Paul McCartney 'jumped at the chance' to star in famous Liverpool sitcom
Paul McCartney has returned to his home city through the years for numerous appearances and projects - but on one particularly visit to Liverpool, he had to keep a "closely guarded secret." In more recent years, the former Beatle has been spotted back in his hometown for a graduation ceremony at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), to perform at the Philharmonic pub and more.
But back in the 1980s, many will remember when Sir Paul made a rare television appearance on BBC sitcom Bread, alongside his late wife, Linda. Loved by millions since it first aired in 1986, Bread was a massive hit, reaching 21 million viewers at its peak.
Written by Carla Lane, the series followed the lives of the the close knit families from Dingle and filmed on the steep Victorian terraced Bread streets, which went on to become some of the most well known streets in Liverpool. Among them was Elswick Street, which the ECHO recently visited - and residents living on the street told us how the sitcom life isn’t too far from the truth.
Now nearly 40 years on from when Bread first aired, we've delved into the archives to uncover a number of behind the scenes photos from the set of the hit BBC series. Courtesy of our archive, Mirrorpix, we also found a number of photos, unseen for years, of Paul and Linda on set 36-years-ago.
At the time, the ECHO reported how the famous couple spent two days filming in the city on a "top secret" visit, to appear in an extra-special episode of the Scouse sitcom. The BBC was believed to have launched a £1,500 security operation to keep the McCartney's away from curious star-spotters and the scenes filmed followed Linda setting up an animal rescue centre in Liverpool and meeting the Boswell family.
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk/Jess Molyneux
