Cilla

To the children of the 1980s, our Cilla was simply the middle-of-the-road matron with a lorra lorra laughs on Saturday-night TV. Yet decades before Blind Date and Surprise Surprise, Miss Black had been a singular star, adored by fans and acclaimed by Burt Bacharach and The Beatles for the voice that even when she was a teenager captured hearts and audience attention. Sheridan Smith may not, in truth, look much like Cilla, but starring in the three-part drama, Cilla (ITV , Monday, 9pm) as the singer and entertainer, she captures the chirruping energy and personality that took her to the top of the charts and beyond.

This is a story told in an exotic world of the past. It was that exciting moment back in the early 1960s when the streets of Liverpool had barely emerged from a post-war era that looks positively Victorian from this distance, but down in The Cavern Club a very different way of life was being ushered into existence, in music, fashion and a newfound spirit of freedom that Cilla epitomises in Jeff Pope’s story.

There is a touch of Stella Street to proceedings, as Ringo Starr and Brian Epstein play their pivotal roles (albeit well-played by Tom Dunlea and Ed Stoppard), but the doughtily dependable Smith’s performance anchors us in a heartfelt tale of Cilla’s youthful hopes and ambitions, and how she found love with Bobby Willis, who became her husband (and manager) until his death in 1999.

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