New Beatles Anthology Docuseries & Albums Reveal Unreleased Footage & Music

When the Beatles’ eight-part Anthology series was first released in the 1990s, it was a mind-blowing experience for young Beatles fans like me. For years, my dad had regaled us kids with his tale of sneaking into a Beatles concert in Memphis in 1966. And every year on my birthday, my mom recounted the story of my early-morning birth, and how my dad sang “Here Comes The Sun” in the delivery room as the sun came up. She gave me her original Abbey Road LP when I turned 11. Suffice it to say, I was obsessed with the Beatles from a young age. But I hadn’t been around when the Beatles were together — John was killed before I was even born. So all of the band’s performances and music releases were relegated to the past, and I was never a part of it. When the Anthology series was announced, I couldn’t believe that I would be hearing new Beatles songs on the day they were released. The documentary series, which aired on ABC, was in some ways just as groundbreaking as the Beatles’ music had been. While most music documentaries of the day featured an outside narrator and talking heads offering retrospective soundbites, the Anthology series featured the Beatles themselves at various points in their lives and careers, telling their own story with a candor and sincerity that rose above the temptation to smooth over the complexities and contradictions in their personal and professional relationships. It invited new generations of viewers and listeners into the Beatles fandom, much as Peter Jackson’s Get Back docuseries did when it was released in 2021. (See our article Peter Jackson’s Beatles Documentary Used Artificial Intelligence To Perform Restoration Magic.) I think it’s fair to say that the very existence of the Peter Jackson series is a direct result of what the Beatles describe as a “creative and commercial afterlife” that began with the original Anthology series and albums in the 1990s. Now in 2025, the Anthology returns in what Disney+ calls “its ultimate form,” for a comprehensive global release “on screen, on record, and in print.” A newly-restored and remastered version of the 8-part documentary series will be streaming exclusively on Disney+ beginning November 26th, along with a brand-new 9th episode. There will also be new music releases and an anniversary edition of the Beatles Anthology hardbound book.

The original eight episodes, which many fans won’t have seen since they aired toward the end of 1995, followed the lives of the Fab Four, starting from their early days in Liverpool and the Hamburg night clubs where they developed their live act and performance chops. Viewers can re-live (or learn about for the first time) the fever of Beatlemania and the group’s historic arrival in the USA in 1964. From the famous performances on The Ed Sullivan Show to the band’s position at the forefront of 1960s counterculture and spiritual exploration in India, the Anthology uses the Beatles’ music as the thread to tie the sometimes wandering narratives together. We’re told that the completely new ninth episode includes never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes footage of Paul, George, and Ringo as they came together in 1994 and 1995 to work on the original Anthology. At the time, the three remaining Beatles reflected on their shared experiences in this unseen footage. Restoration of the original episodes and this new footage was overseen by Apple Corps’ production team, working with Peter Jackson’s Wingnut Films & Park Road Post teams. They collaborated with Giles Martin, who has created new audio mixes for most of the music featured in the docuseries.

These new mixes (alongside some remastered original mixes) have resulted in a new version of The Beatles Anthology music collections, now expanded to four volumes, and presented on your choice of vinyl, CD, or digital files. Slated for release on November 21st, The Anthology Collection includes everything from the 1990s version originally curated by Sir George Martin, now remixed and/or remastered by his son, Giles Martin. There are three double albums of rare material that brings to musical life the story told in the documentary. The music offers “an enthralling insight into the early development of songs that became… recorded masterpieces that resonate just as loudly today as they did when they were first recorded,” according to the press release announcing the albums. And of course, the new version includes an important new element: Anthology 4. This entirely new part of the musical story was curated by Giles Martin, and includes 13 previously-unreleased demos and session recordings, alongside other rare Beatles recordings. It also includes new mixes of The Beatles’ hit singles: the GRAMMY-winning “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love,” which were first released to coincide with the original 1990s Anthology. Their original producer, Jeff Lynne, came back to give the recordings new life by using “de-mixed” John Lennon vocals. (This process of de-mixing uses artificial intelligence, which allowed Lynne to separate Lennon’s original vocal track from other sounds present on the recording, allowing for higher audio quality on the final mix. AI was not used to re-create or otherwise simulate Lennon’s voice.) The new mixes of “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” are placed alongside the band’s most recent UK No. 1 hit single, the GRAMMY-winning song “Now And Then,” which was released in 2023. (See our article Now And Then: The Last Beatles Song.) All three of these songs were created using home demos that John recorded in the 1970s. Later, Paul, George, and Ringo added vocal and instrumental parts to complete the songs. In the case of “Now And Then,” John’s rudimentary demo had been declared unusable when the remaining Beatles gathered in the 1990s to work on the original Anthology. At the time, the AI-driven de-mixing process had not yet been invented, and the recording was just too noisy. It was Paul McCartney who decided to try again more recently, inspired by the technology used to restore the Get Back docuseries. Peter Jackson and his team came through, resulting in the final “new” Beatles song. The original “Free As A Bird” music video has also been beautifully restored.

In total, the new Anthology albums include a staggering 191 tracks. These will be released on November 21st by Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMG in deluxe box sets of 12 180-gram vinyl LPs, or 8 CDs. The music will also be available for digital purchase and streaming. The box sets include the original sleeve notes for the first three parts of the Anthology from the 1990s. The new Anthology 4 includes 26 tracks that have never previously been released, with track notes written by Kevin Howlett and an introduction compiled from 1996 interviews recorded with Derek Taylor, a close friend and adviser of the Beatles.

Finally, the the 25th Anniversary Edition of The Beatles Anthology book was released on October 14th by Apple Corps Ltd. and Chronicle Books. The book includes the Beatles’ stories in their own words, plus memories and impressions from their closest colleagues, including Neil Aspinall, George Martin, Derek Taylor, and others. The 368-page book includes more than 1,300 photos, documents, artworks, and other bits of memorabilia that are priceless to the band’s passionate fans. I have no doubt that there will be some cynics out there who say that this new Anthology is just a cash grab. “You’d think that people would’ve had enough of the Beatles,” they might say. But I look around me and I see it isn’t so. For real fans, and perhaps for a generation of new ones, the new Beatles Anthology is another exciting chapter in the band’s enduring legacy.

More information: The Beatles Anthology

Music streaming: https://thebeatles.lnk.to/AnthologyWe