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The Beatles at the Star-Club in Hamburg in May 1962 Horst Fascher\/K & K Ulf Kruger OHG\/Redferns<\/p>\nIt has been billed as a \u201cDavid v Goliath\u201d battle of the Beatles by producers.<\/p>\n
In one corner is Sam Mendes\u2019s quartet of biopics starring Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan, with permission from Apple Corps to include tracks such as Hey Jude, Let It Be and Yesterday.<\/p>\n
In the other is a cast of unknown 19 to 21-year-olds with barely a Wikipedia credit between them, relying on cover versions of tracks from artists including Consuelo Vel\u00e1zquez, Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow.<\/p>\n
However, those behind Hamburg Days, a six-part German drama, which will air on the BBC next year, believe that their origin story will provide fans with valuable insight into the band\u2019s under-explored formative years.<\/p>\n
Hamburg Days is set in the early Sixties in the city\u2019s red-light district, where the inexperienced group from Liverpool, which included drummer Pete Best and bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, cut their teeth by playing six-hour residencies.<\/p>\n
The Beatles at the Star-Club in Hamburg in May 1962 Horst Fascher\/K & K Ulf Kruger OHG\/Redferns<\/p>\n
It is based on the autobiography of Klaus Voormann, the German artist who influenced their distinctive look and designed the artwork for their 1966 album Revolver.<\/p>\n
Andrew Eaton, a producer on the show, said Hamburg Days would be a significant improvement on Backbeat, the 1994 film that covered similar territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cJohn Lennon once said: \u2018I was born in Liverpool but I grew up in Hamburg,\u2019\u201d Eaton said. \u201cSo we were interested in telling the story as if it was a band that no one had ever heard of who were desperately trying to be successful when they were literally just kids. Their Hamburg days have hardly been celebrated at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Pete Best, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison in Hamburg, May 1962Horst Fascher\/K & K Ulf Kruger OHG\/Redferns<\/p>\n
The British 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.<\/p>\n
Producers were effectively limited to unknown actors through their desire to recruit those under the age of 24. However, their ambition to prioritise musicians proved only partially successful.<\/p>\n
\u201cEllis, who plays Paul, is a really talented musician, but he\u2019s right-handed so he has had to learn to play left-handed,\u201d Eaton said. \u201cLouis has never played bass guitar<\/a> in his life and is left-handed and is having to play right-handed.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite wanting their performances to look authentic to viewers, the actors will not be playing the Beatles\u2019 renditions of Chuck Berry\u2019s Twist and Shout, Consuelo Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s B\u00e9same Mucho and Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow\u2019s A Taste of Honey themselves. Instead, 21 tracks have been recorded in the basement of the Casbah Coffee Club by the Liverpool band the Savage Young Beatles.<\/p>\n
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In Sam Mendes\u2019s quartet of biopics Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon, Paul Mescal plays Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan plays Ringo Starr, and Joseph Quinn plays George HarrisonJohn Russo<\/p>\n