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. A re-edited version of the series was released on Disney+ starting on 26 November 2025, with an additional episode.

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 that point, none of the former members had been involved in the project. Eric Idle was given a screening of the film by George Harrison in the late 1970s as research for Idle's mockumentary All You Need Is Cash.

Plans for the documentary's 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).Badman (2001), p. 269. According to Yoko Ono, the concert would have been held in England: "Just days before he was killed, Lennon 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."Badman (2002), p. 273. The alleged plan for a reunion was abandoned after Lennon died on 8 December.

In 2015, Aspinall's 1970 workprint for The Long and Winding Road surfaced in a bootleg DVD which may be viewed on the Internet Archive.

Project resurrected In 1992, the project was resurrected as a six-part documentary series. This time, the surviving membersThey were later dubbed "The Threetles" by the press. were directly involved, giving interviews on film with Jools Holland. Lennon's interviews were sourced from archived footage. Also interviewed were insiders 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.Badman (2001), p. 489.

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. The early version of the series has since leaked and released via bootleg.

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 thought the remaining Beatles should write 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". "Now and Then" was left unfinished at the timeBadman (2001), p. 518. but "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" were completed with producer Jeff Lynne in 1994–95 and premiered during the Anthologys initial broadcast. "Now and Then" was later completed in 2023.

Releases

1995 ABC broadcast The documentary was first 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. ABC re-aired the documentary to promote the VHS release in 1996. The Anthology was first shown on American television on ABC; the tagline for the network during the time was "A Beatles C'''", an homage to the mid-1960s "77 W-A-Beatles-C" call sign of the network's flagship NYC AM radio station.ABC print advertising, late 1995 and early 1996, TV Guide local edition

1995 ITV broadcast The documentary was broadcast on UK television network ITV in six individual episodes instead of two parts per episode on ABC. Starting on 26 November 1995, it would air every Sunday (expect for episode five, as it aired on Tuesday 26 December) until 31 December.

1996 VHS/LaserDisc and 2003 DVD release On 5 September 1996, an expanded version of the documentary was released as an eight-volume VHS set and an eight-disc LaserDisc set. This version includes 5 hours of additional footage. In 2003, the expanded version was released as a 5-DVD boxset, and included an 81-minute special-features disc and the soundtrack was remixed into 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound.

2025 Disney+ release In 2025, a re-edited version of the documentary, called Anthology 2025, was released on Disney+ with all eight episodes plus a brand new ninth episode focusing on Paul, George, and Ringo working on the Anthology from 1994 to 1995, all remastered in 4K and remixed to Dolby Atmos. Episodes 1–3 were first released on 26 November 2025, followed by episodes 4–6 on 27 November, and finally episodes 7–9 came out on 28 November. The episodes had some footage removed, trimmed, rearranged, or added commentary, causing the runtime of all the episodes combined to be an hour shorter than the expanded version.

Reception

Viewership On ABC, Part 1 reached 17 million households, gaining about 27.3 million viewers. Despite the strong opening, viewership lowered with each subsequent part with Part 2 reaching 12.9 million households, gaining 21.7 million viewers, and Part 3 reaching 3.5 million households, gaining 18.3 million viewers.

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.

Production credits Editor: Andy Matthews Production Manager: Bryony Cranstoun Line Producer: Stan Storc Archive Consultants: Julian Adamoli/Geraldine Royds Design/Art Direction: Richard Ward/The Team Cover Concept: Klaus Voormann Cover Painting: Klaus Voormann/Alfons Kiefer Picture Grading & Image Restoration: Ascent Media, London Picture Aspect: 4:3 Sound: LPCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, DTS 5.1 surround sound

Episodes (expanded versions) All songs are written by Lennon–McCartney and performed by the Beatles, unless otherwise noted.

