First look at Jaime Winstone and Samantha Spiro in new Barbara Windsor biopic

The drama will use four actresses to play Babs in different stages of her life, with Dame Barbara herself set to make a cameo for good measure.

A one-off BBC1 TV special will feature Winstone as the Carry On and EastEnders star during her 20s and 30s, with Spiro picking up in her mid-50s. Two child actors will cover her younger years.

The BBC has also revealed that Nick Moran, Zoë Wanamaker and Leanne Best will join the cast of Babs, which is already being filmed in south London ahead of a 2017 air date.

Wanamaker will be taking on the role of theatre director Joan Littlewood. She and Windsor clashed in their approaches to acting – but Babs later praised her as "a great, great, great director."

Morgan will star as Windsor's father, John Deeks, described as a "happy-go-lucky cockney with plenty of cheeky wit" and the inspiration behind her raucous laugh and sunny outlook, while Best will be her mother, Rose Deeks, who worked as a dressmaker in the West End and later filed for divorce.

Babs is created by Tony Jordan, a former lead writer on EastEnders and the man behind BBC1's crime series Hustle and police drama Holby Blue.

The drama will take viewers on a 50-year journey through the life of a national treasure – from her World War Two evacuation through to her big break in the Carry On films.