Jolly vs Diddy

The success of ITV drama series Nolly, featuring Helena Bonham Carter, above, as Noele Gordon, star of the much derided soap Crossroads, has prompted veteran broadcaster David “Diddy” Hamilton to recall when he was an announcer on Thames TV. Diddy – now 84 and still presenting shows on Boom Radio each week – says: “One day I was introducing Crossroads and I delivered the line I had been given: ‘Tonight an actor arrives at the Crossroads motel’. Seeing I had a few seconds left, I added, ‘And not before time!’

“A few minutes later Noele Gordon phoned me in the studio. ‘David,’ she said, ‘I’m very upset at what you said about my programme.’ ‘Noele’, I replied. ‘It’s what everyone says.’ She hung up the phone, unconvinced.”

I’m convinced this is the next big binge night thing. Acknowledgments to the Telegraph, Helena Bonham-Carter, and Achille Serre Dry Cleaners, Five Ways, Birmingham.