Noele Gordon Sacked ATV news 1981

[@juneseghni]

just came here from watching a clip of Helena Bonham Carter playing her in this exact situation in the upcoming drama 'Nolly' by Russell T Davies

[@patriciaorourke1816]

Same here!

[@winstonbrown1516]

Thank you Mr. Norton. True Story:👇 When I was 4 or 5 growing up in Handsworth, Birmingham, a couple of family members were exiting a Chemist with me in tow. I was crying, and entering the Pharmacy was Noel Gordon. She asked what was wrong with me and to make me stop she bought me a lollypop. Once I reached 11 and attending Senior School, Hamstead Hall, we would see her in her Flat opposite the No16 Bus Stop on Handsworth Wood Rd as we waited. We lived less than a Mile apart and we saw her as ours.

[@funeralblvck4755]

Yeas I remember going to her apartment on Hampstead road when I was 4

[@craig1538]

Does anyone remember Victoria Wood's Acorn Antiques where the actors who played Mrs Overall and Mr Clifford were sacked? That was a spoof on Noelle Gordon's departure. Reyt funny.

[@Westy1971]

End of an era for both Crossroads & Atv!

[@LuandaYasmin]

Woah. Helena Bonham Carter really nailed this.

[@simonjones7727]

Russell T Davies nailed it too. Crossroads was not really a joke, after all, but something that miraculously lives on in the national consciousness almost half a century after it first screened and when much other more "serious" drama has been forgotten. It had interesting characters and situations and the performances caught something about the texture of ordinary life, and it was also honest somehow too about working lives.. It struck a deep chord with a mostly female audience and is a wonderful document about the simultaneously glorious and naff forty year period in the UK that followed the end of the war. The joke is on the snobs who mocked it. It was popular not because its audience was too stupid to know better, but because that audience were connoisseurs of stories of all kinds and new good melodrama when they saw it.

[@kurt479]

They made her seem grandiose, which she isn't. They made her sound like everyone owed their jobs to her, which isnt what shes saying. Shes saying she owes everything to the television company. She's incredibly humble here.

[@shuddupeyaface]

When Soap Stars used to spend half their wage on hiring a chauffeur driven Rolls to take themselves to work and back.

[@thunderwarrior1759]

ATV made the wrong decision that day,she should of never been sacked,Noel was Crossroads.

[@derekhorne8076]

I agree totally. But given we don't know the real reason why the sacked Nolly, it could well have turned out to be the right decision for them - if it meant they could change/improve the show or, indeed, eventually kill it off.

[@jamescoupland3137]

Amazing women we miss u

[@chloekchandler]

HBC nailed this.

[@johntomlinson6849]

"Historically Central made a major contribution to the ITV network schedule - especially in entertainment and drama - but today its main responsibility is the regional news service. " Her sacking was the first overt sign that this mighty organisation was in a decline, unlike Granada.

[@tedh79]

What was the reason they sacked her? Never could get to the bottom of it

[@rtc9063]

You wouldn't have seen Granada doing this to the likes of Doris Speed or Jean Alexander. They simply wanted to kill of Crossroads and no doubt thought it would be over by 1983. Unfortunately, it took a few more years!

[@Redsleather]

@@rtc9063 had Granada lost their franchise in 1980, who knows what they would have done to Coronation Street with 6 months left before the end? Crossroads was ATV, Central were about to inherit it, which was the problem

[@Redsleather]

Noele Gordon was ATV through and through, in fact she was the only Crossroads actress with a permanent contract, and with months to go before Central took over, getting rid of ‘Meg’ was one way of getting rid of Crossroads. By June 1981, the directions Central wanted to go in would have been known and I don’t think Crossroads and Noele Gordon were part of their plans. Central were far superior to Granada imho and have a superb back catalogue, especially drama, and the Crossroads Central years of 1982-88 seem largely forgotten in the show’s history

[@derekhorne8076]

@Redsleather. As I understand it, in a later franchise round, Granda threatend to sell Coronation Street to the BBC if they lost their franchise. I wonder if maybe they would have done the same thing in 1980. I also think that the authorities would have viewed to as very different companies in those days. Granda produced a lot of the more heavy weight documentaries, period dramas etc. Yes, there was Coronation Street and Crown Court, but then there was Univeristy Challenge, World in Action and the upcoming Brideshead Revisited. All far more worthy to the IBA of the time than the likes of Crossroads, Family Fourtunes, TISWAS and the Muppet Show etc.

[@rtc9063]

Tony Maycock wasn't even interviewing her. You can see his questions were added in later!

[@andrewguthrie2]

That was comical. They might as well have had him standing in front of a tropical island backdrop, like a Monty Python sketch.

[@tractorboy2002]

She was interviewed by Tim Ewart

[@kevinlongman007]

@@tractorboy2002 correct

[@Redsleather]

Isn’t there a similar interview where Noele is sucking down a ciggie with such fury as she tells them all ‘watch me, just watch me’

[@amyclarke41]

looks great

[@AssociatedTVNetwork]

They're trying to (And hopefully will) remake the 1981 motel foyer for the Nolly sacking drama. I sent them floorplans. They asked Tony Adams to do a cameo but he said he's too old. Oh Tony, you're never too old! And if Helena can't get the voice right, I expect ITV will be giving one a call for a dubbing session....

[@stephencove2286]

That would be a hoot if they called.!! Shame about Tony they should ask Jane. I do hope they do a great programme to honour Noele and the programme.

[@phildurrant2422]

Photos are out and they’ve done a really good job on foyer!

[@christhacker5329]

@@stephencove2286 sadly they wouldn't of asked Jane as she isn't to well.

[@BritJunior]

Would be ace to see the studio floor plans, Mike

[@Husselbu1]

He does make a cameo in Nolly.....

[@thequietone2998]

There should be a plaque on Murray court, (opposite the number 16 bus stop going to Hamstead)Handsworth Wood Road, near the roundabout near the number 11 bus stop...stating that Nolly once lived there...😢

[@christopherhulse8385]

ATV dropped a big clanger sacking Noele and i remember the protests outside ATV in Birmingham at the time.

[@garyhunt8067]

That's why the show went downhill

[@lotuspoint]

Who was the person stood with Noele and Tony Adams?

[@stephencove2286]

Hello I think it was one of the floor managers but unsure. Thanks for viewing.

[@mcooper593]

There was never a black actress on Crossroads. This lady even made a comment about being a black actress!! The Woke Brigade will be thrilled 😖

[@twizziz]

Think you need to do some research.. Anyway, any white actress on Africa TV?

[@Tedds]

The character existed as a way to illustrate to the audience what the working environment of Crossroads was to a newcomer, as well as Nolly's ego. Did you miss the card at the beginning of the show that expressly indicated that some characters had been invented for the purposes of drama? I doubt it, I think you're just being racist.

[@Redsleather]

Rubbish. Merdelle Jordine appeared in 1979 and again in 1982 as Trina, the wife of garage mechanic Joe MacDonald, played by Carl Andrews - yes Crossroads had a regular black male character too who appeared from 1978-1985

[@registame2878]

Whoops; the internet was available and so was the library but you still managed to get it all wrong…. Your excuse and subsequent baseless rants are going to be hilarious

[@ah7910]

Silly! There absolutely WAS a black actress on Crossroads.