This 2005 BBC Four documentary, narrated by Paul Morley and featuring contributions from Astrid Kirchherr, Pauline Sutcliffe, Tony Sheridan, Rod Murray and Horst Fascher, looks at the life of fifth Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe before his tragic death at 21. It makes the case that he would’ve been a significant artist in his own right, but spends a lot of its time looking at his work with the Beatles, so we discuss how well it manages to fulfil its brief.
It’s also not the only BBC documentary of this period to be a bit coy about the idea of John Lennon having had a sexual relationship with a man. (See also The Brian Epstein Story.)
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The Brian Epstein Story
We review the BBC Arena film and discuss how the 90s was a golden age for Beatle insiders appearing in documentaries - and framing the story around themselves.
Listen on SpotifyWe ask how helpful this approach is and examine the techniques the film uses to further the suggestion.
- Narrator Paul Morley is a regular figure on BBC pop music documentaries. He’s on record as not being a Beatles fan, and fair enough, but perhaps if you’re writing articles for the Guardian – albeit interesting and well-argued ones – about how the world wouldn’t be any different without them, you’re not the best candidate to voiceover documentaries about them