What’s Fact or Fiction in Nolly Episode 3?
Who was the married man Nolly loved for decades? Did the actress honestly get arrested in Bangkok? And did she finally learn the true reason for her Crossroads dismissal and confront her producer about it? We separate fact from fiction in Nolly’s final episode. [Contains spoilers.]
- 1.
Gordon had 20-Year Affair with Married Man
Valentine (Val) Parnell. Courtesy of The Noele Gordon Archive FACT! Noele Gordon had a lengthy romance with Valentine (Val) Parnell, an influential force behind the scenes in both British variety theater and television. Her relationship with Parnell—almost 30 years her senior—began in 1943 and was, well, complicated. He was married, and according to The Mirror (UK), Parnell suggested to his wife that they have an open relationship, with Nolly as the “other woman.” Apparently, everyone agreed. The throuple broke apart when, in 1963, Parnell abruptly announced he was divorcing Mrs. Parnell, ditching Noele, and marrying aspiring young singer Aileen Cochrane.
While Gordon had other serious romances and a few proposals in her lifetime, she never married. In the Noele Gordon Archive, she’s quoted as saying, “I’m proud to have been head over heels in love with a most marvelous man, a true friend. I’m happy to have given him 20 years of my life. And if it was to happen all over again tomorrow, I would do the same. I don’t need to make any excuses.”
- 2.
Noele Gordon was Arrested in Bangkok
FACT! While it’s quite true that Nolly was arrested in a Bangkok strip club while touring in a production of The Boyfriend, she did not get more intel about her Crossroads sacking while there. In promoting his miniseries, Nolly creator Russell T Davies was queried about this “arresting” anecdote, reports Radio Times. “[The police raid] really happened. Fiona Fullerton [Gordon’s theater co-star] told me that,” Davis replied.
- 3.
Nolly Confronted Crossroads’ Jack Barton in Person
FICTION! Not only did Noele Gordon not challenge Crossroads producer Jack Barton about pejorative things he’d said to his boss (ATV’s Charles Denton) about her, but most sources also posit she never fully gleaned why she was sacked, nor Barton’s role in her removal.
The accepted account has always been “that Denton instigated it,” says The Telegraph (UK). In his scripted story, Nolly creator “Russell T Davies suggests that Barton found the star difficult towards the end and gave Denton the reasons why he should sack Noele.” Hence, the fictional scene.
The Noele Gordon Archive seems to support Davies’ hypothesis, noting that while ATV executive Charles Denton made the official call, he “had never meddled in casting before Noele’s departure and, rather telling, he wasn’t asked for approval to bring Noele back in 1983. It was—as it always had been—entirely the decision of the producer.”
- 4.
BONUS Fun Fact
Former Crossroads actors,Susan Hanson and Tony Adams In the MASTERPIECE miniseries, two of Noele Gordon’s original castmates appear at the end of Episode 3. Susan Hanson (who played motel waitress Diane Lawton) and the real Tony Adams (who played the debonair Adam Chance) are seen applauding Nolly after her comeback scene in Venice is a wrap. Radio Times reports that Hanson worked on Crossroads for 21 years while Adams had a lead role for 10, then returned for the soap’s short-term renewal in 2001.
