Sheridan Smith has said that Lisa Lynch’s story is “inspiring”.

The Cilla star plays the late cancer patient in BBC One’s new drama The C Word, the small-screen adaptation of Lisa’s blog about her experience. She died in 2013 at the age of 33.

Sheridan Smith and Paul Nicholls in The C Word (BBC/Stuart Wood)
Sheridan Smith and Paul Nicholls in The C Word (Stuart Wood/BBC)

“Lisa’s journey is unbelievable. She was incredible; I’ve never met anyone so inspiring,” the actress said.

“Her love of life was infectious and you go on a journey with this young, beautiful girl who’s just got married, she’s the editor of a magazine, everything’s going great and then she gets diagnosed with breast cancer. But she’s such a fighter that she doesn’t let it get her down.

“She takes to her blog as a release and she’s the wittiest, funniest writer. Her strength all the way through is infectious. She gets her whole family on board and they’re supportive. She doesn’t let it beat her.”

Sheridan added: “She was just special and both the book she wrote and the way she wrote it, was inspirational. Her blog is still visited regularly by people and she’s carrying on, she’s helping people even though she’s gone away.”

The 33-year-old actress became friends with Lisa, and became close to her family.

“All her family, and Pete, her lovely husband (played by Paul Nicholls in the show), came to set and that was a special day. They’ve been nothing but supportive so you can see where she got it from because they are just the most wonderful, wonderful people,” she said.

Sheridan Smith and Paul Nicholls in The C Word (BBC/Stuart Wood)
(Stuart Wood/BBC)

“They’re so proud of her. They wanted to get it made and even though she’s not with us we finally did.”

Sheridan added: “Cancer touches so many people’s lives, so I think her voice being heard will hopefully get families talking more about it.

“We haven’t made it into a morbid programme because she was about celebrating life. I think it will be nice for people to watch and hopefully take Lisa’s sparkle with them.”

The C Word airs on BBC One at 9pm tonight (May 3).