Mark Gatiss interview: ‘Sherlock’ star on playing Larry Grayson in ‘Nolly’

ITV’s much-anticipated new drama Nolly begins this week!

Set in the early 1980s, the three-part mini-series explores the all-powerful reign, and fall from grace, of Crossroads star Noele Gordon, TV legend and Queen of the Midlands, the darling of the establishment until it turned on her and betrayed her.

The Crown star Helena Bonham Carter leads the cast as the titular Nolly, alongside Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) as legendary entertainer Larry Grayson, and Augustus Prew (The Morning Show) as Nolly’s Crossroads co-star Tony Adams.

Nolly is written by Russell T Davies, best known as the creator of A Very English Scandal, The Grand, It’s a Sin, and Years & Years.

All three episodes will be available to stream in the UK from Thursday 2nd February on ITVX.

The mini-series will air in the US next year on PBS.

Here, Sherlock star Mark Gatiss chats about his role and what to expect from the series:

 

In a nutshell, tell us what Nolly is about…

“It’s the story of Noele Gordon (who was the great diva of British soap opera in the 60s, 70s and early 80s) from the time that she lost her job on Crossroads.

“To anyone of a certain age, it means an awful lot. But to me, the most powerful thing about it is that it’s the story of a queen losing her crown.

“I don’t think you actually need to know the detail of Crossroads to get the pathos of it, really. And I think that’s the great joy of Russell’s script. It’s very moving and very funny. And if you know Crossroads, it’s extremely fun.”

 

Were you aware of Crossroads and Noele Gordon before taking on the role of Larry Grayson?

“Yes, I used to watch it when I was a kid. And obviously Acorn Antiques has made it live on forever. The extraordinary thing is that if you watch the original Crossroads, Acorn Antiques does it a favour!

“Some of it is barely transmittable, but it’s got such a joyous heart to it. I re-watched Crossroads before I did Nolly. I watched about half a dozen episodes on BritBox and a few clips on YouTube, just to reacquaint myself with the style.”

 

Tell us a little bit about iconic television personality Larry Grayson. Did you undertake much research in preparing for the role?

“I loved him when I was younger, particularly from The Generation Game, and it was a real privilege to do this role because I fell in love with him all over again.

“I watched a documentary about him about four years ago, and I’d forgotten how funny he was. Then he turned out to be Noele Gordon’s best friend.

“I’d watched loads and loads of tapes to get to get the voice and the mannerisms and everything. There’s very little to his act really, he’s just sort of filthy and looks down the camera slightly down his nose. But he had an amazing quality to communicate with people, and everyone loved him.

“I remember Russell saying to me when we were filming, “I did wonder if there was a story in Larry, but he was just lovely!”. He had this extraordinary overnight success after 35 years of hard work, had 10 years at the absolute top, and then it just stopped. And that was it. It was it was a real joy to reacquaint myself with him.”

 

Can you tell us about Nolly and Larry’s relationship?

“Well, I’m not sure where they met, but they just had an instant rapport. I have to say it’s a very familiar dynamic of a gay man and his best friend. It’s familiar to me and also in showbusiness.

“Larry and Nolly were inseparable. And people actually thought they were going to get married – in that way that people used to give Jean Alexander, who played Hilda Ogden from Coronation Street, money in the street because she was always a bit short!

“It’s really remarkable. They were devoted to each other. There’s a wonderful clip where they’re on the Variety Show and they sing a song together, and then she goes off. Larry waits just a second before she’s offstage in the wings, and he says, “She drinks”.”

 

How was it working so closely with Helena Bonham Carter?

“It was a joy. We’re almost the same age. I remember I said to her, “this is a very strange moment, because I remember going to see A Room With A View and I was the same age.”

“I was at college, and I had the poster of the film on my wall, that big blue Florence sky with the shutters open with Helena and Julian Sands [on it]. So now it’s extraordinary to be finally here with her.

“We really had a great laugh. Nolly used to call him Laz, or so Larry said, so Helena started calling me Laz, and it’s sort of stuck. So, I think we might have resurrected the relationship. Helena’s really terrific. I think the scripts are very funny, but also very moving.”

 

It’s as much a story about “television” isn’t it?

“Oh, very much. Russell is a child of television. And it’s a love letter to it. It’s very deep in the British, I think, that love of telly, those personalities and everything that goes alongside it. They had become a kind of royalty, I suppose, at that point when television reached its high-water mark in terms of the number of people who tuned in every week. These people were superstars.

“So, it’s very resonant. And I think it’s a brilliant commission from ITVX as well to do a story like this. You’d think it might be too niche, but actually, I think that the great triumph of the script is that it can be lots of things at once.

“On one hand, it’s the story of an actress being fired from a long ago soap, but on a different level it’s a very human story. It reminds me in a way, when I did An Adventure In Space And Time, the story of how Doctor Who was created, I remember saying to someone who didn’t really know much about Doctor Who that this is a human story about a man who gets a part which changes his life, and then he has to give it up.

“The message is that none of us are indispensable, and you could watch it on that level without knowing anything about the programme, and I think it’s the same for Nolly in a way.”

 

What was it like being reunited with Russell T Davies?

“I was so thrilled. I’ve always bumped into Russell at various dos and things but we haven’t worked together since Doctor Who. I was thrilled to be asked, it was such an honour. He managed to come down to visit the set on the day I was there with Helena and Omari Douglas, and we had a such a wonderful laugh.

“He showed me David Tennant’s regeneration too, so that was a real bonus for me! It was delightful. It’s just so brilliant to see him riding high like this with all of these projects going on. It’s a testament to his talents and his fantastic love for TV.”

 

What was your favourite part about portraying Larry Grayson?

“The part I liked the best was the one I was the most nervous about, which was when Nolly comes to see Larry’s show. We’d filmed part of his stand-up show in a theatre in Stockport, with around 150 SA’s. Essentially, it was like doing the quiet matinee of a show. But I loved it.

“I’ve watched so many bits and pieces [of Larry’s stand-up], so I kept adding little bits of lines that I mopped up from Larry’s act, just to just to make people laugh, and I had such a good time – I thought “I might take this on the road!”

“It was delightful. That and working with Helena, and I suppose the scene where you see the contrast between the public face and then the private conversation they have in the dressing room, when he says, “What do they think when they look at me?”, because he seems so obviously outrageously gay and yet, all of these people thought they were going to get married. I find it very interesting, that kind of dichotomy.”

 

Do you have a scene you are most looking forward to audiences seeing?

“One? Oh no, I’m just looking forward to seeing it all. I did a little bit on the set of Crossroads, but I’m really excited to see the rest of the recreation. I got a photograph at reception of me of the phone so I could say “Crossroads Motel. Can I help you?”

“Between Crossroads, The Generation Game and Shut That Door, we truly are looking at the golden age of British television.”

 

If you could bring back one show from the 70’s or 80’s, which would it be and why?

“Oh, god, that’s difficult. To be honest, it’s always nice to look forward and I always liked the idea of creating new things that people will be nostalgic about in 50 years, you know. But I suppose I’d have to say Follyfoot!”

 

Nolly will be streaming on ITVX.