The Beatles Anthology (TV series)


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. 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 … 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.

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 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 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 end 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 put forward that the 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 suggested 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 two were 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.

Production credits

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

One (July '40 to March '63)

  1. Liverpool: The Childhood Years
  2. *"In My Life" – Edited clip of Beatles footage throughout the years.
  3. Discovering Rock & Roll
  4. John, Paul & George – The Beginning of The Beatles
  5. First Recordings 1958–1960
  6. Stuart Sutcliffe
  7. Early Tours
  8. Pete Best
  9. Hamburg
  10. *"Roll Over Beethoven"
  11. Growing Pains
  12. Stuart Sutcliffe Leaves
  13. *Excerpts of the following songs:
  14. **"I'm Down"
  15. **"F.B.I." — Performed by The Shadows
  16. The Cavern
  17. *Excerpts of the following songs:
  18. **"Long Tall Sally"
  19. **"Kansas City"
  20. Decca Sessions
  21. *Audition tapes recorded at the Decca Studios, London on 1 January 1962.
  22. **"Three Cool Cats" — Harrison on lead vocal and Best on drums.
  23. **"The Sheik of Araby" — Harrison on lead vocal and Best on drums.
  24. *Audition tape recorded at Decca Studios, London on 1 January 1962, sequel to Get Back Sessions Footage.
  25. **"Bésame Mucho" — Paul McCartney on lead vocal and Pete Best on drums.
  26. "George Martin"
  27. *The Beatles and George Martin discuss the context of their first meeting and recording contract.
  28. Ringo Arrives
  29. *"Some Other Guy" — video of the whole song played by the Beatles in the Cavern.
  30. "Love Me Do"
  31. *Overdubbed footage of the Beatles performing "Love Me Do" in 1963, which merges at the very end into brief footage of Ringo playing drums in 1995 during the Anthology sessions.
  32. "Please Please Me" – "We're No. 1"
  33. *"How Do You Do It?"
  34. **Audio of performance by Mitch Murray.
  35. **Video of performance by Gerry & the Pacemakers.
  36. **Audio of performance by the Beatles recorded at Abbey Road Studios on 4 September 1962.
  37. *"Please Please Me" – performed live in 1964 on The Ed Sullivan Show
  38. *"Leave My Kitten Alone" — Demo recording done on 14 August 1964 at Abbey Road Studios and played over the credits.

    Two (March '63 to February '64)

