Cast announced for BBC Beatles series, 'Hamburg Days'

Casting has been announced for a new BBC series that will focus on The Beatles' early days as a band.

The six-part series, Hamburg Days, is based on the autobiography by German artist and musician Klaus Voormann, and is set in the '60s when Voormann and photographer Astrid Kirchherr meet a young Liverpool rock band, who are playing in the clubs of Hamburg’s St. Pauli’s red-light district.

The film is set to star Irish actor Rhys Mannion, best known for the Irish thriller It Is In Us All, as John Lennon; Ellis Murphy as Paul McCartney; Harvey Brett as George Harrison; and Rivals’ Louis Landau as Stu Sutcliffe, with Patrick Gilmore playing Pete Best.

Also starring in the film are Luna Jordan as Kirchherr and Casper von Bülow as Voormann.

“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,” Sue Deeks, head of scripted pre-buy acquisitions at the BBC, said when the project was first announced in December. “It is an incredible story, accompanied (of course) by an amazing soundtrack!”

Filming on the series has begun in Hamburg, Munich and Liverpool.

This isn’t the only Beatles story in the works. Sam Mendes is directing The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event, which consist of four films, each told from the perspective of one of the band members. Due to hit theaters in April 2028, the film stars Paul Mescal as McCartney, Harris Dickinson as Lennon, Joseph Quinn as Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.

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