Cilla Black passed away in August 2015. If this 2014 drama was made now I guess it would be more warts n all than this more respectful biopic shown in 2014.Sheridan Smith Cilla who until recently was more known for comedies plays Cilla and also does her own singing here.Aneurin Barnard plays Bobby her early manager, lover and later her husband. However I found his hairdo which might had been a wig rather off putting.The film is a straightforward drama of a wannabe singer plucked out in the Merseybeat 1960s, who gets the attention of Brian Epstein, becomes buddies with the Beatles, tries to break America and later on takes her first steps on television. You see her blossoming relationship with Bobby across the religious divide, he seems rather too credulous being in awe of her and later of Epstein. Although given that Epstein was the manager of the biggest pop band in the world that's hardly a surprise.The drama is personable as the late Miss Black. Rather inoffensive and somewhat bland. You always get the feeling that some liberties have been taken with the truth.As a kid I remember The Cilla Black Show on Saturdays nights on BBC1. This was years before she became a mainstay on ITV's Blind Date. Once the pop hits start to dry up and tastes started to change she rather niftily moved to television and stayed there for several decades. You do not get to stay at the top of the showbusiness ladder, a cutthroat world by just being cheeky and nice. There was more to Cilla and Bobby but it was not covered here.How cutthroat is showbusiness? Just before he died, The Beatles left Epstein's management. Just imagine some chancer got hold of Lennon and McCartney and persuaded them that they could be a better manager than the man who made them the biggest band in the world!

One reviewer wrote about Cilla's Protestant family. Wasn't she raised Roman Catholic? I believe she attended St. Anthony's School. I would appreciate clarification on this. The DVD is non USA formatted, so it cannot be played o most players in the U.S. at this time - Hopefully the series will appear on The BBC in America channel some time in the very near future. Also, I find it strange that no further installments detailing Cilla's further career are planned in view of the rave reviews for the series. Thanks for all of the reviews for this series, as I've found all of them informative and well- written. One of the reasons I am looking forward to seeing this series is that I've read about twelve reviews and all are positive ones.

I was so looking forward to seeing this mini series. I remember seeing Cilla on TV as a child. I watched all three episodes in one sitting. I had to keep watching until the end. Sheridan is excellent as Cilla and she really did remind me of her. Aneurin was fantastic as Bobbie and I particularly loved the scenes between Cilla's dad and Bobby. It was a bit disconcerting to see Aneuin with blonde hair but he did kind of look like Bobby (judging from the photo in the credits. It made me laugh and there were some really intense scenes particularly the last one with Cilla and Brian. At times I felt really sorry for Bobby and a bit angry as Cilla for treating him the way she did sometimes. I would definitely recommend this mini series to any one even if they don't know Cilla. Its just a really good story and the actors were all superb in my view.

This is what I have been missing for a long time. Here we have a real drama that is totally down to earth English and something we can all relate to in one way or another.It is convincingly authentic in its atmosphere of post war Liverpool with the bomb sites and obvious lack of material things,but a feeling that things are about to get a lot better. A few dodgy accents does not detract from the work the producers and cast present us with.Sheridan Smith is pure class AND She performs all the songs herself. This young lady has a great future ahead of her. This could well move on to Londons West End and be big success. Well done ITV for giving people what they want.