  39. Racing Up the Ladder
  40. *"Help!" – Title song played at the beginning of each episode.
  41. *"I'll Be on My Way" – Radio out-take.
  42. *"Lonesome Tears in My Eyes" – Radio out-take.
  43. *"That's All Right" – Radio out-take.
  44. *"So How Come" – Radio out-take.
  45. *"Odeon Saturday Morning song" – Performed by John Lennon.
  46. *"Look Who It Is" – Performed by Helen Shapiro.
  47. *"Thank You Girl"
  48. *Sound collage of Please Please Me album: "I Saw Her Standing There" – "Misery" – "Anna " – "Chains" – "Boys" – "Ask Me Why" – "Please Please Me" – "Love Me Do" – "P.S. I Love You" – "Baby It's You" – "Do You Want to Know a Secret" – "A Taste of Honey" – "There's a Place"
  49. *"Twist and Shout"
  50. Touring Britain – 1963
  51. *"Oh, Pretty Woman" – Performed by Roy Orbison.
  52. *"From Me to You"
  53. *"There's a Place"
  54. *"It Won't Be Long"
  55. *"She Loves You"
  56. London – 1963
  57. *"I Wanna Be Your Man"
  58. *"I Wanna Be Your Man"
  59. Early Television Appearances
  60. *Excerpts from the Big Night Out TV Show.
  61. *Footage of live performance on Morecambe and Wise, recorded at ATV's Elstree TV studio's on Monday 2 December 1963, and broadcast on Saturday 18 April 1964.
  62. **"On Moonlight Bay "
  63. **"I Like It" – Performed by Eric Morecambe.
  64. Voice clips from Abbey Road Studios
  65. * Sound collage of studio outtakes: "One After 909" – "I Saw Her Standing There" – "This Boy" – "I Should Have Known Better" – "Tell Me Why" – "I Want to Hold Your Hand" – "I'll Be Back" – "Mr. Moonlight" – "No Reply" – "What You're Doing"
  66. Reflections on Sudden Fame
  67. *"This Boy"
  68. Beatlemania
  69. *Footage of a live performance on the Drop In TV show, Sweden, 3 November 1963.
  70. **"I Saw Her Standing There"
  71. **"Long Tall Sally"
  72. Royal Variety Performance
  73. *Excerpts from the Royal Command Performance at the Prince of Wales Theatre on 4 November 1963, broadcast on TV and radio on Sunday 10 November 1963.
  74. *Includes John's "jewelry" comment as an introduction to "Twist and Shout": "For our last number, I'd like to ask your help. Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands, and the rest of you, if you'd just rattle your jewelry."
  75. **"From Me to You"
  76. **"Till There Was You"
  77. **"Twist and Shout"
  78. Second album: With the Beatles
  79. *"All My Loving" – Played in the background of John saying: "We wanted to give people their money's worth with our records. Our policy was to put 14 tracks a side – it was brand new and never put singles on the albums. Everybody else who had a hit single made an album around it."
  80. *"Please Mr. Postman"
  81. *"Roll Over Beethoven" – Footage from Around The Beatles ITV special, 28 April 1964.
  82. *"I Want to Hold Your Hand"
  83. Olympia Theatre, Paris – 1964
  84. *Footage of the Beatles arriving at Le Bourget Airport, Paris, on 14 January 1964.
  85. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" Reaches No. 1 in The U.S.
  86. *"I Want to Hold Your Hand" – Played in the background of footage of the Beatles at London Heathrow Airport, leaving for the US on 7 February 1964.
  87. *"One After 909" – Played over the credits.

    Three (February '64 to July '64)

