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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Gregor Young

Paul McCartney 'nearly run over' outside Abbey Road during documentary filming

PAUL McCartney was almost "run over" on the zebra crossing outside Abbey Road Studios while his daughter Mary filmed for her new documentary celebrating 90 years of the world famous building, she has revealed.

The 80-year-old Beatles star was attempting to recreate the1969 Abbey Road album cover for his daughter’s first feature-length documentary, titled If These Walls Could Sing on Disney+.

Photographer and filmmaker Mary McCartney told S Magazine: “The bit where the car nearly ran him over on the zebra crossing, that was so funny.

“As we were leaving (the studio), I said, ‘I’ll film you (on the crossing),’ and he went over and this car totally didn’t stop for him!”

The 53-year-old said she was “really nervous” to show her father the finished film given the Beatles had recorded most of their music at Abbey Road and had named their 11th studio album after the venue.

She said: “I took him to a cinema to watch it and kept thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, I hope he likes it.’

“The next day, I was at an event and somebody said, ‘I saw your dad and he was talking about the documentary for ages.’

“It’s somewhere he’s really passionate about so when he heard I was doing the documentary, he was really pleased and it made him think about Abbey Road again and a lot of the stories.”

The film includes special appearances from McCartney and his fellow Beatle Ringo Starr, as well as Elton John, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and Liam Gallagher.

She added: “I was wondering if it was almost a bit too close to home. But I’m a huge documentary watcher. I love them and I think the ones that are successful are the ones where it’s something close to the director’s heart.

“So this definitely fits the bill. I definitely want to direct more. I don’t know what that will be, but it will need to be something I’m passionate about, like I am about Abbey Road.”

Abbey Road Studios in London has been a recording studio since Sir Edward Elgar conducted a performance there in 1931, and has welcomed the likes of Radiohead, Amy Winehouse and Adele.

The building, followed by the zebra crossing outside, was given Grade II-listed status in 2010.

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