Beatles' early years drama starts filming in Germany

A major new TV drama about the formative years of The Beatles has started production in Germany and Liverpool.

Hamburg Days will chart the band's early era when they performed more than 250 gigs in the German port city between 1960 and 1962.

It has been inspired by the memoirs of Klaus Voormann, who met the band in Hamburg as a young artist and went on to design the cover of their Revolver album in 1966 before later playing on John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison's solo albums.

Produced and financed by both British and German companies, Hamburg Days will also film on Merseyside and in Munich. The six-part drama will be shown on BBC One.

Producers said the series would show the band – which at the time included bassist Stuart Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best – meeting Voorman and photographer Astrid Kirchherr, sparking the group's transformation from "a scrappy group of teenagers into the greatest music phenomenon the world has ever known".

Kirchherr, who died at the age of 81 in 2020, has been credited with helping develop the band's aesthetic style and famous mop top hairstyle.

She was also engaged to Sutcliffe, who left the band to pursue his art career but died of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 21 in 1962.

Best has previously spoken of his shock when he was fired by Brian Epstein, who managed The Beatles from 1962 and replaced him with Ringo Starr.

The drama has been scripted by Wirral-born Jamie Carragher - one of the writers behind the HBO hit Succession. It will be directed by Christian Schwochow - who worked on The Crown - and Laura Lackmann.

The cast includes Rhys Mannion as John Lennon, Ellis Murphy as Paul McCartney, Harvey Brett as George Harrison, Louis Landau as Stuart Sutcliffe and Patrick Gilmore as Pete Best.

Luna Jordan will play Astrid Kirchherr, with Laura Tonke as her mother Nielsa and Casper von Bülow as Klaus Voormann.

The cast attended Saturday's launch of a Hamburg exhibition of the band's letters with Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram, who has been on a trade mission to the city.

Meanwhile a four-part movie series about the band is currently being filmed in Liverpool for release in 2028, made by Skyfall director Sam Mendes.

Merseyside has recently been hosting the most production shoots in the UK outside of London, including TV dramas This City is Ours, The Cage and Peaky Blinders.

Clarification 11 May: This article has been amended to make clear that Klaus Voormann designed the cover for Revolver and that Stuart Sutcliffe left the band in Hamburg to pursue his art career.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.