"Miami! That was just like paradise because we'd never been anywhere with palm trees." – Paul McCartney
  1. Arrival In The U.S. – February 1964
  2. * Help! – Title song played at the beginning of each episode.
  3. *Footage of the Beatles arriving at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, 7 February 1964. Voice of Beatles Manager Brian Epstein can be heard saying – "If there was a turning point in their career, a specific date on which the scope of their future was to be altered, then it was the day they touched down at Kennedy International New York to a welcome seldom equalled anywhere in history."
  4. * Pride and Joy – Performed by Marvin Gaye.
  5. *Excerpts of telephone conversation between BBC Radio's Brian Matthew and the group
  6. First Appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
  7. * All My Loving – Footage of the Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York, 9 February 1964.
  8. *Paul remarking later: "It's still supposed to be the largest viewing audience ever in the States".
  9. *Footage of a congratulatory telegram from Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker
  10. *George commenting later: "... they said there was the least reported, or no reported crime. Even the criminals had a rest for ten minutes while we were on."
  11. The Coliseum Concert – Washington D.C.
  12. *Footage of the Beatles performing at the Washington Coliseum on 11 February 1964:
  13. **"She Loves You"
  14. **"I Saw Her Standing There"
  15. **"Please Please Me"
  16. Reception at the British Embassy
  17. *Footage of the Beatles' reception at the British Embassy in Washington on 11 February 1964.
  18. Miami Beach
  19. * I'll Follow the Sun – Played over a montage of still photographs of the group's visit to Miami Beach, Florida.
  20. Second Appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
  21. *Footage from rehearsals for The Ed Sullivan Show, Miami, 16 February 1964
  22. * This Boy – Excerpts from the Beatles' second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
  23. *"These youngsters from Liverpool, England ... Their conduct over here, not only as fine professional singers but as a group of fine youngsters will leave an imprint with everyone over here who has met them." — Ed Sullivan
  24. Return to England
  25. *I Want to Hold Your Hand – Footage of the Fab Four returning to England and meeting the press at the London Airport on 22 February 1964.
  26. "They're Going to Put Us in the Movies"
  27. *Paul: "... I'm talking about this progression with the Beatles. From the Stevedores' and Dockers' Union, the Cavern, better clubs. So films was one that we'd always thought of. ... We were interested in films and what happened was Brian started talking to people, knowing of our interest and he came up with Dick Lester's name."
  28. *Footage from the classic comedy short film Running Jumping Standing Still, directed by Richard Lester.
  29. *Paul: "... Dick came round. He was a bit of a musician, played jazz piano, so he was even more interesting. ... He got hold of Alun Owen, a Welsh playwright who'd written Last Tram to Lime Street. ... He picked up little quotes like 'He's very clean, isn't he?' He picked up the jokes and sarcasm, the Beatle humour, John's wit and each one of us, Ringo's laconic humour. He picked up our characters, which was good."
  30. Filming A Hard Day's Night
  31. *Footage from the film A Hard Day's Night, including the following songs:
  32. ** A Hard Day's Night
  33. ** I Should Have Known Better
  34. ** If I Fell
  35. ** Can't Buy Me Love – the film version merged with the NME Poll Winners' Concert version
  36. In His Own Write
  37. *Footage from the television program Not Only... But Also, where John Lennon reads from his book In His Own Write.
  38. *Photographs of The Daily Howl, a daily comic drawn by John Lennon in his school days.
  39. World Tour 1964
  40. *Footage of an interview with Derek Taylor, the Beatles' press liaison, regarding his visit to Torquay accompanying Brian Epstein while he was writing A Cellarful of Noise.
  41. *Footage of a discussion of Ringo Starr's temporary replacement by Jimmie Nicol due to Ringo's tonsillitis during the World Tour of 1964.
  42. ** Long Tall Sally – Footage of the group performing in the Netherlands on 5 June 1964.
  43. ** I'll Be Back – Played over footage of the group's visit to the Netherlands and their arrival in Hong Kong on 8 June 1964.
  44. ** Any Time at All – Played over footage of the group's arrival in Sydney, Australia, on 11 June 1964.
  45. *Footage of the Beatles' performance at the Festival Hall, Melbourne, on 17 June 1964
  46. ** All My Loving
  47. ** You Can't Do That
  48. World Premiere of A Hard Day's Night
  49. *"A Hard Day's Night" – Played over footage of the world premiere of the film A Hard Day's Night in London on 6 July 1964.
  50. Liverpool Homecoming
  51. * Things We Said Today – Played over footage of the Beatles' homecoming to Liverpool on 10 July 1964.
  52. * I'll Be Back – Played over the credits.

    Four (August '64 to August '65)

