The Beatles Films Podcast

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Latest Episodes:

Imagine (1972) Jun 08, 2026

Show notes

1972's Imagine was part-longform music video for John Lennon's Imagine and Yoko Ono's Fly albums, and part-bonkers conceptual art film. We try and get to the bottom of it: does it mean anything, and does a work of art's meaning have to be intentional in order to be, well, meaningful? Plus some key themes: mass isolation, intimacy in celebrity, male femininity through submission: sure, why not?

You can watch the 2018 remaster on Prime Video.
The trailer for the 2018 cinema release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThIhgBloqN0
The chess scene, set to Yoko's Don't Count the Waves: https://youtu.be/nVRhtWfJqXQ
The video for the song Imagine: https://youtu.be/YkgkThdzX-8
OK, so we weren't 100% correct about Situationism, but give us a break: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International
The chess scene in Bottom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f64qJorLrY
The Marina Abramović work similar to Yoko's Cut Piece is Rhythm 0, in which she stood for six hours and invited the audience to use 72 objects to do whatever they wanted to her: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm_0

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.

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George Harrison and Ringo Starr interview on Aspel and Company, 1988 Jun 01, 2026

Show notes

We love an iconic Beatle interview, and here's one: the first time two Beatles had been interviewed together on TV since the band split up. It's fascinating for a few reasons. We talk about Ringo's alcoholism (he went into rehab later that year), and how George gently prevents his drunk friend from going too far. Plus some discussion of the When We Was Fab video, which George was there to promote. Was Paul McCartney in the walrus costume? And was Michael Aspel the founder of the Traveling Wilburys?

Watch the interview: https://youtu.be/-vrRfORrcYM
Thelma Barlow, the Coronation Street actor also interviewed in the episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_Barlow
Terry Wogan interviewing English footballer Paul "Gazza" Gascoigne in 1990: "The dream could turn out to be a nightmare" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcGvSKRQ5KY
George's When We Was Fab video: https://youtu.be/AVu6nPTVbBQ
Oliver Reed drunk on Aspel and Company: https://youtu.be/EZMXIxIQmPw

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

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Beatles (2014 Norwegian film) May 25, 2026

Show notes

Based on Lars Saabye Christensen's 1984 book, a huge success in Norway, it's another coming-of-age story! Why does teenage Beatles fandom dovetail so well with this genre? We look at the use of music in the film, which secured the rights to use a few Beatles songs, as well as how successfully it marries up the four teenage boy characters with their respective Beatles.

You can rent the film cheaply on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlOJYlREuIE
The book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatles_(novel)
Watch The Bonfire of the Vanities: https://share.google/2KvlWLlYJaRyxTi1D
Mario Puzo's The Godfather novel: https://share.google/25bfmbahtQ6IksLbA
The Norwegian Wood film: https://share.google/olHb9tcPqN3cYKKtQ

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

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Power to the People: John & Yoko Live in NYC May 18, 2026

Show notes

Given a short cinema release in April 2026, this film remixes and restores John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1972 One to One concerts at Madison Square Garden, New York, John's only full-length post-Beatles concerts. We look at the context: this is shortly after the release of Sometime in New York City, an album which hadn't gone down well with fans or critics. Does this explain the audience's seeming relief at hearing songs from other albums? We also look at Yoko Ono as an "anti-rock" vocalist, and discuss Imagine: as this was its only concert performance by its author, did the song escape the singalong anthem status it might otherwise have had?

The film has no streaming release date set at the moment, but generally these short cinema runs are a preamble to an imminent streaming release so we'd expect one soon. https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/power-to-the-people-john-and-yoko-live-in-nyc
Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7DztEZ86IY
Bruce Channel's Hey Baby, part of the brief 1962 harmonica craze into which Love Me Do slotted: https://youtu.be/Ync7jflOzuA
Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak, which started the popularity for autotune: https://open.spotify.com/album/5ykOQlHaE5ZRxMibfI75YW?si=csCzZXmhSqe0uUhNISzyXw
The Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense: https://a24films.com/films/stop-making-sense

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

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McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass May 11, 2026

Show notes

In 1972, Paul McCartney's original 1961 Höfner bass guitar went missing. Then he got it back! Is there enough for a whole BBC documentary in it? Well, as we'll see, this film tells the story very well, but maybe the story itself is a bit unsatisfying. Still, a decent line-up of talking heads, including Paul himself, Klaus Voormann and Elvis Costello. What's not to like? Especially if you're into watching Klaus act out the middle section from A Day in the Life for no obvious reason.

You can watch the film on BBC iPlayer until at least March 2027: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002v46m/mccartney-the-hunt-for-the-lost-bass
"Big Johnny Bass" is of course Bill Black, Elvis Presley's bass player. Paul owns his double bass and played it on Real Love. We knew that really.
The Netflix documentary Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer: https://www.netflix.com/title/81031373

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:

Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspod
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Paul McCartney: Man on the Run Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

Morgan Neville's new documentary, released in conjunction with MPL and with Paul McCartney's cooperation, covers the 1970s and what Paul did next after leaving The Beatles. It could've been a hagiography. But anyone who's seen it will have noticed it allows a lot more criticism of Paul than you'd expect. We look at the reasons for this and the effect of it: is this a Paul acknowledging his shortcomings, or just taking the opportunity to frame the narrative around them? We also discuss the effect of Sean Ono Lennon's contribution to the film, and whether it constitutes some public validation for Paul about his relationship with John Lennon.

