The White Queen star Aneurin Barnard has started filming his latest TV role, playing Cilla Black's husband Bobby Willis in three-part ITV drama Cilla.
Sheridan Smith takes the lead role in the drama set in the early 1960s as the young Cilla (then called Priscilla White) began her rocky road to singing stardom in the Cavern Club, Liverpool, just as the Beatles were making a name for themselves there.
It also follows her on-off relationship with future husband Bobby, a baker at Woolworth's with the gift of the gab, but who struggled to accept Cilla's determination to succeed and become a star. It also chonicles her close relationship with legendary manager Brian Epstein, the businessman who also guided the career of The Beatles.
Other cast members just announced include former Bread star Melanie Hill as Cilla's mum Priscilla, John Henshaw (Downton Abbey, South Riding) as Cilla's father John White. Ed Stoppard (The Politician's Husband, Upstairs Downstairs) will play Brian Epstein, who tragically died in 1967.
Cilla is currently filming in Liverpool and will be shown on ITV later this year.