"She seemed pleasant enough, you know; made us relax." – John Lennon
  1. First Major U.S. Tour – Summer, 1964
  2. * Help! – Title song played at the beginning of each episode.
  3. * Rock and Roll Music
  4. *Footage of the Beatles performing at The Hollywood Bowl on 23 August 1964 —
  5. ** All My Loving
  6. ** She Loves You
  7. Meeting Bob Dylan
  8. *Footage of discussions on Bob Dylan and his music:
  9. **Paul: "He was our idol."
  10. **Ringo: "Bob was our hero. ... I heard of Bob through John. He played the records to me. It was just great."
  11. **George: "Not an idol but we heard his record; we'd listen to his album. It really gave us a buzz and we played it over and over again. ... I think it was Freewheelin'."
  12. **John: "We loved Bob Dylan."
  13. *Footage of live performance of Bob Dylan —
  14. ** The Times They Are a-Changin'
  15. ** A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
  16. The Pressures of Touring
  17. * That Means a Lot – Played in the background during discussion of the group's busy schedule and lack of days off.
  18. * Slow Down – Played in the background of footage of the Beatles returning from America, photographed at the London Airport on 21 September 1964, where they played 32 shows in 34 days in 24 different cities.
  19. Feedback – "I Feel Fine"
  20. * I Feel Fine – The group discussing the use of sound effects like feedback in their music:
  21. **George Martin: "John had mucked around with feedbacks for a while. Yes, it was intentional. ... I think it was the first time that feedback was used on a record. ... It was his idea, it was great."
  22. **George: "He figured out how to do it. We used to do it on stage then. ... In a way, he invented Jimi Hendrix."
  23. **Paul: "It probably was, actually."
  24. Recording "Beatles for Sale"
  25. * Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey – Footage from the Shindig! TV Show, London
  26. * I'm a Loser – Footage from live performance at the Palais des Sports, Paris
  27. * Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby – Footage from live performance at the Palais des Sports, Paris
  28. Filming "Help!’
  29. *Footage from the film Help! showing glimpses of various episodes, and, playing the following songs:
  30. ** Another Girl
  31. ** The Night Before
  32. ** You're Going to Lose That Girl
  33. ** You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
  34. ** Help!
  35. "Yesterday"
  36. *Footage from the Big Night Out TV show, Blackpool – the Beatles' only British television appearance to promote Help!... and the first solo stage performance of Yesterday. Recorded and broadcast on Sunday, 1 August 1965 from the ABC Theatre, Blackpool from 9:10 to 10:05 pm
  37. **"Yesterday"
  38. **"I'm Down"
  39. NME Poll Winners' Concert – 11 April 1965
  40. *"I Feel Fine"
  41. *"She's a Woman"
  42. George Talks About His Songs
  43. *George: "They'd been writing since we were at school. They'd written all – or most of their bad songs before we got into the recording studio. I had to come from nowhere and start writing and to have something at least quality enough to put in the record with all their wondrous hits."
  44. *"Act Naturally" — "Now something we don't often do. Give someone a chance to sing who doesn't often sing. And here he is. All out of key and nervous, singing 'Act Naturally'." — Intro by Ringo
  45. "Ticket to Ride"
  46. * Ticket to Ride – Footage of two versions of the song, the live version at Blackpool and the taped TV promotional film version, are merged with one another.
  47. The Beatles Receive The MBE From The Queen
  48. *"Eight Days a Week" – Played behind the footage of people storming gates of the Buckingham Palace, London on the day of the Beatles receiving the MBEs from the Queen.
  49. *"If You've Got Trouble" – Played while showing the credits.

