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Beatles forums => Films, TV Shows, Interviews => Topic started by: I am the Paulrus on August 18, 2009, 10:23:59 PM

Title: Never-heard-before Beatles chat and rare footage unveiled as Beatles Week comes
Post by: I am the Paulrus on August 18, 2009, 10:23:59 PM
Never-heard-before Beatles chat and rare footage unveiled as Beatles Week comes to BBC Two And BBC Four

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pre.../beatles.shtml (http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pre.../beatles.shtml)

Date: 17.08.2009
Category: BBC Two; BBC Four; Factual & Arts TV
Beatles Week.

The joint season, celebrating the Fab Four's enduring legacy and continuing influence, begins on BBC Two on Saturday 5 September 2009.

Kicking off an evening of programming on BBC Two on 5 September, The Beatles On Record offers a concise history of The Beatles in the studio and sits alongside other highlights including the first TV showing of The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit, the Maysles brothers' film charting the Fab Four's arrival in America in 1964.

BBC Four's programming includes Storyville's extraordinary story of how The Beatles' music may have contributed towards the collapse of the USSR; a documentary on the making of The Beatles' First U.S. Visit; and a new compilation of archive footage featuring an eclectic range of artists who have covered Beatles songs over the decades.

In 1962 an unknown group from Liverpool entered Abbey Road Studios to record their debut single. During the next eight years they created what is arguably regarded as the greatest collection of studio recordings of the 20th century.

The Beatles On Record, directed by Bob Smeaton, charts The Beatles' extraordinary journey from Please Please Me to Abbey Road and reflects on how they developed as musicians, matured as songwriters and created a body of work that sounds as fresh in 2009 as the time it was recorded.

Narrated entirely by John, Paul, George, Ringo and their producer Sir George Martin, the documentary features more than 60 classic songs, rare footage and photos from The Beatles' archives and never-heard-before out-takes of studio chat from the Abbey Road recording sessions.

BBC Two will also be reshowing Timewatch: Beatlemania, the inside story of the rise and fall of Beatlemania. By 1966 the Beatles had played more than 1,400 gigs, toured the world four times and sold the equivalent of 200 million records. At the height of their popularity, and without warning, they pulled the plug and never toured again.

There's also another chance to see the action adventure spoof Help!, directed by Richard Lester.

Sunday 6 September.

Storyville: How The Beatles Rocked The Kremlin tells the extraordinary unknown story of how The Beatles' music may have contributed to the collapse of the USSR.

In August 1962 director Leslie Woodhead made a two-minute film in Liverpool's Cavern Club with a raw and unrecorded group of rockers – The Beatles. He arranged their first live TV appearances on a local show in Manchester and then watched as the Fab Four phenomenon swept the world.

Twenty five years later, while making films in Russia, Woodhead became aware of how – even though they were never able to play in the Soviet Union – The Beatles legend had soaked into the lives of a generation of youngsters.

This film meets the Soviet Beatles generation and hears stories about how the Fab Four changed their lives.

Other programming throughout the week on BBC Four includes Sings Beatles, a new compilation of archive footage featuring a diverse range of artists – from Sandie Shaw to Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Carpenters to Candy Flip – who have covered Beatles songs over the years.