When open auditions were held in Liverpool to find a “young John Lennon” for a new TV film about the famous Beatle – the Liverpool Echo couldn’t resist sending someone along.

The lucky candidate was bespectacled reporter John Campbell, who produced a full page feature about the experience.

He told readers that he was among the first group of 20 wannabes ushered through to be photographed before filling in casting forms.

His first problem, he wrote, came with the question: “What instruments do you play?”

“The pen hovered for a moment as I recalled my schoolboy prowess on the recorder but as the Beatles were not renowned for their use of wind instruments, even at their most psychedelic, I decided not to include that particular talent”, he said.

Under previous acting experience he had to fall back on the school drama workshop where he read a play with former Z Cars star James Ellis.

After a brief interview with a London casting agent, “who ran a quizzical eye over my less than sparkling CV”, he was handed a guitar.

He played his “very best” G chord, and launched into I Saw Her Standing There.

The verdict, he told Echo readers, was that a weak singing voice and limited musical skills was not what the film makers were looking for.

“Personally, I’m convinced it had more to do with the fact I will not be fully available for shooting in September,” wrote John.

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