    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
  1. Shea Stadium Concert – 15 August 1965
  2. * Help! – Title song played at the beginning of each episode.
  3. * Ed Sullivan welcomes the Beatles to the concert at Shea Stadium, New York City, 15 August 1965 – "Ladies and gentlemen, Honoured by their country, decorated by their Queen and loved here in America ... Here are the Beatles!"
  4. ** Twist and Shout
  5. ** I Feel Fine
  6. ** Baby's in Black
  7. ** I'm Down
  8. ** Help!
  9. Meeting Elvis Presley
  10. * Mohair Sam – Performed by Charlie Rich
  11. * Hound Dog – Last notes of the song, performed by Elvis Presley
  12. More Tour Pressure
  13. * Run for Your Life
  14. New Musical Directions – Rubber Soul and Revolver
  15. * In My Life – Played in the background over footage showing the band talking about the new musical directions.
  16. **George Martin: "... They were finding new frontiers all the time."
  17. **Ringo: "... Our whole attitude was changing. ... I think grass was really influential in a lot of our changes."
  18. **Paul: "The direction was changing away from poppy stuff. ... We branched out into songs that are a bit more surreal, more entertaining. ... Dylan was starting to influence us quite heavily at that point."
  19. **John: "When it got sort of contemporary as it were, a contemporary influence ... I think Rubber Soul was about when it started happening."
  20. * Drive My Car – Nowhere Man – A musical collage played over footage of still photographs showing different moments of the band in studio during recording of Rubber Soul.
  21. *Rāga Charu Kishi – Footage showing snippets of a Sitar Recital of the Rāga by Ravi Shankar; George discussing the context of using sitar in Norwegian Wood.
  22. * Norwegian Wood – Played over footage of still photographs showing different moments of the band recording the song.
  23. * Nowhere Man – Played in the background over Paul discussing the stretched photo on the cover of the album Rubber Soul; the photo being the result of backward falling of the album-sized piece of cardboard on which photographer Robert Freeman was projecting photos at Lennon's house.
  24. "Yellow Submarine"
  25. * Yellow Submarine – Footage from the film Yellow Submarine edited with Beatles footage.
  26. * Taxman – Played over footage of still photographs showing different moments of the band recording the song; and George discussing the social context of the song – "... In those days we paid 19s.6d. out of every £1. ... That was with super-tax, surtax and tax-tax and stuff."
  27. "Tomorrow Never Knows"
  28. * Tomorrow Never Knows — "That's me in my Tibetan Book of the Dead period ... ..." – John
  29. Technical Limitations in the Studio
  30. * Nowhere Man – Footage of the Beatles' live performance of the song at Circus Crone, Munich – 24 June 1966.
  31. LSD
  32. * Doctor Robert
  33. *"We were just insane. We all thought there was a fire in the lift. Just a little red light and we were all screaming, all hysterical." – John
  34. "Day Tripper"
  35. * Day Tripper – Taped TV promotional film of the song. — "Day Tripper – that was a drug song, I just liked the word." – John
  36. "We Can Work It Out"
  37. * We Can Work It Out – Taped TV promotional film of the song.
  38. Taped TV Promotional Films
  39. * I'm Looking Through You Played in the background — "Going to the TV studios to promote our records was too much of a hassle. We'll just make our own little films and we'll put them out." – George
  40. "Paperback Writer"
  41. * Paperback Writer – Footage of promotional film of the song.
  42. **".. ....we can't go everywhere. We'll send these things out to promote the record. These days, everybody does that. It's just part of your promotion for a single, so I suppose in a way we invented MTV." – George
  43. "Rain"
  44. * Rain – Footage of promotional film of the song. — "That's the first record with backwards music on it." – John
  45. World Tour 1966
  46. * Got to Get You into My Life – Played over footage showing the Beatles arriving at the Haneda Airport, Tokyo on 30 June 1966.
  47. *Footage of the Beatles' live performance at the Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo on 30 June 1966:
  48. ** Rock and Roll Music
  49. ** Paperback Writer
  50. ** Yesterday
  51. * The Word – Played over footage of still photographs and video recordings of "trouble in the Philippines".
  52. * And Your Bird Can Sing – Played while showing the Credits.

    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
  1. Trouble in the Philippines
  2. * Help! – Title song played at the beginning of each episode.
  3. * The Word
  4. "Eleanor Rigby"
  5. * Eleanor Rigby – Solo performance of Paul McCartney amalgamating into the performance by the Beatles, ending with the solo performance.
  6. *Footage of the Brian Epstein Press Conference at New York City on 6 August 1966 regarding an early 1966 interview that John Lennon gave to the Evening Standard
  7. *Footage from the Beatles' Press Conference at Chicago on 11 August 1966 where John Lennon talks on the "More popular than Jesus" controversy.
  8. * I'm Only Sleeping
  9. Touring Takes Its Toll
  10. The Last Concert – San Francisco, 29 August 1966
  11. * For No One - played over footage from the Beatles' concerts along the years.
  12. Individual Directions
  13. *Footage from the movie How I Won the War directed by Richard Lester showing John Lennon acting.
  14. *Footage showing Ringo Starr hanging around with John Lennon in Spain during the shooting of How I Won the War.
  15. *Footage of the six-week visit of India by George Harrison.
  16. *Footage from the film The Family Way where Paul McCartney wrote the film score teaming up with George Martin which eventually won the Ivor Novello Award for the Best Film Song for Love in the Open Air.
  17. **Music from The Family Way – Performed by The Tudor Minstrels
  18. ** Love in the Open Air – Performed by The Tudor Minstrels
  19. The Making of "Strawberry Fields Forever"
  20. * Strawberry Fields Forever
  21. "Penny Lane"
  22. * Penny Lane
  23. * Release Me – Performed by Engelbert Humperdinck – playing very softly in the background while listening to a recording of a Beatles' radio interview about not reaching no. 1.
  24. "Sgt. Pepper's"
  25. * Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
  26. * With a Little Help from My Friends
  27. * Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
  28. "A Day in the Life"
  29. * A Day in the Life
  30. * Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
  31. Reaction to "Sgt. Pepper's"
  32. *Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band – Footage showing live performance by Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wight Festival on 31 August 1970.
  33. Drugs Reflect The Times
  34. "Baby You're A Rich Man"
  35. * Baby, You're a Rich Man
  36. * Strawberry Fields Forever – Played while showing the Credits.

