How the Crossroads Queen lost her crown

Wobbly sets, dodgy acting – and a star adored by 15 million soap fans until her shock sacking. Helena Bonham Carter is at her immense best as Noele Gordon, ruler of Britain’s most famous motel

Unlikely though it may sound to today’s generation, back in the 1970s and early 1980s, a modest soap opera set in an ordinary motel in the Midlands was a behemoth of the TV ratings. Each night, 15million viewers tuned in to ITV to watch Crossroads, and though the lowbudget show was notorious for its ramshackle sets and all-toofrequent on-camera bloopers, none of that mattered to devoted fans so long as actress Noele Gordon was on screen as motel owner Meg Mortimer.

She may be largely forgotten now, but back then the imperious Gordon was a superstar, her face known to almost every adult in Britain, adored by her fans and an all but permanent presence in the press with stories about her private life. But then in 1981 came the devastating, unthinkable news that outdid even any of the unlikely drama depicted onscreen at the motel: Noele Gordon had been sacked by her TV bosses.

It’s on this dramatic chapter in the life of one of Britain’s greatest stars that a new three-part drama penned by Russell T. Davies (Doctor Who, It’s A Sin) turns. While the story focuses on the shock of Gordon’s sacking and the subsequent fallout, the new series is also a hugely entertaining and celebratory peek behind the curtain at how one of the most popular programmes in British television history was made.

Along with the intoxicating sense of luvvie camaraderie among the cast as they improvise on a shoestring budget, we can also relish the delicious details of the fashion and hairstyles.

But the standout attraction is Helena Bonham Carter as Gordon. She’s an immense presence in her every scene, conveying a sense of effortless charisma with each arch, barbed line and her quizzically raised eyebrows.

Bonham Carter has displayed brilliant range over the decades, but her depiction of Gordon – as a fearsome old-school star riven with anxiety beneath her seemingly bulletproof confidence – is right up there with the greatest achievements of her sublime career.

Look out also for Mark Gatiss (above, with Bonham Carter) as Larry Grayson, Gordon’s friend and fellow star, alongside Con O’Neill (Happy Valley) playing Crossroads producer Jack Barton.

Here’s a chance to look back fondly to an age long before our multi-channel era, when viewers didn’t have the choice of today, and the exit of a soap opera’s much-loved star was big news.