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.
Review of Cilla