    Seven (June '67 to July '68)

"We got backstage to see Maharishi and I said to him: 'Got any mantras?'" – George Harrison
  1. Satellite Broadcast of "All You Need is Love"
  2. * Help! – Title song played at the beginning of each episode.
  3. * All You Need Is Love – Our World Global Satellite Broadcast on 25 June 1967.
  4. * Eight Miles High – Performed by The Byrds – played in the background of George talking about the summer of love.
  5. Meeting The Maharishi
  6. Brian Epstein's Death
  7. * You've Got to Hide Your Love Away – 18 February 1965 – Brian died on 27 August 1967.
  8. "Magical Mystery Tour"
  9. * Magical Mystery Tour – Footage from the film Magical Mystery Tour.
  10. * You Made Me Love You Performed by: Jessie Robbins and The Magical Mystery Tour Passengers; footage from the film Magical Mystery Tour.
  11. * The Fool on the Hill – Footage from the film Magical Mystery Tour.
  12. * Your Mother Should Know – Footage from the film Magical Mystery Tour. This scene, known as the 'staircase' scene, was filmed in the disused aircraft hangars at RAF West Malling in Kent, in September 1967.
  13. * Flying – Footage from the film Magical Mystery Tour. In this sequence, the music is accompanied in the film by colour-altered images of landscape in Iceland, taken from an aeroplane; these shots were provided from outtakes of Stanley Kubrick's famous comedy Dr. Strangelove.
  14. "I Am The Walrus"
  15. * I Am the Walrus – Footage from the film Magical Mystery Tour. This scene was filmed on the disused airfield runways at RAF West Malling in Kent, in September 1967. The soundtrack was changed from the original VHS edition of Anthology to the DVD: a new all-true-stereo mix of the song was introduced, eliminating, for the first time, the use of "fake stereo" after the second verse of the song.
  16. "Hello, Goodbye"
  17. * Hello, Goodbye – A promotional film for The Ed Sullivan Show.
  18. The Apple Boutique
  19. Rishikesh, India
  20. * Across the Universe – 3 February 1968.
  21. * Dear Prudence
  22. * I Will – 16 September 1968.
  23. * Dera Dhun – Performed by George Harrison.
  24. * Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
  25. Apple Records
  26. *Footage of Apple Press Conference, New York City, 14 May 1968.
  27. * Sour Milk Sea Performed by: Jackie Lomax.
  28. * Something In The Way She Moves Performed by: James Taylor.
  29. * Maybe Tomorrow Performed by: The Iveys.
  30. * No Matter What Performed by: Badfinger.
  31. * Goodbye Performed by: Mary Hopkin.
  32. "Lady Madonna"
  33. * Lady Madonna – 3rd and 6 February 1968.
  34. "Yellow Submarine"
  35. * Yellow Submarine – Footage from the film Yellow Submarine.
  36. * All Together Now – Footage from the film Yellow Submarine.
  37. John Meets Yoko Ono
  38. * Happiness Is a Warm Gun – May 1968.
  39. * Performed by: John Lennon & Yoko Ono
  40. * While My Guitar Gently Weeps – Demo acoustic version — Played while showing the 'Credits'.

