It aired on BBC 2 last night, so some of our readers in the UK must have watched it… Brit actress Ruth Negga, whose resume includes both TV and film credits, from Misfits to Colour Me Kubrick, as Dame Shirley Bassey, in a biopic of the songstress maybe best known for recording the theme songs to a number of early James Bond films like Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker.

Titled Shirley Bassey: A Very British Diva, the hour-long film maps Bassey’s rise from destitution to international stardom.

The cast also includes Lesley Sharp, as Bassey’s mother and Henry Lloyd-Hughes as her manager and husband Kenneth Hume.

Reviews I’ve read thus far have been all stellar, praising Negga’s performance… from The Telegraph:

Ruth Negga turned in a terrific performance: sinuous, lippy and intensely driven as the young Shirley Bassey…

From Metro UK:

Ruth Negga was in star-making form… captured the essence of fame as Shirley Bassey

From Monsters and Critics:

Putting in a mesmerizing performance as the young Shirley Bassey is Ruth Negga, who somehow manages to capture the singers mannerisms and sensuality of her fantastic stage performances.

Oh, and they all loved the film overall as well.

I found the below interview Negga did a few days ago, leading up to last night’s premiere, in which she talks about the role; during the interview, clips from the film are shown, so you can watch her in action as Bassey: