Season 54 - Nolly (2024)
Noele Gordon was the star of the British soap opera Crossroads until she was unceremoniously sacked. The character of Meg Mortimer was no more. The decision was, as with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a "purely financial" decision. But she would not go gently into that goodnight. This three episode miniseries concentrates on the spectacle of firing a beloved star at the height of her fame while completely missing the boat because the audience has no idea why she was fired other than allusions to her being a powerful woman. And while we are given an "answer" by the end, Noele herself never was, so why give her this knowledge? Was it so important to Russell T. Davies that Nolly knew? Because I couldn't care less. At no time do we actually connect with Nolly. Helena Bonham Carter is having fun camping it up, especially when on public transport, but that is all, a caricature of a biopic. Now, this lack of connection might be different for British audiences who grew up watching Noele Gordon, but for Americans, I think I speak for the majority of us by wondering why this was even made. Because, if you actually research what happened, RTD is playing fast and loose with history. Nolly's got the basic facts basically right, but they're manipulated and massaged to tell the story of this gay icon. Here's an idea, how about you actually show us why she's a gay icon instead of her bonding with the new actress of color, Poppy Ngomo, who actually wasn't on Crossroads and is a stand-in for another character entirely? The disconnect between who RTD thinks the audience is and who the audience is is astounding. This was obviously a passion project for him and as all his passion projects ultimately end up, it was meant for an audience of one. He made this for himself and no one else darlings. He was bitter he never got to write for Crossroads and so he rewrote the ending and filmed it just for his own amusement. This is literally the only explanation I have for this and for "Space Babies." Whatever RTD had once he no longer has. I just can't with him. The breaking point was actually taking the amazing character of Belinda Chandra, who was all about her career, and turning her into a mother. Women don't exist just to be mothers Russell! The only point to watch this show is Con O'Neill. He's been around forever, don't believe me he's appeared twice in the Inspector Morse universe, but his performance of Izzy Hands on Our Flag Means Death was a rebirth, for the actor as well as the character. While people complain that we didn't get a third season what would have been the point without Con O'Neill? Here he brings a gravitas to the executives. If Nolly didn't have him as an antagonist, this show really would have had nothing. As it is, it's still just a RDT fever dream that just happens to have a great actor in it.
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