    Eight (July '68 to The End)

"I'm really glad that most of our songs were about love, peace and understanding." – Paul McCartney
  1. The "White" Album
  2. * Help! – Title song played at the beginning of each episode
  3. * Yer Blues – Blackbird – What's The New Mary Jane – Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da – Good Night – Rocky Raccoon – Sexy Sadie – While My Guitar Gently Weeps – Mother Nature's Son – Piggies – I Will – Julia – Why Don't We Do It in the Road? – I'm So Tired – Don't Pass Me By – A musical collage taking excerpts from live studio recording during The White Album sessions
  4. "Revolution"
  5. * Revolution
  6. The Apple Boutique Closes
  7. "Hey Jude"
  8. *Footage of the Beatles performing live on 8 September 1968 at the FROST ON SUNDAY tele-show
  9. * David Frost Theme
  10. * Hey Jude
  11. Recording At Twickenham Studios
  12. * I've Got a Feeling – Jamming at the Twickenham Film Studios
  13. * For You Blue – Apple Recording Studio, Savile Row, London
  14. Billy Preston Sits In
  15. * Get Back
  16. "The Long And The Winding Road"
  17. * The Long and Winding Road
  18. The Rooftop Concert 30 January 1969
  19. * Don't Let Me Down performed at the Rooftop Concert
  20. * Get Back performed at the Rooftop Concert
  21. * Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up – Performed by Paul McCartney during recording of the Anthology Series
  22. "Let It Be"
  23. * Let It Be – 'AN INTIMATE BIOSCOPIC EXPERIENCE WITH THE BEATLES'
  24. Paul Marries Linda, John Marries Yoko
  25. *Paul marries Linda on 12 March 1969
  26. *John marries Yoko on 20 March 1969
  27. "The Ballad Of John And Yoko"
  28. * The Ballad of John and Yoko
  29. Comments On The Break-Up Of The Band
  30. "Abbey Road"
  31. * Something
  32. * Golden Slumbers – Octopus's Garden – Here Comes the Sun – Come Together – A musical collage taking excerpts from live studio recording during the Abbey Road sessions
  33. * Because – The End – Showing footage of the last photo sessions on 22 August 1969
  34. "Free as a Bird"
  35. * Free as a Bird – The video.
  36. *Credits: A musical montage consisting of studio outtakes of – I Saw Her Standing There – Got to Get You into My Life – Misery – Sie Liebt Dich – And I Love Her – Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! – Rocky Raccoon – All You Need Is Love – played over the 'Credits'

    DVD Special Features

  37. Recollections – June 1994 – Paul, George and Ringo spend a happy summer's day together in Harrison's house; singing, playing and warmly remembering early days of room sharing, haircuts, Beatle boots, first cars and meeting Elvis.
  38. * Baby What You Want Me to Do
  39. * Raunchy
  40. * Thinking of Linking
  41. * Blue Moon of Kentucky
  42. * Ain't She Sweet
  43. Compiling The Anthology Albums – Paul, George, Ringo and George Martin detail the process of how they choose the tracks for Anthology Albums 1, 2 and 3.
  44. * A Day in the Life
  45. Back At Abbey Road – May 1995 – Returning to Studio 2, Paul, George, Ringo and George Martin reflect on recording at Abbey Road Studios in the Sixties and some of the techniques used in creating these recordings.
  46. * Golden Slumbers
  47. * I'm Only Sleeping
  48. * Tomorrow Never Knows
  49. Recording "Free as a Bird" And "Real Love" – Paul, George, Ringo and Jeff Lynne reveal how they were able to produce the two new Beatles tracks from John's original demos provided by Yoko. This section includes intimate footage filmed in the studio during the recording of the tracks.
  50. * Free as a Bird
  51. * Real Love
  52. Production Team – Neil Aspinall, Derek Taylor, Geoff Wonfor, Chips Chipperfield and other key members of the Anthology production Team explain the process of how The Beatles Anthology series was created.
  53. Making The "Free as a Bird" Video – Insight into how the video for Free as a Bird was made. Director Joe Pytka explains how he and Apple developed the concept and discusses the techniques that were used in the production.
  54. * Free as a Bird
  55. "Real Love" Video – The video that was not featured in the Anthology series, now remixed in 5.1 Surround Sound.
  56. * Real Love
  57. Credits