Helena Bonham Carter stars as a doyenne of daytime drama in Nolly

The ITV soap opera Crossroads was so full of lurid, outlandish plotlines that a regular viewership of 15mn were happy to look past the dubious acting. But Nolly, a new ITVX series which tells the story of that show’s star, should be watched instead on the strength of the lead performance.

Helena Bonham Carter plays Noele “Nolly” Gordon, a doyenne of 1970s British daytime drama who led the cast of the widely watched yet critically derided Crossroads for 18 years — until she was abruptly axed in 1981. Earlier in her career she became the first woman to ever appear on colour television, the first to interview a British prime minister in a live broadcast and the first female TV executive in the UK. But this niche three-part bio-series by It’s A Sin creator Russell T Davies is curiously uninterested in such beginnings and breakthroughs, which are seen only in brief flashbacks. This is a tale of endings: of a soap icon facing up to a reality of being a washed-up sixtysomething. Think of it as Sunset Boulevard by way of Broad Street, Birmingham.

For the best part of two decades she was “the queen of the Midlands” for the viewers who tuned in to see her bring a touch of gravitas to a schlocky production. But an act of regicide by chauvinistic studio producers — who question the value of a strong-willed, ageing leading lady — leaves her having to confront the fact that she’s been “a middling actress in a middling show”, with no prospects and no other way to define herself.

What does a life played out almost in its entirety on camera look like when the camera stops rolling? Nolly’s attempts to grapple with this question compel far more than any of the behind-the-scenes drama of a soap few are likely to remember with as much affection as Davies. Even without knowing much about Gordon you get the sense that the ever-charismatic and slightly prickly Bonham Carter has been superbly cast as a woman caught between indignant fury and weary loss, wounded pride and gnawing insecurity. That she finds such depth of emotion amplifies what would otherwise seem to be modest narrative stakes.

Davies, though, is sometimes guilty of trying to oversell this quaint corner of the pop-culture landscape. Too often, touching glimpses of Nolly’s private life give way to sentimental hagiography. A moment in which she boards a bus only to be greeted by effusive, adoring fans feels oddly similar to the much-derided Churchill-on-the-Tube scene in Darkest Hour. And whenever she rails against her industry’s callous sexism, she seems to do so in neatly scripted soundbites.

Still, Nolly avoids becoming too maudlin or righteous. While it details how TV can be cruel, it does also succeed as a warm and entertaining tribute to someone who ultimately loved life on the small screen.

★★★☆☆

On ITVX now

Find out about our latest stories first — follow @ftweekend on Twitter