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It was on December 8, 1980, that five gunshots rang out in the New York night, signalling the end of an era.

The victim was John Lennon, the former Beatle who had adopted the city as his home and was enjoying a musical comeback after five years out of the limelight.

Now to mark the the 30th anniversary of his death, a remarkable new film reveals what happened in his final hours, including interviews with the medical staff who tried desperately to save his life after he was shot by crazed fan Mark Chapman.

Here is how that tragic day unfolded... LEAVING their home at the Dakota building, on Manhattan's Upper West Side, John breakfasts on eggs Benedict at the nearby Cafe La Fortuna with his wife, Yoko Ono..

Arriving back at the Dakota, John and Yoko greet Rolling Stone photographer Annie Liebovitz who snaps Lennon naked and clinging to his clothed wife, an image that adorns the mag front cover six weeks later.

Fan Paul Goresh arrives at the Dakota where he meets Mark Chapman, a 25-year-old college drop-out who flew in two days earlier. Goresh says: "The only other person there was a guy with a long overcoat with a fur collar and a fur hat.

"He was holding Double Fantasy [Lennon's latest album] and he says to me, 'Are you waiting for Lennon?' And I said, 'Yeah'. He said, 'My name's Mark, I'm from Hawaii'. I said 'I'm Paul'. He said, 'I came all the way from Hawaii to get my album signed'."

Journalist Dave Sholin arrives at the Dakota to interview John. He says: "We were ushered into this incredible space. We sat down on a couch and Yoko was there and I looked up at the ceiling - these beautiful clouds that were painted on."

As the interview ends, John remarks: "I consider that my work won't be finished until I'm dead and buried and I hope that's a long, long time."

Goresh and Chapman are still waiting outside when Sholin and his team emerge to take a limo to the airport. Then John appears, looking for the car that will take him and Yoko to the Record Plant recording studio. He strikes up a conversation with Goresh, who says: "As he was talking to me the guy with the overcoat approached him from the left.

"He didn't say a word, he just held the album out in front of John who turned to him and said, 'Do you want it signed?' And the guy nodded. He didn't say a word.

"I snapped a couple of pictures. He nodded and he took the album and just backed away." With his car still nowhere in sight, John and Yoko ask Sholin for a lift.

Cutting through the traffic John discusses his relationship with Paul McCartney. Sholin says: "He says, 'Well he's like a brother. I love him. Families... we certainly have our ups and downs and our quarrels. But at the end of the day when it's all said and done I would do anything for him, I think he would do anything for me'."

At the Record Plant, John and Yoko work on her new song, Walking On Thin Ice. As the session ends, they're walked to the lift by producer Jack Douglas who arranges to meet him at 9am the next day.

John and Yoko are driven by limousine to 72nd Street. Yoko says: "I said, 'Shall we go to a restaurant before we go home?' He said, 'No I want to see Sean [their five-year-old son] before he goes to sleep'. I said, 'He's probably asleep by now'.

"And the car stopped, we got out and it was... really terrible."

The limo stops outside the Dakota's gateway and Yoko climbs out, followed by John.

Chapman drops into a combat stance and pulls out the gun. The first three shots hit Lennon in the back, spinning him around, while another hits him in the shoulder. A fifth misses. As Chapman looks on in silence, John staggers up the five steps into the building's office, mumbling "I'm shot" before falling face-down.

Chapman removes his coat and flicks through his worn copy of JD Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye.

Patrolman Steve Spiro arrives. He says: "There was a man pointing into the vestibule and he said, 'That's the man doing the shooting.' "I peeked in and saw a man with his hands up. So I threw this guy up against the wall and at that point Jose [Perdomo, the Dakota's doorman] says to me, 'He shot John Lennon'."

Officers Bill Gamble and James Moran put Lennon in the back of their car and speed to the Roosevelt Hospital. Yoko follows in a police car. In the emergency room Doctor Stephan Lynn and his team are on stand-by. He says: "Through the doors two police officers came in carrying a body over their shoulders. It was lifeless."

Lynn says: "We positioned the body on a stretcher in front of us. It was clear that there were three gunshot wounds in the left upper chest and one to the left arm.

"As part of our normal routine we took his identification out of his clothing and it said John Lennon but the nurses said, 'This doesn't look like John Lennon, it can't be.' "What we found was that all of the blood vessels that left the heart, the aorta and all of its branches had been destroyed.

"We tried to find a place where we could stop the bleeding.

"I literally held John Lennon's heart in my hand and massaged it to try to get it going again. We transfused blood but it was clear that with all off the vessels destroyed there would be nothing we could do."

John is pronounced dead, having lost more than 80% of his blood. Lynn says: "I think everyone of us in the room suddenly realised what we were dealing with. A lot of people began to cry.

"We reminded the staff not to say anything to anybody until an appropriate press announcement had been made. We told the staff they couldn't sell their uniforms that might be bloodstained."

Lynn breaks the news to Yoko: "Her first response was, 'It's not true, you're lying, it can't be, I don't believe you'. She was laying on the floor, she was hitting her head against the floor. She was incredibly emotional. It was when a nurse brought in John Lennon's wedding ring and gave it to her that she accepted her husband was dead.

"And I was touched by the first thing she said, 'My son Sean is still awake. He's probably sitting in front of the TV set. Please delay making the announcement so I can get home and make certain I tell him what happened before he sees it on TV'."

The Day John Lennon Died will be shown on ITV1 on Monday, December 6 at 10.35pm.