Coldplay made a surprise visit to Abbey Road Studios, as Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker recorded a cover version of their song Yellow.
The chart-topping British band’s guitarist Jonny Buckland and drummer Will Champion played on Whittaker’s version of the emotive love song, which will feature on BBC Children in Need’s upcoming charity album.
Celebrities including Helena Bonham Carter, David Tennant, Luke Evans, Suranne Jones, Adrian Lester, Himesh Patel and Shaun Dooley will appear on Got It Covered to raise money for disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.
The stars received guidance from record producers and songwriters Guy Chambers and Jonathan Quarmby, while vocal coach Mark De-Lisser helped them produce their tracks.
Chambers said: “I think the biggest highlight so far was when Jodie sang her Coldplay song, Yellow.
“We were just rehearsing it on a piano in my studio and two members of Coldplay walked in behind her as she was singing it, Jonny and Will.
“To see her face then and then when we actually recorded it with Jonny and Will. It sounded just like Coldplay.
“I was the bass player that day and that was a real joy to see her face – she was singing in Coldplay for an afternoon. I would say that was the biggest highlight so far.”
Coldplay were not the only stars to make an appearance during the recording process.
Taylor Swift paid a surprise visit to actor Shaun Dooley as he recorded his own version of her track, Never Grow Up.
Whittaker jokingly admitted to having “stalked” Coldplay, who formed at University College London in 1996, since she was a teenager.
She said: “So I chose this song which is Yellow by Coldplay because I have stalked Coldplay since they first appeared on any stage.
“I went to my first Coldplay gig in New Zealand when I was 18 and they were on in the afternoon and it was like 4 o’clock in the afternoon at a festival so Parachutes had only just come out.
“There was about 100 people watching and waiting for the headliners and I was crying and singing along to every single track.
“So I think I have sufficiently stalked them enough to steal their song, ruin it.
“I love them and they have soundtracked my entire adult life and I think it is the most beautiful song that has stood the test of time.
“Because now, I’m really showing my age, it’s almost 20 years old this song.”