Unseen video footage of Cilla features in ITV’s new ‘Lost Tapes’ documentary
A must-see new Cilla Black documentary ‘CILLA – The Lost Tapes’ will premiere on ITV1 next Wednesday (February 19th) at 9pm. This follows hot on the heels of Cilla’s new posthumous single, ‘You’re Sensational’.
Singer, actor, presenter, icon, Cilla Black was a talent who defined British popular culture for over six decades. Following her untimely death in 2015, Cilla’s eldest son Robert Willis made a startling discovery. Buried in the loft of her family home in Denham was a stash of never seen before films and behind the scenes footage from Cilla’s personal video collection, along with hours of audio recording of Cilla telling her own life story.
Cilla at her Denham Home with Son Robert (Video footage featured in ‘CILLA: The Lost Tapes’)
The material dates back to 1969 and covers Cilla’s early career, recording her hits, hanging out with The Beatles and falling in love with Bobby Willis. It includes a guided tour by Cilla herself of her family home and holiday trips to Fiji, Hong Kong and Australia during the construction of the Sydney Opera House.
Other notable unseen footage includes an outtake from Cilla’s iconic 1966 TV special ‘Cilla at the Savoy’ where she performs “Big Spender” (from ‘Sweet Charity’); Cilla in 1970 with Ringo Starr (The Beatles) at the Geilo winter resort in Sweden as they prepare to record a segment for her BBC TV series ‘Cilla’ plus Cilla rehearsing for her headline-hitting starring role at the 2001 Royal Variety Show where she performed scantily clad “Gotta Have A Gimmick” from ‘Gypsy’ alongside Paul O’Grady & Barbara Windsor.
Cilla’s Lost Tapes show a trailblazer who re-wrote the rules of show-business, providing an intimate portrait of a working-class girl who became a national treasure.
Narrated by Sheridan Smith, who played Cilla in the 2014 ITV drama, this unique programme includes interviews with her son Robert and friends from show business who knew Cilla best including Cliff Richard, Paul O’Grady, Gerry & Pauline Marsden, Jimmy Tarbuck, Peter Brown, Patti Panzer, Nigel Lythgoe, Christopher Biggins, Jeff Thacker & Holly Willoughby. They watch the lost footage for the first time and recall their own memories of a much-missed music & television icon.
CILA: The Lost Tapes , ITV
19 February 2020, 9pm