Bravo developing limited TV series based upon The Fifth Beatle graphic novel

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

There are several people who have had a strong association with The Beatles over the years to lay claim to being the Fifth Beatle, but on several occasions, Paul McCartney has said that, "If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian [Epstein]." After seeing the group play at The Cavern Club in 1961, Epstein said that he was "immediately struck by their music, their beat and their sense of humour on stage — and, even afterwards, when I met them, I was struck again by their personal charm. And it was there that, really, it all started." What started was that Brian Epstein became The Beatles' manager, influenced their look, and put them on the road to international stardom.

Written by Vivek Tiwary and illustrated by Andrew Robinson and Kyle Baker, "The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story" is being developed by Bravo Media as a limited TV series. The graphic novel explores "the true story of Epstein, a brilliant yet often tormented dreamer who discovered the band in the Cavern Club in Liverpool, then nurtured, protected and guided them to unprecedented worldwide success. As a gay Jewish man living in 1960s England where homosexuality was a felony, Epstein was a double outsider who struggled to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. He was instrumental in the Fab Four’s rise to fame and saw their potential when no one else did. Yet behind the music, Epstein suffered from loneliness and his crushing desires to be one of the boys and belong. Epstein grew to become not only the engineer of Beatlemania, but also a key architect of the cultural revolution of the sixties with his ambition to change the world and spread the Beatles’ messages of love and peace." Tiwary will script the series, which has also acquired the Lennon-McCartney song catalog.