Cilla (2014 TV series)
Please do not use {{Infobox television film}} directly. See the documentation for available templates. Cilla is a British drama television series 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]
Plot
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.
Episode 1 (September 15, 2014)
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, her voice wavers mid-performance, and she loses ground to her rival, Beryl Marsden.
Episode 2 (September 22, 2014)
As Cilla's confidence returns following 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.
Episode 3 (September 29, 2014)
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 conquer America and tempers flare in her blossoming relationship with Bobby. Meanwhile, Brian Epstein's life is unravelling as the Beatles start to drift apart and Epstein, a closeted homosexual, wrestles with his inner demons which include a dependency on sleeping pills. One evening, Cilla and Bobby are out enjoying a meal when Bobby takes a phone call and tells Cilla that Brian has been found dead. By his bed, the police found a contract from the BBC for Cilla to star in her own TV series, which she signs.
Cast
| Character | Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Hutchinson | ||||
| John Lennon | Jack Farthing | Jack Farthing | ||
| Rose | ||||
| Trevor | ||||
| Priscilla Blythen | ||||
| Paul McCartney | Kevin Mains | Kevin Mains | ||
| Cilla Black | ||||
| John White Sr. | ||||
| George Martin | ||||
| Rory Storm | ||||
| Robert Willis Sr. | ||||
| Adrian Barber | ||||
| Pat | ||||
| Vera | ||||
| Brian Epstein | ||||
| Teddy | ||||
| Degsy | ||||
| Ringo Starr | Tom Dunlea | Tom Dunlea | ||
| Kenny | ||||
| Jean | ||||
| George Harrison | Michael Hawkins | Michael Hawkins | ||
| Robert Willis Jr. | ||||
| Ted "Kingsize" Taylor | ||||
Production
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 uses, 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]
Locations
Several locations in Liverpool were used.[7]
- The offices of Liverpool Film Office[8] stood in for the Cavern Club interior, with the Cavern's exterior represented by the Elude Bar and Restaurant on Porter Street.[7]
- Cilla's family home on Scotland Street (now demolished) was filmed in Holt Road, Kensington (exterior scenes), and the Belgrave pub in Bryanston Road in Aigburth (interior scenes).[7]
- The family homes of Bobby Willis's (Anfield) and Ringo Starr's mother ("Welsh Streets", Aigburth) were represented by houses on Southwood Road.[7]
- The scene showing Bobby running late to work was filmed on Everton Brow, with the 1960s Liverpool skyline recreated by CGI.[9]
- The cast was variously filmed "wandering down Yates Street in Dingle, past the Cross Keys pub off Old Hall Street and drinking at Ye Cracke on Rice Street".[7]
- Scenes filmed on the other side of the Mersey on the Wirral included the marriage of Bobby’s brother Kenny in Wallasey Town Hall (representing Liverpool Register Office), and beach scenes at Perch Rock in New Brighton.[7]
- The Adelphi hotel was used for several settings, first as the Kenilworth Hotel in London where Cilla and Bobby met Brian Epstein, then another hotel that they visit following Cilla's London Palladium appearance. Subsequently it represented the Persian Room of New York's Plaza Hotel and also the Blackpool hotel in which Cilla stayed.[7]
- Oh Me Oh My in Water Street served as the location for the Scotch of St James club scenes and also a New York nightclub.[7]
- Scenes set in Cilla’s London flat were filmed in Elmsley Road in Mossley Hill.
Reception
Cilla received a positive reaction [10] and led to both Cilla Black and Sheridan Smith entering the Top 40 music charts,[11][12][13]
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."
Ratings
| Episode # | Ratings (in millions) Sourced by BARB; figures include ITV +1 and ITV HD broadcasts |
|---|---|
| 1 | 8.601 |
| 2 | 8.203 |
| 3 | 8.214 |
Home media
The series was released on DVD on October 6, 2014.
References
- ^ "Sheridan Smith's Cilla Black drama adds Aneurin Barnard". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
- ^ "ITV commissions three-part drama Cilla, starring Sheridan Smith | presscentre". itv.com. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
- ^ "Sheridan Smith to star as Cilla Black in new ITV drama - TV News - Digital Spy". digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
- ^ "BBC News - Sheridan Smith to play Cilla Black in new ITV drama". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
- ^ "Sheridan Smith to play Cilla Black in three-part ITV drama | Culture | theguardian.com". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jade Wright, "Recreating Cilla's Liverpool - behind the scenes to find the TV show locations", Liverpool Echo, 11 September 2014. Accessed 1 October 2014
- ^ Liverpool Film Office website. Accessed 1 October 2014
- ^ http://[www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2771364/Worra-Lorra-Nostalgia-No-one-s-enchanted-hit-drama-Cilla-Beatles-biographer-PHILIP-NORMAN-says-s-Sixties-Liverpool-loved-come-life.html Philip Norman, "Worra Lorra Nostalgia!" Daily Mail, 26 September 2014]. Accessed 1 October 2014
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]