User Reviews

Not in any way am I a fan of the late Cilla Black ( whose real name was Cilla White if you can believe it ) but I did find this anthology sitcom from ATV relatively amusing. Our Cilla throughout the '60's and early '70's had gained some television comedy exposure working with comedians such as Morecambe & Wise, Frankie Howerd, Peter Cook & Dudley Moore and Bruce Forsyth. In 1975, she fronted her own series - a six part anthology sitcom written by Ronnie Taylor, who later wrote for ATV 'A Sharp Intake Of Breath' which starred David Jason.

Each week saw Cilla as a different character. 'No Harem For Henry' had her cast as Linda Pearson, a housewife determined to get one up on her two timing hubby. 'Every Husband Has One' has her as Doris Livesey, a housewife who gets targeted by a research organiazation. In 'Sea View' she is Thelma, a family woman who refuses to pay the extortionate bill for the hotel her and her family have spent a week's holiday in. 'Father's Doing Fine' saw her as devoted daddy's girl Christine who is none too happy when her father takes up with a younger woman. 'Who's Rocking The Boat?' cast her as Vera, a young woman stranded on a boat with two wild eyed men and finally 'Dictation Speed' cast her as Sally Norton, a smart headed secretary who finds several ways to outwit her lecherous boss.

'Cilla's Comedy Six' was not dissimilar to the BBC's anthology series 'Seven Of One' which starred Ronnie Barker, though unsurprisingly Barker's series was more successful, spawning two of Britain's successful sitcoms - 'Porridge' and 'Open All Hours'. After three amiable episodes, 'Cilla's Comedy Six' sadly went downhill in quality with the last three episodes. Cilla did one more anthology series for ATV, the dreadful 'Cilla's World Of Comedy' which too alas only ran to one season.

'Cilla's Comedy Six' was by no means a great show, not even close to it, but it still made for more interesting viewing than the horrific 'Surprise Surprise' and the even more dreadful 'Blind Date'.

Back in the early '70's, it was not unusual ( as Tom Jones might say ) for pop singers ( even those who hadn't been in the charts in years ) to grace our television screens on B.B.C.-1 on Saturday nights. There was Cliff Richard ( with The Shadows, Olivia Newton-John, and Una Stubbs ), Lulu, Clodagh Rodgers, and, of course, our Cilla ( Steve Coogan did a splendid spoof of these shows called 'The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon' ), all warbling in front of massive, glittering sets while tight trousered-dancers leaped around and dear old Bert Postlethwaite worked hard to get the lighting correct.

I liked her in these shows, mainly because she came across as pleasant and down-to-earth ( this was before the horrors of 'Blind Date' and 'Surprise! Surprise!' were inflicted on us ). Amidst the music, there was a vox pop slot in which she chatted to people ( mainly elderly ) in the street. Some of their answers were hilarious, like the old lady who when showed a picture of David Bowie thought him to be a woman.

After her show ended, Cilla crossed over to I.T.V. to do an anthology sitcom called simply 'Cilla's Comedy Six'. Executive produced by her husband - the late Bobby Willis - it cast her a different character each week, a bit like 'Seven Of One' only with Cilla replacing Ronnie Barker. The six episodes were penned by the late Ronnie Taylor, future creator of 'A Sharp Intake Of Breath', starring David Jason. Guest stars included Keith Barron, Henry McGee, Maggie Jones ( 'Blanche' from 'Coronation Street' ), Helen Fraser, Norman Rossington, Dudley Sutton, and Dinsdale Landen. To be fair to Cilla, she did as well as she could, despite her acting range being limited ( not unlike Paul Merton when he appeared in a Galton & Simpson series in the mid-'90's ). This was not her first shot at acting - she had appeared in the 1966 movie 'Work Is A Four-Letter Word', starring David Warner and directed by Sir Peter Hall.

The episode I recall the most is 'Every Husband Has One!' in which she plays 'Doris Livesey', a housewife whose home is invaded by a creepy consumer-research organisation representative called 'Russell Stanhope' ( McGee ). She has been selected from a list of thousands of women deemed to be 'average'. Forever carrying a clipboard and asking silly questions, Stanhope's presence is bitterly resented not only by Doris but also her husband Jack ( Tony Selby, of 'Get Some In!' ). Finally, fed up of his 'guest's' continual interference in their everyday lives, Jack purposefully gets Doris in the family way so she no longer qualifies as 'average'.

If Cilla had hoped to land a series based on one or more of these shows, she was to be disappointed. She did, however, do a follow-up called 'Cilla's World Of Comedy' the following year. It was crushed in the ratings by 'George & Mildred'. Cilla's ambitions to become the new Lucille Ball came to nothing. After a long absence from television, she bounced back in the early '80's with a dazzling appearance on 'Wogan', and this resulted in her being offered the afore-mentioned L.W.T. monstrosities. Both 'Cilla' shows still exist in the archive. Review over. Ta-ra!