Nolly on ITV1: When it's on, cast, what it's about and who was Noele Gordon

A three-part drama on the life of actress Noele Gordon will be broadcast on ITV over Christmas. Nolly, created by It's a Sin writer Russell T Davies, stars Academy Award nominee Helena Bonham Carter in the title role which explores the all-powerful reign, and fall from grace, of the inimitable Noele.

Noele, who was one of the UK's most-famous people in the 70s and early 80s, played flame-haired widow Meg Richardson in the long-running soap opera Crossroads. However in 1981, at the height of the show's success, she was axed without explanation or warning after nearly 18 years.

Describing what the mini-series is about Bonham Carter said: "It tells the story of the sacking of Noele Gordon, the eponymous heroine of our series whose nickname was ‘Nolly’.

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"She was the lead actress in a hugely popular British soap opera called Crossroads from 1964 to 1981, when she was abruptly and without warning, sacked very brutally and suddenly, and people never really knew why and nor did she.

"Russell thought she was treated appallingly and wanted to bring her back into people's minds and give her the send-off she deserved."

Davies explained that he wanted to tell the story of Noele due to the odd and ruthless nature of what happened to her.

He added: "I think the more I work in television and the more I work with actors, the more mysterious that treatment seems. We've all seen actors being chucked out of soaps and we've all seen people falling from grace, but the very public and ruthless nature of that seemed odder and odder as time went on.

"I'm also fascinated by the fact that this was a Golden Age of soap opera