If we wanted to talk about the most emblematic group in history, there wouldn’t even be a discussion. It doesn’t matter how much we want to debate it, how many buts we want to put in, or how much we want to contextualize it depending on the era, the country, or the genre, there is only one answer. One single group has generated the kind of cult around it that continues to be documented even today, not only in its country but all over the planet, to the point of becoming an adjective. And that group is The Beatles.
Beatlemania is eternal. There will always be a new generation that discovers them and becomes obsessed with them. And there are good reasons for that. Excellent albums, a great stylistic and lyrical variety among their songs, the marked personality of its members, and all the history that surrounds them. Simply put, there is no way it won’t happen.
A group that there are always reasons to return to
That’s why, although we recently received Get Back from Peter Jackson, which reinterpreted the documentary Let It Be, Netflix is now bringing back one of the essential pieces of Beatles history. Or to be exact, one of the fundamental pieces of documentation about the group. Because The Beatles Anthology, an 8-episode series about the history of the group, is considered the definitive documentary about the band.
Why? To begin with, because it is narrated by three of its four protagonists: narrated by McCartney, Harrison, and Starr. The great absentee, Lennon, is not because he didn’t want to appear, but because he couldn’t do so: this series originally premiered in November 1995, directed by Geoff Wontor and Bob Smeaton, for British and American television. Making it impossible for Lennon to be present, who was murdered fifteen years earlier.
With nine hours of content, the series tells the official story of the Beatles from the band’s own perspective. From July 1940 until the band’s end in 1970, they speak candidly about everything that happened to them with deep and valuable detail for both longtime fans and newcomers.
In addition, this new version of Disney+ will offer reasons for those who have already seen the series to watch it again. And not just because Beatles fans can never get enough of the Beatles in their lives. What they will provide is a remastered version of the series, but also a ninth episode where the three surviving Beatles at the time can be seen working on the anthology and reflecting on their time in the Beatles, serving as a final capstone for a monumental work that is already considered legendary.
Since Harrison passed away in 2001, these are some of the last images that exist of him alive. And since they came together to record an unreleased Lennon song, Free Bird, this ninth episode promises to offer something that no self-respecting Beatles fan will want to miss.
With a premiere on November 26, The Beatles Anthology promises to create a new wave of Beatlemania. And for good reason. It is a group that was bigger than Jesus and even today, it is the most famous group on the planet, of which everyone has heard at least one song and of which there is no one who does not have an opinion. Some people, even, for the worse. But that is the magic of The Beatles. There is an album of theirs for everyone, even if it is one that you hate. And as long as new generations exist, there will continue to be new people to inoculate with this Beatlemania.