This film is part of Free

The Rise and Fall of Nellie Brown

An incredibly joyous TV musical about a young woman's search for her long-lost cousin.

Musical 1964 70 mins

Overview

A delightful Christmas musical about a young Jamaican woman who flees her humdrum Liverpool lodgings in search of her glamorous London cousin. Broadcast live on 28 December 1964, this rare TV musical is one of few to have survived from the 1960s. A tale of Afro-Caribbean immigration, the show is unusual for its time in that it doesn't labour the issues around racial tensions in Britain, but simply celebrates Christmas and family.

The star of the programme, Millie Small, had scored a worldwide pop hit in the spring of 1964 with her breakthrough single My Boy Lollipop. She's joined by established entertainers Elisabeth Welch and Ron Moody and popular 1960s TV faces like Kenny Lynch and Brian Mosley (Corrie's Alf Roberts) in this entertaining musical fantasy full of Christmas cheer.