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Magical Mystery Tour Revisited

The making of The Beatles' controversial 1967 film, featuring previously unseen archive footage.

Arena presents the greatest Beatles story never told - the making of Magical Mystery Tour - full of fabulous Beatles archive material never shown before anywhere in the world.

Songs you will never forget, the film you have never seen and a story that has never been heard. In 1967, in the wake of the extraordinary impact of Sgt. Pepper, The Beatles made a film - a dreamlike story of a coach daytrip, a magical mystery tour. It was seen by a third of the nation, at 8.35pm on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ1 on Boxing Day - an expectant public, hoping for some light entertainment for a family audience.

However, Magical Mystery Tour was greeted with outrage and derision by middle England and the establishment media.

'How dare they', they cried. 'They're not film directors. Who do they think they are?' they howled. Where were the four lovable moptops of Help! and A Hard Day's Night?

What propelled The Beatles to make this surreal, startling and - at the time - utterly misunderstood film?

Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour!

55 minutes

Last on

Sat 2 Mar 2019 00:00

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:02

    Brian Eno

    Another Green World

  • 00:04

    Brian Eno

    Another Green World

  • The Beatles

    A Day In The Life

  • The Beatles

    Flying

  • The Beatles

    I Am The Walrus

  • The Beatles

    Magical Mystery Tour

  • The Beatles

    The Fool On The Hill

  • The Bonzo Dog Band

    Death Cab for Cutie

  • Soft Machine

    Prescilla

  • The Bonzo Dog Band

    Cool Britannia

  • Soft Machine

    Hope for Happiness

  • Tomorrow

    Revolution

  • 00:26

    The Beatles

    Tomorrow Never Knows

  • Albert Ayler

    Spirits Rejoice

  • AMM

    Later During a Flaming Riviera SunsetΒ 

  • The Beatles

    She Said, She Said

  • Conway Twitty

    Mona Lisa Smile

  • Ivor Cutler

    The Wall

  • The Beatles

    Blue Jay Way

  • The Beatles

    Your Mother Should Know

  • 00:42

    The Beatles

    The Fool On The Hill

Credits

Role Contributor
Director Francis Hanly
Producer Jonathan Clyde
Executive Producer Anthony Wall
Executive Producer Jeff Jones
Participant Paul McCartney
Participant Ringo Starr
Participant Martin Scorsese
Participant Peter Fonda
Participant Terry Gilliam
Participant Paul Merton
Participant Neil Innes

Broadcasts

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