It’s a Nolly, jolly time for Helena Bonham Carter…

The 55-year-old part-Spanish English actress has been cast as the lead in the ITV biopic Nolly.

From Russell T Davies, the debut project for Nicola Shindler’s ITV Studios-backed drama label Quay Street Productions, the project will tell the story of Noele Gordon (Bonham Carter), who played Meg Richardson in hit ITV soap Crossroads before being abruptly axed at the height of the show’s success. With the boss’s words “all good things must come to an end” ringing in her ears, Gordon found herself thrown out of the show that was her life for almost 20 years.

The three-parter is Doctor Who showrunner Davies’ first show for ITV since 2004 and reunites him with long-time collaborator Shindler, who he has worked with numerous times including on It’s A Sin for her previous outfit Red Production Company, which she left last year to set up Quay Street. It’s A Sin director Peter Hoar is set to direct Nolly, Davies and Shindler will executive produce and ITV Studios is distributing internationally.

ITV Head of Drama Polly Hill called Nolly a “bold exploration of how the establishment turns on women who refuse to play by the rules, the women it cannot understand and the women it fears.”

“Russell’s scripts are magnificent and a great tribute to Noele Gordon, but also to our national love of soaps and a celebration of the incredible women they create,” she added.

Shindler said: “I couldn’t be prouder or more excited that the first drama we will be filming for Quay Street Productions is this beautiful script by Russell T Davies. And that Helena Bonham Carter will star as such an iconic British woman is dream casting.”