| Genre: | Drama |
| Composer: | Niall Byrne |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 3 |
| Producer: | Kwadjo Dajan |
| Executive Producer: | Jeff Pope Robert Willis Tony Moulsdale |
| Runtime: | 45–47 minutes |
| Company: | ITV Studios and GroupM Entertainment |
Cilla is a British drama serial about the early career of Cilla Black. It was broadcast in three parts on ITV, and began on 15 September 2014 with Sheridan Smith playing the starring role.[1] Smith was highly praised for her performance.
Following Cilla Black's death in August 2015, the series was broadcast again on ITV between 4–6 August 2015, as well as repeats on ITV Encore.
The series is based around Black's hometown of Liverpool and follows her rise to fame from 1960 amateur appearances in clubs, her relationships with Bobby Willis and Brian Epstein to the latter's death in 1967.
In 1960s Liverpool, young Priscilla "Cilla" White is working as a typist, but frequently performs at Liverpool's famed Cavern Club, where she meets young singer-songwriter Bobby Willis. Mersey Beat, a local music publication, prints an article on Cilla in which she is mistakenly referred to as "Cilla Black". However, young Cilla likes the sound of it and decides to use if for her stage name. It is arranged for her to audition for the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein. However, she gets a bad case of nerves and the song's key is too low for her, and she loses ground to her rival, Beryl Marsden.
Three years later, Cilla's confidence returns after her disastrous audition. Bobby urges her to give singing another go, and Brian Epstein gives Cilla another chance to audition by inviting her into the studio to record what would become her debut single, Love of the Loved. The song fails to break the Top 30, but Brian then insists that Cilla change direction and take a gamble on a cover of a Dionne Warwick ballad entitled Anyone Who Had a Heart. The gamble pays off and Anyone Who Had a Heart shoots straight to the top of the charts.
Cilla follows up Anyone Who Had a Heart with a second consecutive number one, You're My World. However, she fails in her subsequent bid to corner the American market and tempers flare in her blossoming relationship with Bobby who is beginning to feel sidelined as Cilla's ego causes her to force Bobby to turn down his own recording contract. In the meantime Brian Epstein's life is unraveling as The Beatles begin to scale back on their activities and eventually to drift apart, and Epstein, a closeted homosexual, continually seeks young men to rough him up and he lies to Cilla about how he suffered his bruises. Epstein develops a dependency on sleeping pills with tragic repercussions as he overdoses on the pills and dies. By his bed is a contract for Cilla to star in her own series. Cilla, distraught about Brian's death, signs the contract and Cilla debuts on the BBC in January 1968. Cilla later marries Bobby, and the drama ends with a photo of the real Cilla and Bobby on their wedding day in 1969.
| Character | Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheridan Smith | ||||
| Aneurin Barnard | ||||
| Ed Stoppard | ||||
| Danny Burns | ||||
| Jack Farthing | ||||
| Kevin Mains | Kevin Mains | |||
| Tom Dunlea | Tom Dunlea | |||
| Michael Hawkins | Michael Hawkins | |||
| John White | John Henshaw | |||
| Priscilla White | Melanie Hill | |||
| Pauline | Gemma Brodrick-Bower | |||
| Rose | Debbie Brannan | |||
| Trevor | Shaun Mason | |||
| Elliot Cowan | ||||
| Jamie Muscato | ||||
| Robert Willis Sr. | Andrew Schofield | |||
| Pat | Tara Wells | |||
| Vera | ||||
| Elsie Starkey | Mary Duffy | |||
| Teddy | Tommy McDonnell | |||
| Degsy | James Nelson-Joyce | |||
| Kenny | Kent Riley | |||
| Jean | ||||
| Nic Greensheilds | ||||
ITV announced the three-part series on 16 February 2014. Filming began in Liverpool in March 2014.[2] [3] [4] [5]
For the role, Smith had to learn the two singing voices that Black used, a loud belt she originally used to make herself heard in the noisy Cavern Club and a softer one she used in a recording studio.[6]
Several locations in Liverpool were used.[7]
| Year | Group | Award | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | National Television Awards | Drama Performance | Sheridan Smith (for Cilla) | [9] |
| Drama | Cilla | |||
| British Academy Television Awards | Best Actress | Sheridan Smith (for Cilla)[10] | ||
| Best Mini-Series | Cilla | |||
| Radio Times Audience Award | Cilla | |||
| TV Choice Awards | Best Actress | Sheridan Smith (for Cilla) | ||
| TV Choice Awards | Best New Drama | Cilla | ||
| Royal Television Society Programme Awards | Best Actress | Sheridan Smith (for Cilla) | ||
| Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards | Costume Design - Drama | Amy Roberts | ||
| Effects - Digital | Tanvir Hanif, Paul Senior | |||
| Production Design - Drama | Lisa Hall | |||
| International Emmy Awards | Best Actress | Sheridan Smith (for Cilla) | ||
Cilla received critical acclaim and led to Cilla Black re-entering music charts at number 46.[11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
The Telegraph wrote: "Smith sang her heart out, catching perfectly the bluesy belter within the girl next door, but rather than rushing her to fame, the action unfolded slowly enough to show her falling at the first hurdle as she became crippled with nerves singing for Brian Epstein. A drama this good, with Smith in sparkling form, knows it can take its time to flourish."
The Guardian wrote: "The third, and best, reason why Cilla is so watchable is Sheridan Smith. It's one of those extraordinary performances, like Julie Walters as Mo Mowlam, when an actress does more than play a real character; she becomes her, to the extent that it's hard for the viewer not to forget they're not actually watching a young Cilla Black. She sounds like her, too. I'd be interested to know what someone more qualified to judge (an actual Liverpudlian) thinks, but to me she utterly convinces as a Scouser, while some of the others don't. Also, the singing, which she does herself, is brilliant. And even when the singing isn't brilliant, she still is."
The series was released on DVD on 6 October 2014.
See main article: Cilla The Musical. Bill Kenwright and Laurie Mansfield produced a stage musical adaptation of the series with a script by Jeff Pope, who wrote the TV series, which began touring the UK from September 2017 starring Kara Lilly Hayworth as Cilla. The production was scheduled to tour again from September 2020 with Sheridan Smith reprising the role of Cilla from the TV series, however it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.