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Urban Myths explores the "fracture" between Paul McCartney and John Lennon

Photo credit: Tony Briggs - Sky
Photo credit: Tony Briggs - Sky

From Digital Spy

In under 30 minutes, the latest entry in Sky Arts' Urban Myths series explores the writing of one of the greatest songs of all time and the beginning of the end for one of the greatest songwriting partnerships.

Written by Simon Nye (The Durrells, Men Behaving Badly), 'Scrambled Eggs' dramatises the story of how Paul McCartney allegedly dreamt up the melody to the Beatles hit 'Yesterday' and became convinced that he'd stolen it from somewhere else.

The episode takes its title from the temporary lyrics that McCartney gave to 'Yesterday' to help him remember the tune: "Scrambled eggs/Oh my baby how I love your legs/Not as much as I love scrambled eggs."

Photo credit: Tony Briggs - Sky
Photo credit: Tony Briggs - Sky

"It features John and Paul at a pivotal time in their career," Nye tells Digital Spy. "It's a small moment, but at its heart, it's a big story about the start of the fracture between Paul and John and about creativity. So although it's a little moment, it's also got some big themes."

Though still credited to "Lennon-McCartney", 'Yesterday' ended up being the first major Beatles hit that Paul wrote on his own, a moment that Urban Myths portrays as laying the groundwork for the band's eventual split.

Photo credit: Mark and Colleen Hayward/Getty Images
Photo credit: Mark and Colleen Hayward/Getty Images

"Perhaps it's a surprise that they stayed together and wrote together for so long, because they're very different personalities," Nye says. "Now, obviously, there's a lot of love from Paul for John, and of course there would be, but for at least 10 years or more, they hated each other... and this was the beginning."

Each episode of Urban Myths explores a story surrounding popular culture which may or may not be true. In this case, Nye says that 'Scrambled Eggs' is based on what McCartney insists happened, but it's unclear to what extent the legendary musician (played here by Tom Connor) may have embellished the facts.

"Basically it happened, but being one of the Beatles' biggest songs, it wouldn't be surprising if Paul had expanded on the truth over the years, or told different versions of it," he suggests.

Photo credit: Tony Briggs - Sky
Photo credit: Tony Briggs - Sky

'Scrambled Eggs' is Nye's second episode of Urban Myths after he wrote 'The Sex Pistols vs Bill Grundy' for last year's second series. He's also pitched another story for a potential fourth series, describing the writing of each episode as a "palate cleanser" having just wrapped up ITV's popular drama The Durrells.

"It's a great little strand," he says. "I loved doing The Durrells but this is a nice thing to do once in a while. Particularly in the case of the Sex Pistols one I did last year, where I had the chance to swear outrageously, which is not something I could ever do on The Durrells!"

Urban Myths: Scrambled Eggs airs tonight at 9pm on Sky Arts.


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