The Beatles Anthology is now on Disney+ with a brand new episode filled with new interviews from George, Paul and Ringo
Paul, George and Ringo all speak at length about life in the Fab Four in the Anthology(Image: Michael Ochs Archives)
This week has seen the release of the new Beatles Anthology 2025 on Disney+ The original version released in 1995 on ITV ran over eight episodes and had accompanying CD box sets. This new version features a ninth episode with new unseen footage and interviews. Here is what we learned from episode number nine, number nine, number nine….
Beatles banter
Despite The Beatles falling out during a split in the early Seventies, their old friendships and jokes returned when George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr met up for the anthology and to record new single Free As A Bird in 1995. George is heard asking Paul if his coat is a “vegetarian leather jacket” and leading Ringo to erupt with laughter. Paul replies: “Yes it is and the boots are vegetarian”.
In another bit George jokes about Paul’s keenness to reunite and always work with the Beatles by saying: “Paul and I are gonna do some stadiums next year.” Paul replies: “Mud wrestling together, I think we could pull it off too.” Ringo adds: “I’ll be the ref.”
The Beatles in 1966 at the height of their fame(Image: Roger Viollet via Getty Images)
Source of the split
George Harrison was often the quiet Beatle but in this ninth episode we get a sense of his real thoughts and feelings on the Fab Four. Explainig his reasons on why he thinks they split, he says: “You know, we were so stressed out. We’ve been through every riot and jam. Every city we went to, there was some kind of a jam going on, the noise, people yelling at us all the time and being confined to a little room or a plane or a car, but we never thought about it too much, because it was an ongoing thing.
“It was happening to us, and it was hard to see, you know, we were just in the middle being ushered from room to room. We all had each other to dilute the stress. And being born in Liverpool, the sense of humour was very important, and so we always had a laugh as well. But there was a point where, you know, enough was enough. And I think that’s really was the major contributor to The Beatles splitting up was stress. We all just wanted out, you know, give us a bit of peace.”
Cheesy Tunes
One scene shows the trio with George Martin going over old takes which would be used in the Anthology. George takes the opportunity to have a playful pop at Paul. When the tracks You Never Give Me Your Money comes on, George says it sounds “a bit cheesy” but Paul doesn’t rise to the bait and carries on listening. George also allegedly was not keen on releasing the song Now And Then in 1995 and this was only released years later when the sound could be improved.
George and the Beatle boys were keen to keep the studio open all hours(Image: Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
Magical mystery tea
George Harrison has a funny story about how they managed to get Abbey Road’s engineers to keep working on Beatles sessions past their allotted hours. It revolves around essentially spoking their drinks with amphetamines.
He explains: “Some of the people here, the engineers, for instance, would always be like trying to go on at Five-Thirty and we’d all be, you know, we’re trying to make history or whatever. And Mal our roadie would have this big teapot, a big aluminum teapot, and he’d go out and I remember one specific incident where he made a pot of tea, and we doused the tea with uppers. And then he was up there with George Martin, and I think it was Geoff Emerick giving them this tea. It was like Can we go home now? No, you can’t, have a cup of tea. You know, until they were up there, you know, until like till 11 o’clock at night, and then they didn’t wanna go home.”
Paul was the worker Beatle
It is often said Paul was the one who tried hardest to keep The Beatles together and wanted it more than the others towards the end, and he does little to disprove this theory in the new episode. Ringo says: “We could sit in the garden longer than you,” Paul replies: “Yeah, I know. I like the Beatles. I like to work with the Beatles. I’ve not ashamed of that. It’s what I love in life that, all that making music.”
The Beatles Forever
George Harrison concludes that even though the band are no longer together, they will always exist in a way. He was known for being spiritual and that perhaps influences his comment. He says: “The Beatles, you know, will go on and on, on those records and films and videos and books and in people’s memories or minds. The Beatles has just become its own thing now. And the Beatles, I think, exist without us.”
And in The End…A polite final goodbye
The last scene of episode nine and therefore the last ever seen of the new series and the last time we see three of the fab four together is in George Harrison’s garden at Friar Park. They are jamming and laughing and joking around in high spirits. Ringo says to Paul and George “This has been a really nice day for me chaps. It’s been really beautiful and moving. I like hanging out with you two guys.”
Paul says: “It’s been a very nice day, thanks for having us George.” George jokes about them doing it again in 40 years’ time. In November 2001 they would do reunite for one final time, meeting up for lunch in New York as George struggled with lung cancer and a tumour. Just a couple of weeks later he passed away aged 58.
The Beatles Anthology is out now on Disney+ and is expanded to nine episodes.
