“I’ve got a bunch of new songs.

And I thought people might like to hear them.”

“Oh.”

So where we are in this scene is

that Jack has recovered from the accident, which happened

during the blackout, where the Beatles were erased

from the world’s consciousness.

And he’s discovered the opportunity,

which is to revitalize his own fairly unsuccessful

singer-songwriting career by actually playing the Beatles

songs that he can remember.

“Right.

This is called “Let It Be.’”

So Himesh Patel plays Jack Malik.

That’s his mom, Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar, who are,

in fact, a real life couple.

But actually, they are also two of the finest

comic actors in Britain, as well,

independently of each other.

And he starts to sing by saying to his parents

that he’s got a couple of new songs he wants to try out,

and he’s going to go back to performing,

even though they thought he was giving up.

They wanted him to give up, because they think

it’s a bit of a dead end.

[music - “let it be’]

“(SINGING) comes to me — “

[doorbell ringing]

“ — speaking — “

“Oh, oh.

Sorry, love.”

They’re inclined to think this is Jack just indulging

the dead end of his career.

So they don’t sense that they are actually

the first people on Earth to apparently hear

one of the greatest masterpieces of pop

music ever written.

“Really?

I thought — I thought he’d given up?”

“Yeah.

No.

Well, he’s got some new songs.

And what’s this one called?”

“’Leave It Be.’”

“’Let It Be.’”

“Oh, excellent, well — “

The misnaming of the song was something

that Meera Syal came up with on the day.

[music - “let it be’]

“(SINGING) When I find myself in times of trouble — “

“Would you like a drink, Terry?”

“(SPEAKING) Dad!”

“Well, I’d already heard that bit.”

“Sorry, Jack.”

Everything that can interrupt the song

is essential to the comedy of the scene, really.

Because as Jack fights for the great masterpiece

of cultural achievement to be heard,

it’s not even allowed any room.

Because everybody’s too busy with their phones,

with their beer.

And Karl Theobald, who plays Terry,

does a wonderful tapping of the sofa arm,

out of time to the song, which is the ultimate insult.

[cellphone ringing]

“Sorry, my fault. Oh.”

So the key thing was to try and find the living room that

looked incredibly ordinary.

We wanted it to feel very, very ordinary.

And I remember on the day turning up

that we kept the property looking almost the same as it

was when we found it.

Because it looked perfect.

But they didn’t have a piano.

So then they brought along on the day, a choice of pianos.

And we — this piano that he plays on

is not the best tuned piano.

But I wanted it to look like it was the piano that he

grew up learning on.

The ordinary is very important in the film.

Because where the guys came from,

the Fab Four, the original Beatles,

was from a very ordinary town, in a way.

[music - “let it be’]

“Then maybe we can have summer songs!”

[dissonant banging on piano]

“Christ!

This is “Let It Be!”

You’re the first people on Earth to hear this song!”

So many of us have tried to persuade

our parents to listen to a song, you know,

because we love it.

And they can’t hear it.

We all know that scenario, don’t we?

One of the reasons we picked the location

is that it’s got this round glass, which

gives a distorted view of people arriving.

They’re kind of, like, out of focus.

They’re grotesque, really.

Which is what they feel like to him.

“How are you?”

“Fine.”

“Well, that went well.”