logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2023
28m 18s

The Beatles: 4. Revolution

BBC RADIO 2
About this episode

When tragedy strikes at the end of 1967, the Beatles are faced with an uncertain future. In the months and years to come, cracks begin to show in the foundations of the world’s most powerful musical unit. As each member matured and developed as artists, the end became inevitable.

In Part 4 of Eras: The Beatles, Martin Freeman explores the pressures that broke the biggest band on the planet, and the incredible music that this turbulent era produced.

From the high-minded psychedelia of Magical Mystery Tour to the drama of Let It Be, to the masterpiece that was Abbey Road, the BBC Archive team have scoured their collections to bring you the interviews that shine a light on a dark period for the Beatles.

Up next
Oct 2023
The Beatles: 3. Rebellion
No high lasts forever. And in 1966, the pressures of fame begin to weigh on the globetrotting lives of John, Paul, George and Ringo. From a close-call with military police in the Philippines, to an all-out religious backlash in the United States, the band starts to question wheth ... Show More
28m 21s
Aug 2024
Sting: 3. Consider Me Gone
The Police are no more. But Sting never rests on his laurels. In Episode Three, Vernon Kay follows the first stages in a solo career spanning four decades. Embracing his origins in Jazz, and his magpie instinct for melody, Sting joins the ranks of the great British soloists. At t ... Show More
28m 22s
Oct 2023
The Beatles: 2. Riots
It’s 1964. British Beatlemania is in full swing but, this summer, the Fab Four are about to go global - and nothing can stand in their way.In Part 2 of Eras: The Beatles the band scales new heights as they enter the pop stratosphere on both sides of the Atlantic.From silver-scree ... Show More
28m 18s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2021
The Beatles get back to their roots
2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles’ final album, Let it Be. To commemorate the occasion, the remaining members of the band have remixed the album and unleashed an eight-hour-plus documentary directed by Peter Jackson that lays bare the making of the rec ... Show More
40m 47s
Jul 2024
The Beatles
The Beatles - made up of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison - were the biggest band the world has ever seen. Recording together for just over seven years, setting unprecedented sales, and revolutionising songwriting, theirs was a stardom that burned bri ... Show More
57m 6s
Dec 2023
Helter Skelter
Season 1 of “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics” concludes with a band in flux. The Beatles had evolved significantly by 1968 from when they first released “Love Me Do.” Back then, they were only competing with the likes of Andy Williams, Little Stevie Wonder, and Peter Paul and Mary. B ... Show More
23m 22s
Jun 2019
Nothing Is Real - Episode 5 - Songs The Beatles Wrote About Each Other Part I
<p>As the years went by, and there seemed like there were no worlds left to conquer, The Beatles started to create songs about the subject they knew best: Themselves. Over the years these songs were direct, opaque, angry, conciliatory, happy and sad. Nothing Is Real hosts Steven ... Show More
41m 23s
Aug 2020
Why Did The Beatles Really Break Up?
We preview Peter Jackson's Beatles movie and look back at the most heartbreaking band split ever, with Rob Sheffield and Brittany Spanos joining host Brian Hiatt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 
44m 9s
Apr 2024
The End
Coming at the end of an intensely creative period, The Beatles’ Abbey Road features some of the most adventurous compositions in the quartet’s catalog. It's fitting then that the album concludes with one of the most inventive and famous medley committed to record. To close season ... Show More
28m 35s
Dec 2019
Nothing Is Real - Episode 21- The Beatles at Christmas, Part Two
<p>Episode 21 - The Beatles at Christmas: Part Two</p> <p>In the second and final part, Steven and Jason look at the fortunes of the Fab Four at Christmas from 1965 to 1969: Reaching new highs before it all comes crashing down. Live on tape from Dublin, it’s Nothing Is Real.</p> ... Show More
1h 5m
Jul 2024
Death of the Album?
When The Beatles came out with Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it seemed like music had changed forever. Out with the days of 78s and random singles compiled into LPs. Now the act of listening to music was an art in itself! Until it wasn’t. In this episode, Hannah and ... Show More
55m 16s
Feb 2024
Band on the Run
Paul McCartney found himself in a tricky place after The Beatles’ break up. What did his musical future look like without the three musicians he’d spent half of his life building a musical rapport with? McCartney’s other band, Wings, and an impromptu tour of UK colleges helped hi ... Show More
29m 1s