The original notion for Episode Nine was a film about recording Free As A Bird and Real Love (\u201ca kind of mini Get Back\u201d) but Murray proposed something more reflective. \u201c[the original episodes] told the story of The Beatles the way they wanted at the time,\u201d he says. \u201cNow we\u2019re adding an emotional angle that there simply wasn\u2019t time for. It doesn\u2019t have to go anywhere plot-wise so let\u2019s sit and listen to them talk. It\u2019s quite melancholic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apart from the diplomatic necessity of giving each Beatle an equal say, Murray was left to his own devices. \u201cIt was an amazing privilege,\u201d he says. \u201cBut they wouldn\u2019t put it out if it wasn\u2019t something they loved. When you know it\u2019s going through that process, it keeps you honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray had to perform a temporal balancing act to make Episode Nine gel with the rest of the series without feeling like a retro gimmick. While he was writing the episode, he confined himself to 1995, deciding against new interviews with Paul and Ringo. \u201cI was in this \u201890s time capsule because you can\u2019t start thinking about a post-George world,\u201d he explains.\u00a0\u201c[I didn\u2019t want] Ringo in 2025 talking about an interview he did in 1995 about something that happened in 1965. We stuck to our Anthology\u00a0lane.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray spent a week combing through unused footage that had been filmed or collected for Anthology. \u201cI\u2019m sorry to say to the fans but at this point there is no one sitting on a chest of stuff anymore. Unless I\u2019m hugely mistaken, I think we\u2019ve seen what we\u2019re going to see.\u201d Some outtakes (like anecdotes about creating the classic Beatles look) had previously emerged as DVD extras or somehow leaked on to YouTube. Others had been seen in truncated form \u2014 Murray compares the fuller footage to seeing the contact sheets from a famous photo shoot. And some will be entirely new to viewers, like a group interview at Abbey Road or the individual interviews that were recorded at the end of the process solely for the benefit of international record labels.<\/p>\n
“Listening to George is like listening to someone who\u2019s just gone through therapy…”<\/p>\n
Director, Oliver Murray<\/p>\n
Murray found some nuggets of gold in the archives, like a wonderful clip of Paul working out Helter Skelter on acoustic guitar which had been shelved because it was ever-so-slightly out of sync. \u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d says Murray. \u201cI think people want to see this. Let\u2019s use it!\u201d Of course, it\u2019s Paul again, in the 1995 scenes, who is most dogged about bringing John\u2019s late 1970s demos to life. \u201cWhen everyone else has given up, Paul\u2019s wrestling with the chords of Now And Then to see if there\u2019s any chance. I would love the short film [about Now And Then] to go back on Disney Plus as a 9.5 episode because there is an overlap.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it came to directing it, though, Murray availed himself of 30 years of technological advances. As he was working with editor Jonny Halifax in London, colleagues down the corridor were busy remastering the older episodes. \u201cIt became a feedback loop. I think elements of Nine changed the aesthetic of One to Eight.\u201d (The whole series then went to New Zealand for Jackson\u2019s WingNut team to work their magic.)<\/p>\n
Murray was looking for emotional range, too. There are larky reminiscences, such as the anecdote about dosing George Martin\u2019s and Geoff Emerick\u2019s tea with uppers to keep a session going. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t get away with it as a source of amusement now,\u201d Murray laughs. \u201cIf Dua Lipa was spiking everyone\u2019s tea, I don\u2019t think that would go in her documentary.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there are just as many moments of sombre reflection. \u201cListening to George is like listening to someone who\u2019s just gone through therapy. He\u2019s like, John isn\u2019t around. John was\u00a0murdered,\u201d says Murray. \u201cIt\u2019s brilliant to celebrate these past endeavours but I\u2019m cut up about my friend. It was heavy. He clearly falls in and out of love with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ex-Beatles are at their lightest and most liberated when we see them fooling around with the Tin Pan Alley and country songs that they grew up on. These scenes where they communicate their memories through music are the tender heart of Episode Nine. \u201cIt was a really nice full circle moment to have them playing those tunes,\u201d Murray says. \u201cIt\u2019s the music that brought them together in the first place and it\u2019s the music that brings them back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Beatles\u00a0Anthology, featuring a brand-new episode is available to stream exclusively on Disney+ now.<\/p>\n
Get the new issue of MOJO for the definitive verdict on all the essential new music releases, reissues, music books and films – plus, our must-have review of 2025’s best music. More info and to order a copy\u00a0HERE<\/a>!<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764170464_788_MOJO-386-cover-The-Smiths-1.jpg\"\/)
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