Paul Nicholls,Haydn Gwynne and Michael Maloney join Sheridan Smith in BBC Drama The C Word

Updated 8th June: Paul Nicholls (EastEnders, Law & Order) is playing Lisa Lynch's husband Pete whom she married shortly before being diagnosed with breast cancer aged 28.  Haydn Gwynne (Billy Elliott, Peak Practice) and Michael Maloney (The White Queen, Fleming) will play her parents.  Nate Fallows portrays her brother Jamie and Rebekah Staton and Susannah Field are her friends Gabby and Abigail.
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Sheridan Smith  is to play cancer sufferer and blogger Lisa Lynch in a 90 minute BBC1 film based on her book The C Word. (Which could explain her new shaved hairstyle)

The drama is an adaptation of Lynch’s account of her experience of cancer based on her blog which she started shortly after her diagnosis in 2008. She was involved in choosing Smith to play her shortly before she died in 2013 aged 33.

Sheridan Smith said: “Lisa first contacted me via Twitter, and we quickly became friends.  She called me SS and I called her LL.  Her zest for life was infectious and I was moved and inspired by her courage and bravery.  I couldn't help but love her.  That’s why I want to tell her story.  For Pete, for her family and for everyone who's lives are touched by cancer.  I'm so sad that Lisa won't get to see the finished drama, having been so involved in the development of it.  I'm honoured and humbled that she wanted me to play her on screen, and I hope that I will make her proud.”

The C Word will air next year.