Goon Pod
Goon Pod
Goon Pod
Samira Ahmed on A Hard Day's Night
1 hour 13 minutes Posted Jul 8, 2026 at 5:45 am.
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Show notes

Writer and broadcaster Samira Ahmed joins Tyler this week to talk about her new book on A Hard Day’s Night and its roots in the world of the Goons, from the Fred shows to The Running, Jumping & Standing Still Film.


Also:

  • Richard Lester’s creative vision and Alun Owen’s pitch-perfect script
  • Why Beatlemania was distinctly black and white and how the film mirrors this
  • Wilfrid Brambell – and why the film wouldn't be the same without him.
  • Ringo and David Janson
  • Favourite scenes: from the ad agency to John & Millie
  • Deleted scenes
  • The women of A Hard Day's Night and why the film avoided stereotypes that would later creep into Help!
  • Recasting ideas
  • Ringo’s odd line delivery
  • The disposable TV culture at the time
  • Those intriguing unmade Beatles films
  • And… was Paul Rodney Bewes to John’s Tom Courtenay?

 

A celebration of a film that's every bit as fresh, funny and ground-breaking today as it was in 1964.


Samira’s podcast Through the Square Window can be found HERE: https://squarewindow.co.uk/