{"id":746746,"date":"2026-06-19T06:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T06:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/746746\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T06:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T06:51:10","slug":"the-beatles-missing-1964-top-of-the-pops-performance-footage-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/746746\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beatles\u2019 missing 1964 \u2018Top Of The Pops\u2019 performance footage found"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long-lost film footage of\u00a0The Beatles<\/a>\u00a0playing on the\u00a0BBC<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0Top Of The Pops has reportedly been found and will be restored.<\/p>\n

The band appeared on the\u00a0iconic\u00a0show on 19 March 1964\u00a0to\u00a0record performances of \u2018Can\u2019t Buy Me Love\u2019 and \u2018You Can\u2019t Do That\u2019, the A-side and B-side of a single released\u00a0the following day which\u00a0went on to become\u00a0their fourth UK Number One.<\/p>\n

Like many early episodes of\u00a0Top\u00a0Of\u00a0The\u00a0Pops, however, the footage was not preserved by the\u00a0BBC\u00a0and it has not been seen for\u00a0decades.<\/p>\n

Now, the film preservation group Film Is Fabulous have said that they were presented with a\u00a035mm\u00a0BBC negative of the performance\u00a0at the recent British Film Collectors\u2019 Convention in Surrey.<\/p>\n

They claim the family of a deceased former industry professional passed the precious film to them, and they will work to restore the footage and return it to the BBC Archives. \u201cDiscussions will also be held with other parts of the corporation to ensure the content is made available to a wide audience,\u201d Film Is Fabulous wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n

The Beatles on ToTPs<\/p>\n

Film is Fabulous! is delighted to confirm the 35mm negative presented to John Franklin at the recent film convention in Oxted, contains the The Beatles first appearance on Top of the Tops. pic.twitter.com\/hPvOjqPR8u<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 filmisfabulous (@filmisfabulous) June 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Describing the footage, the group said: \u201cRecorded on the\u00a019th\u00a0March 1964, at the BBC\u2019s Television Theatre (since renamed The Shepherd\u2019s Bush Empire), in London, the inserts beautifully captured the Fab Four at the height of Beatlemania.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPassages of the recording show the studio, the technicians, and the make-up ladies. There were four takes of the first song, \u2018Can\u2019t Buy Me Love\u2019,\u00a0with two being aborted because of technical errors. During breaks, the Beatles openly\u00a0joked, and\u00a0could be seen dancing to amuse themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u00a0added: \u201cThe other song, \u2018You Can\u2019t Do That\u2019,\u00a0had two takes. During the second of these recordings John Lennon pulled a funny face when the camera came in for a \u2018close-up\u2019.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0an amusing piece of Beatle history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The BBC routinely wiped and reused tapes during the 1960s, resulting in the loss of countless episodes of many of their most popular shows, including\u00a0Top\u00a0Of\u00a0The\u00a0Pops.\u00a0If successfully restored, this would be the oldest surviving footage of the Fab Four on the show.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In other Beatles news,\u00a0June 25 is set to be Global Beatles Day<\/a>,\u00a0commemorating\u00a0the day in 1967\u00a0when the four band members recorded the international satellite TV broadcast of \u2018All You Need Is Love\u2019.<\/p>\n

The Beatles and Apple Corps Ltd will be launching online and in-person events around the world to celebrate the band, while a colourised version of the broadcast will also be released for the first time.<\/p>\n

The Fab Four are also going to be the subject of a four-film series by Sam Mendes<\/a>, slated for a simultaneous release in April 2028. Set to star\u00a0Paul Mescal<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0Paul McCartney<\/a>, Harris Dickinson as\u00a0John Lennon<\/a>, Joseph Quinn as\u00a0George Harrison<\/a>, and\u00a0Barry Keoghan<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0Ringo Starr<\/a>, each film will tell the story of the band from a different member\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n

McCartney dropped his new album \u2018The Boys of Dungeon Lane<\/a>\u2018 last\u00a0month, which\u00a0featured his first ever duet with\u00a0Starr\u00a0on \u2018Home To Us\u2019<\/a>.\u00a0McCartney sat down with\u00a0NME to look forwards and back on his extraordinary career<\/a>, share his\u00a0\u201cexcitement\u201d at contributing to the new The Rolling Stones album<\/a>,\u00a0and also\u00a0reveal if he has plans to retire<\/a>.<\/p>\n