crew were then spotted in
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...
at Le Mans Crescent.
Episodes
Release
ITV shared a first look at Bonham Carter in costume in June 2022.
It will be broadcast in the US on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
as part of their ''
Masterpiece'' series, premiering on March 17, 2024.
Critical reception
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, 100% of 10 critic reviews are positive for the miniseries, with an average rating of 7.7/10. On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, it has an average rating of 80 out of 100 based on 6 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
''Doctor Who'' crossover
In October 2023, Davies confirmed that the
60th anniversary specials of ''
Doctor Who'' would feature an "in-universe crossover" while emphasizing that the events of the show would be considered "truly canonical". The episode titled "
The Giggle
"The Giggle" is the third and final of the Doctor Who (2023 specials), 2023 60th anniversary specials of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', written by Russell T Davies, directed by Chanya Button and broadcast in the ...
" included
John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird FRSE (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first live working television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the first publicly dem ...
, the man who put Gordon on television, with a particular focus on Baird's initial transmissions using
Stooky Bill.
Accolades
Davies won Best Writer at the 2023
BAFTA Cymru Awards
BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales or WAFTA) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Oversea ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Russell T Davies
2023 British television series debuts
2023 British television series endings
Biographical television series
ITV miniseries
Television series based on actual events
Television series created by Russell T Davies
Television series set in 1981