WHILE the country mourns the death of an entertainment icon, people may be ‘surprise surprised’ to hear that Cilla Black visited Bolton to film one of her best loved TV shows.

The star – real name Priscilla White – came to film her hit programme Surprise Surprise in October 1986 and was mobbed by a crowd at the Last Drop Village in Bromley Cross.

At the time of her visit the TV icon said of the town: “I think it is lovely here.”

Cilla and her production crew came to film part of a 'Cillagram' for Eric Parkin and Les Hine who were members of Stalybridge Old Band. The crew chose to film in Bolton due to its “character”.

Member of the ITV crew working on the show, Kate Greer, said: “It is in appreciation of many years of service to the band, and we are filming Cilla in a number of sequences singing with the band.

“One of our staff lives locally and he told us that there were some places in Bolton which retained the character of the north, which can be associated with brass bands.”

The crew spent the morning filming in School Street, Eagley, where the band marched behind Cilla, Mr Hine and Mr Parkin, while residents waved flags along the roadside.

Then they visited the Last Drop Village where they were met with a big crowd of fans who had heard of the former Blind Date presenter’s appearance.

The 72-year-old queen of song and screen – who suffered from hearing problems and arthritis - reportedly died on Sunday  after flying to Spain with her son Robert.

A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out today to determine the cause of death, but police in Spain have said "everything at this stage is pointing towards her death being the result of natural causes".