Babs, BBC: Everything you need to know about the Barbara Windsor drama

Ahead of her 80th birthday this August, the BBC celebrates the grand dame in a feature-length TV special

On our screens for over 50 years, few people have had a longer film and TV career than Barbara Windsor.

As well as starring in the well-loved Carry On films she was, perhaps, best known as iconic Old Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell, immortalising the famous line “Get outta my pub”.

The BBC’s new 90 minute TV film Babs takes a look back over Windsor’s life and work. Here’s everything you need to know:

What’s it about?

Written by Tony Jordan, former EastEnders head script writer, the show begins in 1993 at a low point in Windsor’s life.

On the brink of bankruptcy with her second marriage at an end, it tracks her career and personal life over the preceding thirty years, from her lonely childhood and WW2 evacuation to her turbulent relationship with first husband Ronnie Knight and Carry On fame.

Babs - in pictures

1/5

Who will be playing Babs?

The EastEnders star is depicted by three actresses who take us through the different stages of her life.

12-year-old Honor Kneafsey plays a young Barbara, who decides to change her surname to Windsor after the Queen’s coronation.

Jaime Winstone then takes up the mantle, portraying Babs as she negotiates her new-found fame thanks to the success of the Carry On films.

Winstone received Windsor’s blessing to play her when at 15 she sat behind the actress in a theatre with her dad Ray. Windsor heard her laughing and joked “you should play me one day”.

Bad Education’s Samantha Spiro is Barbara later in life, while Windsor herself makes a cameo appearance in the programme.

When is it on?

The TV film will air on BBC one at 8pm.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in