Cilla (miniseries) Cilla (miniseries) Cilla is a British drama television miniseries 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. Smith was highly praised for her performance. Following Cilla Black's death in August 2015, the series was broadcast again on ITV between 4–6 August 2015, as well as repeats on ITV Encore. 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
Cilla (miniseries) and he lies to Cilla about how he suffered his bruises. Epstein develops a dependency on sleeping pills with tragic repercussions as he overdoses on the pills and dies. By his bed is a contract for Cilla to star in her own series. Cilla, distraught about Brian's death, signs the contract and "Cilla" debuts on the BBC in January 1968. Cilla later marries Bobby, and the miniseries ends with a photo of the real Cilla and Bobby on their wedding day in 1969. ITV announced the three-part series on 16 February 2014. Filming began in Liverpool in March 2014. For