One (July '40 to March '63)"You couldn't get a cup of sugar, let alone a rock' n' roll record." – George Harrison Liverpool: The Childhood Years [7:35] "Help!" – title song played at the beginning of each episode "In My Life" – edited clip of Beatles footage throughout the years "In the Mood" (Manone, arr. Garland) — performed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra; played during a rapid-fire montage of photographs shown of each member "We'll Meet Again" (Parker-Charles) — performed by Dame Vera Lynn Discovering Rock & Roll [11:23] John, Paul & George – The Beginning of The Beatles [5:21] First Recordings 1958–1960 [2:55] Stuart Sutcliffe [3:20] Early Tours [6:59] Pete Best [2:07] Hamburg [13:16] "Roll Over Beethoven" (Chuck Berry) Growing Pains [1:09] Stuart Sutcliffe Leaves [2:08] Excerpts of the following songs: "I'm Down" "F.B.I." (Marvin-Welch-Harris) — performed by The Shadows The Cavern [4:08] Excerpts of the following songs: "Long Tall Sally" (Johnson-Blackwell-Penniman) "Kansas City" (Leiber-Stoller) Decca Sessions [1:28] Audition tapes recorded at the Decca Studios, London on 1 January 1962 "Three Cool Cats" (Leiber-Stoller) — George Harrison on lead vocal and Best on drums "The Sheik of Araby" (Smith-Wheeler-Snyder) — Harrison on lead vocal and Best on drums Audition tape recorded at Decca Studios on 1 January 1962, sequel to Get Back Sessions Footage "Bésame Mucho" (Velazquez-Skylar) — Paul McCartney on lead vocal and Best on drums "George Martin" [1:40] The Beatles and George Martin discuss the context of their first meeting and recording contract. Ringo Arrives [4:44] "Some Other Guy" (Leiber-Stoller-Barrett) — video of the whole song played by the Beatles (with Ringo) in the Cavern "Love Me Do" [3:13] 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 "Please Please Me" – "We're No. 1" [7:27] "How Do You Do It?" (Mitch Murray) Audio of performance by Murray Video of performance by Gerry and the Pacemakers Audio of performance by the Beatles recorded at Abbey Road Studios on 4 September 1962 "Please Please Me" – performed live in 1964 on The Ed Sullivan Show"Leave My Kitten Alone" (John-Turner-McDougal) — demo recording made on 14 August 1964 at Abbey Road Studios and played over the credits

Two (March '63 to February '64)"George and I shared an apartment in Green Street, Park Lane... Wow! £45 a week. A fortune." – Ringo Starr Racing Up the Ladder [11:02] "Help!" – title song played at the beginning of each episode "I'll Be on My Way" – radio out-take "Lonesome Tears in My Eyes" (Burnette-Burnette-Burlinson-Jerome) – radio out-take "That's All Right" (Crudup) – radio out-take "So How Come" (Bryant/Bryant) – radio out-take "Odeon Saturday Morning song" – performed by John Lennon "Look Who It Is" (Schroeder-Hawker) – performed by Helen Shapiro "Thank You Girl" Sound collage of Please Please Me album: "I Saw Her Standing There" – "Misery" – "Anna (Go to Him)" (Alexander) – "Chains" (Goffin-King) – "Boys" (Dixon-Farrell) – "Ask Me Why" – "Please Please Me" – "Love Me Do" – "P.S. I Love You" – "Baby It's You" (David-Williams-Bacharach) – "Do You Want to Know a Secret" – "A Taste of Honey" (Scott-Marlow) – "There's a Place" "Twist and Shout" (Medley-Russell) Touring Britain – 1963 [11:30] "Oh, Pretty Woman" (Orbison-Dees) – performed by Roy Orbison "From Me to You" "There's a Place" "It Won't Be Long" "She Loves You" London – 1963 [4:01] "I Wanna Be Your Man" (performed by the Rolling Stones) "I Wanna Be Your Man" Early Television Appearances [3:45] Excerpts from the Big Night Out TV Show