Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!

Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!
Written byMartyn Hesford
Directed byAndy De Emmony
StarringMichael Sheen
Cheryl Campbell
Beatie Edney
Kenny Doughty
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes1
Production
Running time79 mins
Original release
NetworkBBC Four
Release13 March 2006 (2006-03-13)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! is a 2006 BBC Four television play starring Michael Sheen as the British 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 to lose 2.5 stone (35 lb; 16 kg) to play Williams.[1]

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.[2]

Sheen's performance won a Royal Television Society Award for Best Male Actor,[3] and the play also won two BAFTA nominations (best single play and best actor, Michael Sheen).[4]

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.[5]

  1. ^ Rampton, James (8 March 2006). "Michael Sheen carries off the life of Kenneth Williams". The Independent. London. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  2. ^ BARB official Weekly Top 10 Programmes 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
  3. ^ RTS programme awards – winners, 14 March 2007, The Guardian
  4. ^ BAFTA nominations announced, 11 April 2007, The Guardian
  5. ^ "BBC Four – Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!". BBC Programmes. Retrieved 8 July 2017.