The Beatles Anthology is a documentary television series on the career of the Beatles. It was broadcast on UK television in six parts on ITV between 26 November and 31 December 1995, while in the United States it was seen as three feature-length episodes on ABC between 19 and 23 November 1995. It was released in greatly expanded form as an eight-volume VHS set and an eight-disc LaserDisc set on 5 September 1996. The series was re-released on DVD in 2003, with an 81-minute special-features disc.

Production history

The Long and Winding Road

An official documentary on the Beatles career had been in the pipeline as early as 1970. Long-time friend and Apple Corps manager Neil Aspinall had compiled footage of concert, interview, and television appearances from various sources around the world. From this archival footage, he assembled a 90-minute feature film which was tentatively titled The Long and Winding Road and was completed in 1971. At this point, none of the former members had any involvement with the project, and plans for its release lay dormant until 1980, when John Lennon made a statement as part of a legal deposition against the producers of the musical Beatlemania. "I and the other three former Beatles have plans to stage a reunion concert", he said, referring to an event that was to be filmed as a finale of The Long and Winding Road (which was now to be a television special). According to Yoko Ono, the concert would have been held in England: "Just days before his brutal death, John was making plans to go to England for a triumphant Beatles reunion. His greatest dream was to recreate the musical magic of the early years with Paul, George and Ringo … (he) felt that they had traveled different paths for long enough. He felt they had grown up and were mature enough to try writing and recording new songs." The alleged plan for a reunion was abandoned after Lennon was murdered on 8 December. Eric Idle was reportedly given a screening of the film in the late-1970s as research for his mockumentary All You Need Is Cash. In 2015, Aspinall's 1970 workprint for The Long and Winding Road would surface in a bootleg DVD that can now be viewed on the Internet Archive.

Project resurrected

In 1992, the project was resurrected as a six-part documentary series. This time, the surviving members were directly involved, giving interviews on film with Jools Holland. Lennon's interviews were sourced from archived footage. Also interviewed were insiders Neil Aspinall, the band's press agent Derek Taylor, and their long-time producer George Martin. The title of the documentary was now changed to The Beatles Anthology, as George Harrison was against naming the entire Beatles career after a Paul McCartney song. This new title was to be a working one but it eventually stayed, as it suited the parties concerned. A rough cut was completed in 1993 which was much more interview-based and focused on events, as opposed to the final cut, which included more concert and television performances. This early version of the series has since leaked and been released via bootleg. The documentary was broadcast on American television in three feature-length episodes comprising six abridged parts (two per episode) on Sunday 19 November, Wednesday 22 November, and Thursday 23 November 1995. It aired from 9 pm to 11 pm on ABC. The documentary was released on VHS and Laserdisc the following year. The Anthology was first shown on American television on ABC; the tagline for the network during the time was "A Beatles C".

Critical reception

The documentary was met with generally positive reviews. Richard Buskin, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beatles, commented that the retelling of the band's story was "extremely subjective" with the small lineup of only the four Beatles plus Martin, Aspinall and Taylor to voice their recollections. McCartney, Harrison and Starr "provided insights into their legend from the mature perspective of men in their fifties", according to Buskin, while "Lennon's [interviews] mostly originated from when he was in his twenties or thirties." When viewing the separate interviews, the three surviving Beatles did not always recall events the same way. Compromises had to be reached so that sensibilities were not offended, in particular with regard to events resulting in the 1970 breakup. Thus, Buskin stated, the result was not a definitive story of the Beatles' history, but rather a diplomatic celebration.

New music

The plans for a concert were abandoned and replaced with the intention that the surviving three members would play some incidental music in between segments and interviews. It was then considered that the remaining Beatles should write some new songs for the project. Both McCartney and Harrison wrote some material which became the song "All For Love", but it was then decided to ask Yoko Ono if Lennon had left any unfinished material that they could work with. Ono gave McCartney cassette tapes in 1994 after they appeared together on stage at Lennon's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The tapes contained four song demos that Lennon had been working on: "Free as a Bird", "Real Love", "Now and Then" and "Grow Old With Me". The last one was left unfinished by the group, but "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" were completed with producer Jeff Lynne in 1994–95 and premiered during the Anthology's initial broadcast. "Now and Then" was completed in 2023.

Production credits

Episodes (Expanded Versions)

All songs are written by Lennon–McCartney and performed by the Beatles, unless otherwise noted.

One (July '40 to March '63)

Two (March '63 to February '64)

Three (February '64 to July '64)

''"Miami! That was just like paradise because we'd never been anywhere with palm trees." – Paul McCartney''

Four (August '64 to August '65)

''"She (The Queen) seemed pleasant enough, you know; made us relax." – John Lennon''

Five (August '65 to July '66)

''"We were all expanding in all areas in our life; opening up to a lot of different attitudes." – Ringo Starr''

Six (July '66 to June '67)

''"I should have said television is more popular than Jesus; then I might have got away with it." – John Lennon''

Seven (June '67 to July '68)

"We got backstage to see Maharishi and I said to him: 'Got any mantras?'" – George Harrison

Eight (July '68 to The End)

''"I'm really glad that most of our songs were about love, peace and understanding." – Paul McCartney''

DVD Special Features

Certifications