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!

I have left one point off as, being from Liverpool, I can spot a dud Liverpool accent a mile off, and while the lead actors accents were very good, some of the "cough and spit" actors did not get the sixties accent correctly. The accent seems to have become more rough around the edges than in those days when BBC English ruled the airwaves. Other than that the series was a joy. I loved hearing Sheridan Smith's versions of 60s classics. I especially enjoyed the revival of "Love of the Loved" as I liked this song on its first release and thought it should have been a much bigger hit. As an 11 year old I was glued to the TV screen whenever Merseybeat stars appeared. I remember Cilla Black being interviewed and saying that she was more excited about that song getting to number 35 than she did about her next release getting to number 1. Watching this I had to sympathise with Cilla as I enjoyed the scenes of her singing in the Liverpool clubs better than her later more middle of the road studio recording, but that is an ageing Liverpool music fan for you! I also enjoyed seeing the remnants of 60s Liverpool in this show, looking as dingy as I remembered the street back cracks of the time. And my, didn't the place look a treat when it was dressed up as New York using Civic Buildings also still around from that60s era. People I have chatted to have proudly told me that they were served hot-dogs and Coke by Cilla at the Cavern, so it seems to have tapped a wave of warm affection from older inhabitants of Modern Liverpooltowards Cilla. There is surely scope for a series two as there are several big Cilla hits from the late 60s and 70s such as "Surround Yourself With Sorrow" "Conversations" and the recently revived "Something tells me Something's going to Happen Tonight" still to come plus some emotionally charged episodes in the life of Cilla. But as it stands anyone who is still in thrall to the music of this period,with specific reference to lovers of Lennon and McCartney songs should watch this to get another take on the Beatles story as it delivers new information on Brian Epstein's managing abilities. I also loved hearing "Bad To me" by Billy J Kramer(One of the "lost" Beatles compositions like "Love of the Loved"? Well done to all concerned. It really,truly left me wanting more. A feature it shared with its subject, the legendary Cilla Black

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.

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.

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.