Cilla

I am teary-eyed that this excellent 3-part drama series has now finished. Sheridan Smith must surely be Britain's best actress at the moment and I totally believed in her performance and characterisation. Her vocals were superb - take note X-Factor, THIS is how to perform songs. Full marks too to the supporting cast (partner Bobby, her father, etc) - there should be acting awards all round and a writers award to Jeff Pope. In fact I hope ITV commission Jeff to write "Cilla 2" because I want to see Sheridan, Aneurin, and all, continue this story from where it left off in January 1968 to take in stuff like how she turned down Eurovision 1968 (Cliff did it instead), her psychedelic film flop later that year, her marriage to Bobby, her 8 straight years of hosting her own smash hit BBC TV show, her two sitcom series for ATV in the mid 1970s for which she was voted Britain's top female comedy star, her LWT series Blind Date and Surprise Surprise, Bobby's sad passing in 1999, etc etc.

Come on ITV - find some way to continue this story!

It's a biopic and historically inaccurate if you are a Beatles fan and know some of the actual history of the early Beatles years.

Having said that it is well produced and reasonably acted. It is quite entertaining if you like the period and accept it as a biopic which overlooks some of the facts like she was a waitress at the Zodiac cafe.

You will enjoy the program if you can overlook some of the details.

The main actress is likable, believable and performs well in the role. Her future husband comes across as rather doe eyed and almost submissive. The Beatles characters lack any depth and I think would have already been to Germany once by then if the year is supposed to be 1960/61.

I have only watched the first two of the three parts.

Cilla Black is revered in England and no wonder. Working class girl befriends The Beatles before they were The Beatles, gets up to sing at Liverpool's Cavern Club, and improbably goes on to international fame. The locations are lush, with lots of gritty brick urban streetscapes and great 1960s fashion. But it's subtle and not overdone. And The Beatles are portrayed, but in a nicely casual way. The music is great -- it comes across as live; it's not over-produced. The lead actors are great. The woman playing Cilla is quite suited to the role -- the girl next door but confident and sassy. But her voice isn't as good as the real Cilla Black -- it's a little too low and Smith sometimes belts put those songs rather than sings them. As her boyfriend Bobby Willis, Aneurin Barnard is great -- the character is initially a bit flaky, but turns out to be a solid support to her. The story hums along at a steady pace. The dialogue is a bit clunky at times, and the Liverpool accents can be hard to understand. The third and final episode is the weakest. Black may have had too much input into the script because Cilla and Bobby barely kiss, and keep chaste separate hotel rooms. If it's true Cilla vetoed Bobby recording songs because she wanted him to look after her, it's a bit disturbing. The series ends rather abruptly but I suppose the 1960s 'star is born' phase had ended, and that was the point of the show. Overall, a good effort.

I was at school in the 1950's and 1960's and yes I also noticed a number of inaccuracies, but this was not the point of the programme. There are plenty of historical books and websites out there if that is what you want. The programme is all about capturing the hopes and dreams of young musicians during a very exciting period in popular music, and this it does perfectly. Any references to the Beatles are in the context of the story itself and are not intended to be an detailed account of their movements. If any of the inaccuracies had detracted from the storyline then I am sure that Cilla herself would have objected to it. So just sit back and enjoy the programme and avoid any unnecessary nitpicking.

Cilla Black is probably best-known in the UK for her family entertainer TV persona which started with her own variety show but eventually led to her massive success as the giggling genial hostess of awful but long-running TV shows like "Surprise Surprise" and "Blind Date". Originally though, she came to prominence as a singer in the early 60's as part of Brian Epstein's post-Beatles Merseybeat stable and this 3-part series covers just that period, I certainly wouldn't have tuned in if it had gone beyond that.

Miss Black is on record herself as saying her lifestyle even in the swinging 60's was hardly rock and roll even with her association with the Beatles who mentored her and wrote some of her hit songs. Thus you won't find too much excitement or danger in her rags to riches story, besides some religious tension between her Protestant family upbringing and that of her Catholic boyfriend and road manager, later her manager and husband Bobby Willis, the usual ups and downs of her relationship with Willis, some strain between her and a distracted Brian Epstein, plus of course her rise to fame from Cavern hat-check girl to appearing on the London Palladium and topping the charts.

Sheridan Smith, who does all her own singing too and Aneurin Bernard are personable in these two main roles although a lack of likeness in other key parts, such as the Beatles and Epstein weakens veracity a touch. Some licence is taken with the facts too, like Cilla being told her record has magically made it to number 1 as if from nowhere when in reality it took weeks to climb to the top. I could also have done with a little less concentration on the troubled Epstein's unconventional personal life which probably belongs in a bio-drama of its own.

Nevertheless this was pleasant and likable if slightly over-polite (well, Cilla is still alive and something of a national treasure, I guess you'd say) entertainment with some good songs and performances thrown in for good measure.