Doctor Who new series sees rising star Josie Sedgwick

Release time：2024-05-05 15:32:09 Source：Culture Corner news portal

As Rufus Sewell proved playing Prince Andrew in Scoop, prosthetic make-up can do wonders for an actor who looks nothing like the character they've been cast as. 

However, in the case of Josie Sedgwick-Davies, who's set to thrill Doctor Who fans when she makes a cameo as Cilla Black in next Saturday's episode of the latest series...she might have been made for the role. 

When Sedgwick-Davies appears as 'our Cilla' in 'The Devil’s Chord' on May 11th, viewers are likely to be wowed by the physical resemblance the upcoming actress  shares with the late TV star. 

How did she announce she'd bagged the high-profile role? By announcing it on X, formerly Twitter, with, what else, but Cilla's famous catchphrase, 'Surprise, surprise!'

Hey Cilla! Rising star Josie Sedgwick-Davies will play the late singer and TV personality - and Doctor Who fans, known as Whovians, have already called the casting of Josie in the cameo role 'perfect'

The second episode of the new series of Doctor Who, The Devil's Chord, will see Sedgwick-Davies play Cilla as the Doctor is transported back to 1960s Liverpool...to meet The Beatles 

The actor will star alongside the 15th Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, when he meets a little known band called The Beatles in the mid 1960s. Indeed, many 'Whovians' have already remarked on the 'genius' casting. 

Responding on X, one person wrote: 'The Cilla Black casting is a perfect double for her.' Another added: 'Omg there’s nobody better to play this than you! Absolutely made for this role!'

However, while Sedgwick-Davies, who played a scouse bird in Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget last year, shares Black's gorgeous flame red hair colour and wide smile, she also has plenty of other things in common with the Surprise, Surprise and Blind Date star, who shot to fame singing hits such as Anyone Who Had A Heart. 

The actress pictured with her Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget colleagues in 2023; she played a scouse bird, Frizzle (From left: Daniel Mays, Sam Fell, Sedgwick-Davies and David Bradley)

Not only does the actress hail from Liverpool, she also had a more humble job before the red carpet beckoned. 

She worked as a hairdresser close to her mum's house, after leaving school with no qualifications. She was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD in her younger years and Sedgwick-Davies is now an ambassador for ADHD UK.

Meanwhile, Cilla shot to fame in the Beatles era and went on to become one of the most highly paid and successful light entertainment performers in the history of British television.

She was born Priscilla Maria Veronica White on May 27, 1943 and was encouraged to sing by her family. In the early 1960s she got a part-time job as a cloakroom attendant at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool where the Beatles regularly played.

She quickly impressed the Beatles and others with her talent, when she gave impromptu performances at the Cavern. At this time, she also worked as a waitress in the Zodiac coffee lounge, where she met her future husband and manager Bobby Willis.

Sedgwick-Davies, who is an ambassador for ADHD UK, worked in a hairdresser close to her mum's house before finding success in the acting world 

A part-time job as a cloakroom attendant at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool set Cilla on the path to pop stardom and she racked up a string of hits

Cilla was introduced to Brian Epstein by John Lennon who persuaded him to audition her. In September, 1963, Epstein signed her up as his only female client.

Her debut single, Love of the Loved, written for her by Lennon and McCartney, was a relative failure. But her second single the Burt Bacharach-Hal David composition, Anyone Who Had A Heart shot to Number One and became the biggest-selling single by a female artist in the history of British popular music.

This launched her on an extraordinary pop career, with 20 consecutive Top 40 hits on the British single and EP charts, including 11 British Top Ten singles and two consecutive Number One singles in 1964.

Her hits included You're My World, Alfie, the theme song from the Michael Caine film of that name, and Step Inside Love.

However, many will remember the star more fondly for her TV career, at the helm of Blind Date and Surprise Surprise

Cilla's pop career persisted until the end of the 1960s, by which time she was an internationally-acclaimed star, having notably successfully broken into the notoriously difficult United States market.

She branched into acting with 1964's Ferry Across the Mersey, which featured Gerry & The Pacemakers, also out of Epstein's stable.

But by August 1967, only days before his premature death, Epstein had engineered Cilla's switch to television. It was a shrewd move and, largely through her own sheer drive, she remained at the height of popularity until the end of the century and beyond.

Her own variety show for the BBC regularly commanded staggering audiences of 22 million. So while her pop career was declining she was developing into the most popular figure on television.

Doctor Who will merge with Strictly Come Dancing for an epic Swinging Sixties dance scene set to air in episode two of the upcoming series 

It was this resounding TV success which was eclipsing her musical career, although she always said she preferred to be remembered for her songs than for anything else.

The star died in 2015 at her holiday home in Spain after a fall led to her having a stroke. Her husband of 30 years, Bobby, died in 1999 aged 57.

Fans won't have long to wait for The Devil's Chord, set for release on BBC iPlayer at midnight on May 11, and its homage to the 1960s.

Speaking about the fun collaboration during a Q&A event, Millie Gibson, right with Ncuti Gatwa, said: 'I remember reading The Devil's Chord and getting the biggest goosebumps at the end. It just seemed like this incredible episode'

Speaking about the fun collaboration during a Q&A event ahead of the new series, Millie Gibson, who plays Ruby Sunday, said: 'I remember reading The Devil's Chord and getting the biggest goosebumps at the end. It just seemed like this incredible episode. 

'I loved The Devil's Chord episode so much. Loved reading it and then working and shooting it. We had an amazing choreog­rapher who whipped us into shape with such kindness.' 

The new season of Doctor Who will see Ncuti return as the Fifteenth Doctor, alongside Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday, after they made their debut on Christmas Day last year in The Church on Ruby Road.

Within the upcoming series, audiences will see the Doctor and Ruby travel through time and space on adventures to unknown lands, to the Regency era in England, to outer space worlds and the sixties.

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