Helena Bonham Carter has told how playing axed Crossroads star Noele Gordon was a dream role.
The Hollywood actress stars in Nolly alongside Mark Gatiss as Larry Grayson, who was the ITV soap favourite’s pal.
Bonham Carter, 56, 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 played Meg Mortimer for 17 years before being fired with no warning or reason in 1981.
Bonham Carter said she hoped some of Gordon’s “guts” would rub off on her.
“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.”
The actress, whose many roles have included starring in Harry Potter and The King's Speech, believes writer Russell T Davies has done a marvellous job of bringing her to life in three-part drama Nolly, for new streamer ITVX.
“Russell is so great at supporting the underdog, or bringing people who've just been brushed under the carpet out into the light to be fully seen and witnessed and appreciated.”
Davies explained: “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.
"I wondered about it for many years, why that happened - then did a lot of research and found out why.”
Mark Gatiss was also thrilled to bring to life 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.”
Nolly will be on ITVX in the New Year. The new service launches on December 8, with 10,000 hours of free content, plus exclusive series which are added to each week
