Cilla (miniseries) 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
Cilla Black label which launched her career in 1963) released the career-spanning CD "The Very Best of Cilla Black"—containing all 19 of her UK Top 40 singles, new club remixes plus a bonus DVD of her 1966 TV music special "Cilla at the Savoy". Black was the best-selling British female recording artist in the UK during the 1960s, releasing a total of 15 studio albums and 37 singles. Black was offered her own show on the BBC by Bill Cotton, then Assistant Head of Light Entertainment. The show would simply be titled "Cilla" and aired from January 1968 to April 1976. Cotton