''Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!'' is a 2006

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

television play A television play is a television programming genre which is a drama performance broadcast from a multi-camera television studio, usually live in the early days of television but later recorded to tape. This is in contrast to a television movi ...

starring Michael Sheen as the English comic actor Kenneth Williams, based on Williams' own diaries. Cheryl Campbell plays Williams's mother, Lou. Michael Sheen performed extensive research for the role, watching archive footage and reading books. He also followed the

cabbage soup diet The cabbage soup diet is a radical weight loss diet designed around heavy consumption of a low-calorie cabbage soup over seven days. It is generally considered a fad diet, in that it is designed for short-term weight-loss and requires no long-t ...

to lose to play Williams. The drama received good reviews, with '' The Observer ''singling out Sheen's performance as "a characterisation for which the description tour-de-force is, frankly, pretty faint praise". '' 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." Viewing figures were 860,000 for its original airing, including timeshift, making it by far the most popular BBC Four broadcast of March 2006. Its repeat showing on 17 March 2006 garnered another 252,000 viewers. Sheen's performance won a

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

award for Best Male Actor, and the play also won two BAFTA nominations (best single play and best actor, Michael Sheen). It was released on DVD as ''Fantabulosa! – The Kenneth Williams Story'' in October 2009, and has been rebroadcast several times in the UK since its original airing.

Cast

* Michael Sheen – Kenneth Williams * Cheryl Campbell – Lou Williams * Peter Wight – Charlie Williams *

Beatie Edney Beatrice Edney (born 23 October 1962) is an English television actress. Born in London, she is the daughter of actress Sylvia Syms and her husband Alan Edney. Her brother is Benjamin Edney and her cousin is musician Nick Webb. Edney first came ...

– Joan Sims * Kenny Doughty –

Joe Orton John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his death in 1967, was short but highly influential. During this brie ...

* Ron Cook –

Peter Eade Peter John Aylmer Eade (11 March 1919 – 25 April 1979) was an English theatrical agent most well known for his representation of individuals such as Kenneth Williams, Ronnie Barker, and Joan Sims. Eade died in Ropley, Hampshire in 1979, aged 6 ...

Martin Trenaman Martin Trenaman (born 1962) is an English comedy writer and actor, who has contributed to many modern comedy series. He played Simon's father, Alan Cooper, in the sitcom ''The Inbetweeners'' (2008-10). He reprised the role of Mr. Cooper for the ...

– 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 Stephen Anthony Critchlow (22 November 1966 – 19 September 2021) was a British actor, known for his work in the theatre and appearances on radio series such as ''Truly, Madly, Bletchley'', ''The Way We Live Right Now'', and '' Spats'', along ...

– Kenneth Horne * Guy Henry –

Hugh Paddick Hugh William Paddick (22 August 1915 – 9 November 2000) was an English actor. He starred in the 1960s BBC radio show ''Round the Horne'', performing in sketches such as "Charles and Fiona" (as Charles) and "Julian and Sandy" (as Julian). He and ...

* Ged McKenna – Sid James * Nicholas Parsons – Himself

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 0490126 2006 television films 2006 films BBC television dramas Biographical films about actors British LGBT-related television films Television series produced at Pinewood Studios 2000s British films

Cast

See also

References

External links