Cilla Black captured the heart of the ­nation for decades as both a pop star and TV icon

The son of Cilla Black has said he can’t wait to watch the new Doctor Who series – after learning it will feature a tribute to his late mother recording at Abbey Road studios.

The time lord returns to BBC1 next week on May 11 with two episodes including The Devil’s Chord which is set in the Sixties and has previously been described as a homage to The Beatles.

Much of the episode is set in Abbey Road and we can reveal that at one stage Doctor Who and his companion Ruby Tuesday end up in another studio and bumps into a talented young singer called Cilla, who is played by Josie Sedgwick-Davies.

Cilla was signed to EMI’s Parlophone when she was still a teenager. She’d been picked up by Brian Epstein, The Beatles’ manager behind the rise of Merseybeat and was the only woman on his roster.

The son of Cilla Black has said he can’t wait to watch the new Doctor Who series (
Image:
Liverpool Echo)

She recorded many of her hits at Abbey Road including Anyone Who Had a Heart, You’re My World and It’s For You written by Lennon and McCartney.

She is in the middle of recording a song when interrupted by Doctor Who and his companion.

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Cilla’s son Robert Willis told the Mirror: “What a lovely tribute to feature my mother in the new series of this iconic show. My family and I are very much looking forward to seeing the episode on the TV.”

The new Doctor Who will feature a tribute to Cilla (
Image:
PA)
The episode The Devil’s Chord was written Who showrunner Russell T Davies who is understood to be a Cilla fan. He chose one of her songs, Love Of The Loved, when he compiled My Sounds for the BBC, a list of songs that soundtrack his writing.

Cilla has been portrayed on screen in other shows including an ITV biopic starring Sheridan Smith in 2014. Cilla died in August 2015 at the age of 72, after a fall in her holiday villa in Estepona, a town in Spain.

Speaking about the episode The Devil’s Chord previously, Davies described the episode as “big and bold”. He added: “We’re not sneaking into the 1960s, we’re arriving big time. It’s gorgeous.

“The Beatles were an important part of it. And that was fun casting them. I mean, the chance to cast Paul and John and Ringo and George was amazing. And they’re a lovely bunch of lads.”