Cilla Black special edition of "Coronation Street". In 2014, Black was the subject of a three-part television drama series, "Cilla", focusing especially on her rise to fame in 1960s Liverpool and her relationship with Bobby Willis. ITV aired the first instalment on 15 September 2014, starring BAFTA award-winning actress Sheridan Smith. Black was married to her manager, Bobby Willis, for 30 years from 1969 until he died from lung cancer on 23 October 1999. They had three sons: Robert (born 1970, who became her manager), Ben (born 1974) and Jack (born 1980). Their daughter, Ellen (born 1975), was born prematurely and suffered
ITV Studios May 2017, ITV plc acquired production company World Productions. As a result of the takeover, the company is now a part of ITV Studios, with ITV Studios Global Entertainment handling international distribution of future series. That same year, ITV Studios also acquired Swedish game show and entertainment programming producer Elk Production, a stake in Danish drama producer Apple Tree Productions, founded by former DR Drama Deputy Head Lars Hermann and Piv Bernth (producer of the hit series "The Killing") who had both left public broadcaster DR (which was the home for "The Killing"), and another stake in Italian film and