What Do We Know About The BBC’s Beatles Biopic?
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14 minutes ago
No, not that one
As the old adage goes, you wait around for a bus and then two come along at once. The same seems to be true of The Beatles: in 2006, Jonas Ball starred as Mark David Chapman with Richard Sherman as John Lennon in The Killing of John Lennon, while in 2007 Jared Leto took on the role of Chapman in Jarrett Schaefer’s Chapter 27, also detailing the Beatle’s assasination. In 2009, Sam Taylor-Wood directed the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy starring a young Aaron Taylor-Johnson, trailed in 2010 by Christopher Eccleston in Edmund Coulthard’s Lennon Naked.
Here’s another strange coincidence: while Sam Mendes, Harris Dickinson, Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan and Joseph Quinn work hard on the high-profile quartet of Beatles biopics, the BBC is working on another Beatles biopic in tandem, this time a television series.
As you can probably imagine, however, the BBC series, titled Hamburg Days, is a bit less ambitious in scope than Mendes’s upcoming whole-life biopics, which will be released simultaneously on 7 April 2028 in what is being described as a major cinematic event. However, we will probably get to see the BBC’s version of events first. Here’s what you need to know before we do.
Hamburg Days: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More
Filming is officially underway on Hamburg Days, an upcoming six-part Beatles biopic detailing the globally famous band’s formative years in 1960s Germany. The series is being filmed on location in Hamburg, Munich and, of course, Liverpool.
The Plot
As the title suggests, Hamburg Days will explore The Beatles’ early years performing as a band in 1960s Hamburg. We will meet a scrappy but ambitious group of teenagers, our future Fab Four: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. On the guidance of their promoter, Allan Williams, the recently-formed group travelled from their hometown of Liverpool to perform their rock ‘n’ roll music at a residency in the smoke-filled clubs of St Pauli, Hamburg’s red-light district.
It’s gruellingly long, with the inexperienced band performing for up to eight hours, six nights per week. But it was undoubtedly formative. There they collided with two young artists, Klaus Voormann and Astrid Kirchherr, who transformed them into the greatest music phenomenon the world has ever known.
Inspired by Voormann’s autobiography and helmed by German production company W&B Television (with help from London’s Turbine Studios, and co-financed by American distributor AGC Television and German broadcaster ZDF), the project has been developed by German producer Benjamin Benedict. British writer Jamie Carragher is behind the scripts, having previously worked on Succession, 61st Street, Sweetpea and more.
Here in the UK, Hamburg Days has been acquired by the BBC, where it will air when it is complete. Head of scripted acquisitions Sue Deeks is behind the coup, who says: ‘Hamburg Days is the fascinating story of how, in the space of two short years, a raw young band from Liverpool honed their music skills in Hamburg, before returning home to become an overnight worldwide success. It is an incredible story, accompanied (of course) by an amazing soundtrack!’
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The Cast
While Mendes scoured Hollywood for the very best stars du jour for his Beatles quartet, Hamburg Days will be filled with fresh faces, including two Scousers.
The cast we know so far includes:
- Ellis Murphy at Paul McCartney
- Patrick Gilmore as Pete Best
- Rhys Mannion as John Lennon
- Harvey Brett as George Harrison
- Louis Landau as Stu Sutcliffe
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Release Date
No news just yet on when Hamburg Days will air, but we reckon it will be sometime in 2027. All six episodes will air on BBC One and iPlayer.
