Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!
| Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Martyn Hesford |
| Starring |
Michael Sheen Cheryl Campbell Beatie Edney Kenny Doughty |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 79 mins |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Four |
| Original release | 13 March 2006 |
Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! is a 2006 BBC Four television play starring Michael Sheen as the English comic actor Kenneth Williams, based on Williams' own diaries. Cheryl Campbell plays Williams's beloved mother, Lou.
The drama received good reviews, The Observer singling out Sheen's performance as "a characterisation for which the description tour-de-force is, frankly, pretty faint praise".[1] The Times compared Sheen's performance to "a diamond that is so dazzling as a result of the expertise deployed in its cutting that you can’t fully focus on the underlying shape of the stone, which is what actually enables it to glitter so spectacularly."[2]
Viewing figures were 860,000, including timeshift, making it by far the most popular BBC Four broadcast of March 2006.[3]
Sheen's performance won a Royal Television Society award for Best Male Actor,[4] and the play also won two BAFTA nominations (best single play and best actor, Michael Sheen).[5]
Cast
- Michael Sheen – Kenneth Williams
- Cheryl Campbell – Lou Williams
- Peter Wight – Charlie Williams
- Beatie Edney – Joan Sims
- Kenny Doughty – Joe Orton
- Ron Cook – Peter Eade
- Martin Trenaman – Tony Hancock
- David Charles – Charles Hawtrey
- Ewan Bailey – Kenneth Halliwell
- Rachel Clarke – Barbara Windsor
- Connor Garnett Comerford – Young Kenneth Williams
- Beatrice Comins – St Joan/Actress
- Timothy Davies – 1st Doctor
- Stephen Critchlow – Kenneth Horne
- Guy Henry – Hugh Paddick
- Nicholas Parsons as himself
See also
References
- ↑ Sunday drama? Stop messing about, 19 March 2006, The Observer
- ↑ Putting the Sheen on a life of despair, 14 March 2006, The Times
- ↑ BARB official Weekly Viewing Summary Multi-channel op 10 BBC4 - w/e 5 March 2006, 12 March 2006, 19 March 2006, 26 March 2006, 2 April 2006. The closest rivals were The Chatterley Affair, 2100 on 20 March 2006, with 546,000 viewers, and A for Andromeda, with 580,000 on 26 March 2006 at 2101
- ↑ RTS programme awards - winners, 14 March 2007, The Guardian
- ↑ BAFTA nominations announced, 11 April 2007, The Guardian
External links
- Interview with Michael Sheen during the making of the film.
- Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! at the Internet Movie Database