The Day John Lennon Died

On December 8 2010, it was the 30 year anniversary of John Lennon’s deat­h.It’s a day people remember all their lives, a watershed moment in our recent history, like the death of Kennedy or Diana. And it was also the real end of the Beatles, when the world finally had to accept that the band which revolutionised pop music and defined an era would never get back together.On this very significant anniversary, THE DAY JOHN LENNON DIED looks at the effect his tragic death had on the world and at the continuing influence of one of the major musicians and creative forces of the 20th Century. Using radio, TV and news reports and the personal memories of people whose lives John touched, the story of John’s final day will be intercut with interviews with many of those who knew him and were close to him as well as with big names of then and now about their memories of that day – where they were, how they got the news, how it unfolded and what it meant to them then and continues to mean today.Interviewees will be drawn from people who are part of the Beatles’ story and John’s surviving family and friends, as well as major figures of today from film, music, the arts and media. Chief among these is John’s widow, Yoko Ono, who asked that the programme should use as much of John’s music in the film as possible.Other interviewees include Sir David Frost, Cilla Black, Dick Cavett, Gerry Marsden and Liam Gallagher, who talk about John’s influence on them and on the world. The film has been shot in London, Liverpool, Berlin and New York by one of British TV’s most distinguished directors. Michael Waldman has won a Bafta and many other awards