You can watch the film on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B0FXN4DTFC
Other films and shows we mention in the episode include Netflix's Take That: https://www.netflix.com/title/81901625
Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81928842
It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley, still in a few cinemas at time of release but sure to be on a streamer soon: https://share.google/uBk1OKq2Q83X8Nfs8
Wingspan is on YouTube for free at the moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BOthkQtbJA
The interview with Paul in the Evening Standard: https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/paul-mccartney-wings-beatles-interview-book-b1256680.html
Barry Miles's book Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now: https://share.google/lhLl0jnHBAC5TztIS

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

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Sam Mendes' four-film Beatles cinematic event: Beatle wives and other casting discussion Jan 13, 2026

Show notes

Time for some wild speculation, now we've got a lot of the Beatle wives and fifth Beatle candidates' casting confirmed. We look in particular at Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, and discuss the film Foe, in which she and Paul Mescal played a couple living in an isolated setting. A bit like Paul McCartney and Linda's Scottish farmhouse exile? We've been watching lots of films featuring the cast too, and we look at what their performances suggest they'll bring to these roles. Does the casting of high-profile actors to play wives and Beatle family members suggest big roles for them, and does this in turn suggest these films will have a focus on the band's home lives, and how fame affected them?

We'll do our best to cite all the films we've mentioned. For Mescal and Ronan, watch Foe on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.co.uk/FOE-Saoirse-Ronan/dp/B0C9G86K94
To make sure we've got it right: Ronan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 2008, and for Best Actress in a Leading Role three times: 2016, 2018 and 2020
The other Mescal films: Hamnet and The History of Sound, both out in UK cinemas in January 2026
Mescal talking about stepping back from public view while the Beatles films are in production: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/02/i-dont-want-to-resent-the-thing-i-love-paul-mescal-and-josh-oconnor-on-romance-rationing-and-retirement
You can and should buy and rent Harris Dickinson's Urchin in lots of places: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/urchin
Other Dickinsongs: Where the Crawdads Sing, Blitz, Babygirl
Joseph Quinn in Hoard: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/hoard
Stranger Things, featuring Quinn from season four: https://www.netflix.com/title/80057281
The trailer for Andrea Arnold's wonderful Bird, with Barry Keoghan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y0iJkT97Jc
More Keoghanicals: Dunkirk, Bring Them Down, The Batman
Mia McKenna-Bruce stars in Seven Dials on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81314952
And in How to Have Sex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWmF8KpxxmA
The films' entry on the FDA website, that currently suggests they'll all be released on 7 April 2028, but as we say is likely to change: https://filmdistributorsassociation.com/release-schedule/past-present-and-future-releases/?filmSearch=beatles

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:

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War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko Dec 25, 2025

Show notes

Happy Christmas! Let's have a look at Dave Mullins' film, co-written with Sean Ono Lennon, which won Best Animated Short Film at the 2024 Oscars. We discuss the animation techniques, including use of the Unreal Engine, and talk about how John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Christmas song Happy Xmas (War Is Over) came about in 1971, and how it came to be used in the film.

Watch the film on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W68-XaFepOg
We made a donation to the War Child charity for this episode, which you can too if you'd like: https://www.warchild.org.uk/donate-war-is-over-film
The "making of" short documentary piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADIePh3JR40
Yoko Ono's 1966 piece, Play It By Trust: https://www.imaginepeace.com/archives/24764
Dave Mullins' Pixar short, Lou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIL0vSNx8Xg
The Toy Story 3 scene in which the characters accept and wait for their death: https://youtu.be/Hg2DBQNvLBQ
An article about the auction of the 1969 postcard John and Yoko sent UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-61174089

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

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The Beatles Anthology (2025 remaster): episode 9 Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

What did we expect from the new episode? Well: the big decision here is not to include any new interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr from the 2020s. We discuss the effect that decision has on this episode, and on how it rounds off the series as a whole. Does the episode work as a general making-of-Anthology, or as a patchwork of unused clips from the other eight episodes? And is there any more Threetles footage to come, or is that your lot?

The 2025 Beatles Anthology is available to watch on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-cab32c53-c3f8-4879-86f5-c8e4a1657338
You can find our five-part deep dive into the original Beatles Anthology earlier in this feed
Tom Doyle's book Ringo: A Fab Life: https://share.google/JTtimJRkRdc9nEJaj
The episode of the Beatles Books Podcast featuring Tom Doyle: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-sjt4u-19a1a32

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:

Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspod
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The Beatles Anthology (2025 remaster): episodes 1 to 8 Dec 01, 2025

Show notes

They couldn't let it lie, could they? Well, fair enough: The Beatles Anthology felt like a sleeping giant for Apple: gathering dust on a lot of fortysomethings' DVD shelves when it could be out there, brand spanking new and showing a whole new generation how great these guys were.

And of course these episodes have been altered: we talk about what's new, and what's been removed and why. Plus there's the subject of the AI upscaling of some of the early performance footage: what effect does it have and what are the implications?

The 2025 Beatles Anthology is available to watch on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-cab32c53-c3f8-4879-86f5-c8e4a1657338
You can find our five-part deep dive into the original Beatles Anthology earlier in this feed
The 1929 short film The Singing Brakeman, starring Jimmie Rodgers: https://youtu.be/JvA9fWnEXw0
The episode of the Producing The Beatles podcast about Now and Then: https://www.producingthebeatles.com/new-episodes/2023/11/14/016-now-and-then-56hkt

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