The BBC has confirmed a new ’60s-set drama about the early days of The Beatles. Hamburg Days will chart the Fab Four’s time in the German city, where they honed their craft before hitting the big time.
The six-part series comes from Generation War’s Benjamin Benedict, Succession’s Jamie Carragher and The Crown’s Christian Schwochow, who serve as developer, head writer and showrunner, respectively, while Oasis: Supersonic’s Mat Whitecross directs.
Set in “the smoke-filled clubs of Hamburg’s St. Pauli’s red-light district”, the show sees “an inexperienced young rock ‘n’ roll band from Liverpool collide with two young artists, Klaus Voormann and Astrid Kirchherr”.
“Together they help spark a transformation that turns a scrappy group of teenagers into the greatest music phenomenon the world has ever known: The Beatles,” the synopsis adds.
Sue Deeks, the BBC’s head of scripted pre-buy acquisitions, called Hamburg Days the “fascinating story” showing how, over two years, “a raw young band from Liverpool honed their music skills in Hamburg, before returning home to become an overnight worldwide success”.
Getty Images
Related: Best streaming services
“It is an incredible story, accompanied (of course) by an amazing soundtrack!” she added.
Hamburg Days is based on artist and musician Voormann’s autobiography of the same name. Voormann is also a consultant on the show.
This isn’t the only Beatles-related project on the horizon, with four separate movies set to be released in 2028 on each of the band’s members.
Getty Images
The Sam Mendes films will feature Babygirl’s Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Hamnet’s Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
Also on board are The Dumping Ground’s Mia McKenna-Bruce as Maureen Starkey, Lady Bird’s Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, Shōgun’s Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono and The White Lotus’ Aimee Lou Wood as Pattie Boyd.
Hamburg Days will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
The new edition of Living Legends, celebrating music icon Dolly Parton, is here! Buy Dolly at 80 in newsagents or online, priced at just £8.99.
Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.