New Beatles Anthology Docuseries & Albums Reveal Unreleased Footage & Music
When the Beatles’ eight-part Anthology series was first released in the 1990s, it was a mind-blowing experience for young Beatles fans like me. For years, my dad had regaled us kids with his tale of sneaking into a Beatles concert in Memphis in 1966. And every year on my birthday, my mom recounted the story of my early-morning birth, and how my dad sang “Here Comes The Sun” in the delivery room as the sun came up. She gave me her original Abbey Road LP when I turned 11. Suffice it to say, I was obsessed with the Beatles from a young age. But I hadn’t been around when the Beatles were together — John was killed before I was even born. So all of the band’s performances and music releases were relegated to the past, and I was never a part of it. When the Anthology series was announced, I couldn’t believe that I would be hearing new Beatles songs on the day they were released. The documentary series, which aired on ABC, was in some ways just as groundbreaking as the Beatles’ music had been. While most music documentaries of the day featured an outside narrator and talking heads offering retrospective soundbites, the Anthology series featured the Beatles themselves at various points in their lives and careers, telling their own story with a candor and sincerity that rose above the temptation to smooth over the complexities and contradictions in their personal and professional relationships. It invited new generations of viewers and listeners into the Beatles fandom, much as Peter Jackson’s Get Back docuseries did when it was released in 2021. (See our article Peter Jackson’s Beatles Documentary Used Artificial Intelligence To Perform Restoration Magic.) I think it’s fair to say that the very existence of the Peter Jackson series is a direct result of what the Beatles describe as a “creative and commercial afterlife” that began with the original Anthology series and albums in the 1990s. Now in 2025, the Anthology returns in what Disney+ calls “its ultimate form,” for a comprehensive global release “on screen, on record, and in print.” A newly-restored and remastered version of the 8-part documentary series will be streaming exclusively on Disney+ beginning November 26th, along with a brand-new 9th episode. There will also be new music releases and an anniversary edition of the Beatles Anthology hardbound book.
Source: Jacob Green/audioholics.com
