The Beatles Anthology’s New Episode Is A Fantastic Addition, But It Reveals Something The Series Was Missing

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In a cut scene from Pulp Fiction, Uma Thurman’s character, Mia, playfully divides people into two groups: those who prefer Elvis and those who prefer The Beatles. While many enjoy both artists, most lean towards one more than the other, and that preference, she argues, reveals something about their personality. I find myself agreeing with her observation. It’s also interesting to note that someone’s preference can even change over time.

My mom loved Elvis, so I grew up hearing his music. I especially remember enjoying songs like “Jailhouse Rock” and “Return to Sender” when I was little. But it wasn’t until high school that I really got into music, thanks to a friend who was already a Beatles fan and a documentary series called The Beatles Anthology.

The Beatles Anthology Is Still Incredible, Even Three Decades Later

I already had a copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band when The Beatles Anthology first came out on TV during my final year of school. I was thrilled to watch this unique look inside the Beatles, told by the band members themselves. That Christmas, I received the complete eight-part series on VHS, which included even more content than what was shown on television. I held onto those VHS tapes for much longer than I owned the VCR to play them!

I was thrilled when The Beatles Anthology became available on streaming! Now, anyone with a Disney+ subscription can enjoy this amazing documentary about one of the most influential bands of all time. The surviving members – Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison – share their personal stories, combined with past interviews from John Lennon. It’s the closest thing to a Beatles reunion we’ll likely ever see.

I always thought The Beatles Anthology was flawless, and it really is remarkably good – just like The Beatles’ music. However, the newly added ninth episode, released with the streaming version, is a bit of a problem. It’s not that the episode itself is poor; in fact, it might be the strongest single part of the whole Anthology. But it unintentionally highlights something that was missing from the rest of the series, something I hadn’t noticed before.

The Beatles Anthology Episode 9 Finally Brings The Living Beatles Together

One of the things that made The Beatles Anthology so remarkable when it came out was that it reunited the three surviving Beatles members to collaborate again after many years. The Beatles’ split in 1970 is famous, and while they remained friendly, they had apparently reached a point where working together was no longer possible.

Most of the interview footage in Anthology features Paul, George, and Ringo speaking individually to the camera. While there are a few scenes of them talking together, it’s surprisingly limited considering the documentary’s total runtime of almost eight hours.

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Episode 9 offers a significant shift in perspective. The final episode functions as a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Anthology documentary itself, featuring the Beatles discussing how it all came together and the creation of their two new songs, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.” We also get to witness the band reuniting to record the music.

In addition to the main content, there’s extra footage of all three Beatles being interviewed together – material that wasn’t in the original broadcast but easily could have been. In this interview, they share the story behind their famous haircuts and the origin of Beatle Boots. They also talk about what it was like to record music at the EMI studio while sitting inside it.

Watching them together finally made me realize how little screen time the three of them actually had together. They have great chemistry, bouncing jokes off each other and clearly enjoying being around each other. It was also fascinating to see them working with producer George Martin, listening to old Beatles recordings – something that wasn’t shown in the main show at all.

It’s particularly touching to see them all together, especially since we’ve lost both George Harrison and George Martin in the last thirty years.

It’s a shame we didn’t see more of this in the main Anthology collection, but it definitely makes the final episode a great addition. It’s a lovely little extra that any long-time Beatles fan – or even a new one – will really enjoy.

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2025-12-02 01:11