Helena Bonham Carter dons a ginger wig and cream midi dress while filming scenes as Crossroads' Noele Gordon for ITV series Nolly in Manchester

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She has been in Manchester for the past few weeks, shooting for a new ITV drama.

And Helena Bonham Carter donned a ginger wig as she transformed into Crossroads icon Noele Gordon to continue filming Nolly in the northern city on Friday.

The actress, 56, donned a cream midi dress featuring puff sleeves, which she teamed up with a matching silk scarf, while shooting at the Martins Bank building which doubles as London's ATV Studios.

Emerging: Helena Bonham Carter donned a ginger wig as she transformed into Crossroads icon Noele Gordon to continue filming Nolly in Manchester on Friday

She kept things casual with a pair of brown trainers while clutching her mobile phone and glasses.

Three part drama Nolly, penned by Russell T Davies, will explore the all-powerful reign and fall from grace of the inimitable Noele Gordon, who died in 1985.

Noele was declared the 'Queen of the Midlands' thanks to iconic role as Meg Mortimer in Crossroads and was the darling of the establishment until it turned on her.

As flame-haired widow Meg in the long-running soap opera Crossroads, Noele became one of the most famous people in Britain.

Looking good: The actress, 56, donned a cream midi dress featuring puff sleeves, which she teamed up with a matching silk scarf

In action: She shot at the Martins Bank building which doubles as London's ATV Studios

Then in 1981, at the height of the show's success and the peak of her fame, she was axed without ceremony, without warning and with no explanation, with the soap eventually ending two years later.

With the boss's words 'all good things must come to an end' ringing in her ears, Noele found herself thrown out of the show that was her life for over 18 years.

A love letter to a legend of television, and to the madcap soap she starred in, Nolly will be an entertaining ride through Noele's most tumultuous years, and a sharp, affectionate and heart-breaking portrait of a forgotten icon.

Of the role, Helena said: 'Noele Gordon was a fascinating, complex, brilliant and gutsy woman – none of which I knew before I read Russell T Davies' script.

Serious: The Charlie And The Chocolate Factory star shot a stern expression as she walked through the set

Stylish: She kept things casual with a pair of brown trainers while clutching her mobile phone and glasses

Busy bees: Antonia Bernath, playing Jane Rossington, who starred in Crossroads as Jill Richardson, wrapped up in a fluffy coral dressing gown while an elderly man cut a stone suit

'I'm so thrilled to help tell Nolly's long overdue and largely forgotten story.

'Russell's screenplay is a work of brilliance and I hope I'll do him and Nolly justice. I can't wait to start.'

Nolly has been commissioned for ITV by Head of Drama, Polly Hill, who commented: '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.

'Helena Bonham Carter is going to be amazing as Nolly and we can't wait for her to step into those shoes.'

Wow! A vintage green car sat above a towing lorry before its use on set

Russell said: 'One of my very first jobs in TV was a trial script for Crossroads, and I've wanted to write the story of behind the scenes on that show for 40 years. At last, the truth can be told!'

Noele, who had previously had multiple roles in the theatre before landing her part in Crossroads, played Meg from 1964 to 1981, and later returned for a two-episode stint in 1983.

After she was dropped from the show, Noele's ill health prevented her from accepting many more roles, and she died in 1985 at the age of 66.

Throwback: Noele was declared the 'Queen of the Midlands' thanks to iconic role as Meg Mortimer in Crossroads and was the darling of the establishment until it turned on her (pictured in 1981)

However the casting of Helena in the titular role hasn't gone down well with everyone.

Angela Webb, 64, who played Iris Scott in the drama from 1980 to 1985, told The Mirror: 'This is really bizarre. Someone writing a biopic of her who didn't know or experience her… I do worry.'

'She wouldn't be my first choice. Nolly was statuesque and strong, Celticlike, with piercing blue eyes. Helena is tiny, dark-haired, dark-eyed.

I hope she's met people who knew Noele and gets advice about the presence that she had. I'd be hugely up for that.'

Exciting: As flame-haired widow Meg in the long-running soap opera Crossroads, Noele became one of the most famous people in Britain