British actor Tom Hughes cast as John Lennon in BBC radio drama

He'll star as the iconic singer-songwriter in Radio 2's 'When Elvis Met The Beatles'

British actor Tom Hughes is to play John Lennon in a forthcoming radio drama.

Hughes, known for his roles in BBC One’s Silk and the Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant film Cemetery Junction, will portray the iconic singer-songwriter in BBC Radio 2’s When Elvis Met The Beatles.

The drama’s writer, Jeff Young, describes it as “a kind of fake documentary” that imagines what happened when the Fab Four met the American singer at his L.A. mansion in August 1965. Kevin Mains, who played Lennon’s songwriting partner Paul McCartney in recent ITV drama Cilla, will co-star as Presley.

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Hughes said of his role as Lennon: “It’s said that you shouldn’t meet your heroes, I’m not sure that’s true. John Lennon is a hero of mine. I’ll never have the chance to meet him, so playing him is the next best thing. I was delighted to be asked and I just hope that in some way I’ve done this great man justice.”

NMEPress

Meanwhile, three other actors who appeared in ITV’s Cilla will co-star as Lennon’s Beatles bandmates, the Radio Times reports. Shaun Mason will play McCartney, Tom Dunlea will appear as Ringo Starr and Michael Hawkins will portray George Harrison. Dunlea and Hawkins played the same roles in Cilla.

Writer Jeff Young said of the forthcoming radio drama: “I was a big Beatles fan when I was younger, but for this project, initially, I knew very little about the Elvis and Beatles meeting. Then as I began researching the story, the strangeness of the meeting and the psychological dimensions, the dramatic opportunities became obvious. The larger than life characters involved, including Brian Epstein and Colonel Tom Parker, all set against a backdrop of corrupt American politics and the disastrous war in Vietnam, made for a strange and compelling narrative.”

“In writing this drama I went back my old Beatles records and I became a Beatles fan, all over again,” he added.

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