Cilla returns to ITV tonight for a re-run of the three-part mini series.
Acclaimed writer Jeff Pope penned Cilla, a drama for ITV starring Sheridan Smith as famous Liverpudlian songbird Cilla Black.
The show first aired in 2014 but is now back on Tuesday nights at 9PM for re-run. From the cast to spoilers, here’s all you need to know…
Cilla cast
Sheridan will be joined in the cast by Aneurin Barnard (The White Queen, Citadel, We’ll Take Manhatten) as Cilla’s husband Bobby, Ed Stoppard (The Politician’s Husband, Silent Witness, Branded) as Brian Epstein, John Henshaw (Downton Abbey, Midsomer Murders, South Riding) as Cilla’s father, John White and Melanie Hill (Waterloo Road, Hebburn, Merlin) is Cilla’s mother, Priscilla, known affectionately to her family as Big Cilla.
Further cast includes Tom Dunlea as Ringo Starr, Michael Hawkins as George Harrison, Jack Farthing as John Lennon and Kevin Mains as Paul McCartney.
All about Cilla
‘Cilla’ tells of her rocky rise to fame and will capture the essence of 1960s Liverpool, the atmosphere of promise and excitement as the Merseybeat music scene was on the verge of exploding in a blaze of tight-fitting skirts, stiletto heels, and beehives.
A young, unknown Cilla works in the austere environs of the typists’ pool at a local company, dreaming of stardom. The drama looks at how she met the two men who came to love her and ultimately fought over her – future husband Bobby Willis and legendary manager Brian Epstein, the tragic young businessman who also guided the career of The Beatles.
Sheridan Smith said of the role of the young Cilla: “I am thrilled to be playing Cilla, as she is a British icon. In the 60s, as a young girl from Liverpool, she had numerous number ones and sang with The Beatles, her life story is fascinating.
In the second episode, with Cilla and Bobby reunited, Cilla’s confidence returns and she is once again dazzling crowds with her amazing voice.
The re-emergence of Brian Epstein propels her career to new heights, but this is soon followed by an all-time low when her first record fails in the charts.
Against Bobby’s judgement Brian convinces her to gamble on a ballad – a change of direction that could alter her life forever.
