Season Two
…was due to start in March 2020 but got delayed for some reason. In the end it ran from June to August 2020.
Season One • Season Two • Season Three • Season Four • Season Five • Season Six • Season Seven • Season Eight • Interviews • Specials
Episode 1
The Road To Anthology
By the time the Beatles Anthology finally appeared in 1995, it had taken over 25 years to produce. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Beatles Anthology, this episode will be the first of a few episodes in 2020 that will look at the project through the lens of the last quarter-century. In this episode Steven and Jason navigate the years from 1968, when the idea arose through to 1992 when the cameras started rolling.
Episodes 2
Early 1968
Only seven weeks separated the television premiere of Magical Mystery Tour on Boxing Day 1967 and the Beatles decamping to India in February 1968. In those weeks we got to see the group work one last time with that sense of being a unified Fab Four: A four-headed monster equally able to record a movie cameo and knock-out a bunch of songs across one week at Abbey Road.
Episode 3
Paperback Writers 2: More Beatle Books
It’s been a year since we looked at books about the Beatles, and still there’s a lot more to talk about. What’s new; what’s coming soon; what did we forget to mention last year; books about people who were about the Beatles; and of course, the books to avoid.
Episode 4
The Robyn Hitchcock Interview
Robyn Hitchcock is an acclaimed English singer-songwriter whose work demonstrates a singular talent which is infused with influences, including our beloved Beatles. 2020 marks Robyn’s 40th anniversary as a recording artist, and in January he sat down with Steven & Jason while in Dublin for a chat.
Episode 5
Ringo: The Album
In 1973, Ringo gave the people what they wanted: an album that featured the Fab Four, just not all necessarilplayingon the same song at the same time. Ringo (the album) was a manifestation of everything Ringo (The Beatle) did best, and was hugely successful at the time. It should have been the dawn of a new era, it turned out to be the end of one.
Episodes 6 & 7
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - Part One
When the Beatles put out their eighth album in May 1967, the consensus was that nobody needed to release any more records ever - it was just that good. In the this episode, first of two parts, Steven & Jason look at how the album came together.
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - Part Two
Once the Beatles had Sgt Pepper recorded, the album still had to delivered to the outside world. The artwork, the press launch as Pepper took on a life of its own.
Episode 8
Fifth Beatles
There have been many claims to the title of Fifth Beatle since the phrase first appeared in 1964. Is it possible to define what it means and who is the most deserving of the accolade? Can there really be only one true Fifth Beatle? Did the Fab Four themselves ever agree on the true Fifth Fab?
Episodes 9 & 10
1974 - Part One
At the end of 1973, the stage was set for a year of Beatle activity. The Ringo album had shown a way for the Fab Four to work together, and a little album called Band On The Run came out. John & Paul were communicating again & George is going out on the road. What could possibly go wrong..?
1974 - Part Two
The second half of 1974 and it’s all go for the Fab Four: George starts a label, Ringo starts a label, John sees a UFO, and Paul’s drummer breaks his foot practising karate. As a group, are they are moving back together, or further apart?
Episode 11
The Beatles Anthology at 25 - The Making Of...
After 25 year long & winding road of The Long & Winding Road documentary, The Beatles Anthology starts to become a real thing at the end of 1992. But there are mountains to climb, decisions to be made, egos to soothe... this long & winding road remains a bumpy one.
Episode 12
Beatles For Sale
The Beatles fourth album from December 1964 didn’t even get a proper release in the USA, and for the longest time has been treated as the runt of the litter. It is an essential album from a group who in a year had become the most famous people in the world. It’s an album born from touring the world and meeting Bob Dylan.