Beatlemania is back at the BBC.
The broadcaster has acquired “Hamburg Days,” an upcoming six-part drama series about the Beatles‘ early career in the ’60s, from Turbine Studios for BBC One and iPlayer. “Hamburg Days” — developed by “Generation War” producer Benjamin Benedict with “Succession” alum Jamie Carragher as head writer — is based on the autobiography by artist and Beatles session musician Klaus Voormann, who also consulted on the series.
“In the smoke-filled clubs of Hamburg’s St. Pauli’s red-light district, an inexperienced young rock ‘n’ roll band from Liverpool collide with two young artists, Klaus Voormann and Astrid Kirchherr,” the show’s synopsis reads. “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.”
Casting of the fab four in “Hamburg Days” has not yet been revealed. German director Christian Schwochow (“The Crown”) will serve as showrunner, while Mat Whitecross (“Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams,” “Oasis: Supersonic”) is set to direct. The music in “Hamburg Days” will be curated by BAFTA-winning musician and composer David Holmes.
“’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,” said Sue Deeks, head of scripted pre-buy acquisitions at the BBC. “It is an incredible story, accompanied (of course) by an amazing soundtrack!”
The news of “Hamburg Days” comes as Sony is in production on Sam Mendes’ four-film Beatles cinematic event, with each movie — focused on a different Beatles member — to release in 2028. Harris Dickinson is starring as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.
“Hamburg Days” is produced by W&B Television (a Leonine Company) and Turbine Studios for ZDF, the BBC and AGC Television. Executive producers include Benedict, Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann of W&B Television, Andrew Eaton and Justin Thomson of Turbine Studios and AGC’s Stuart Ford, Lourdes Diaz and Miguel A. Palos Jr. Isabel Haug of W&B Television serves as a creative producer. The project is overseen at ZDF by Frank Zervos, Caroline von Senden and Alexandra Staib and the series is supported by MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein.
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AGC International will handle worldwide sales excluding the U.K. (BBC) and Germany (ZDF).
From Variety US