George Martin, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison at a mixing desk in The Beatles Anthology
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Guy Howie
Published 50 minutes ago
After joining ScreenRant in January 2025, Guy became a Senior Features Writer in March of the same year, and now specializes in features about classic TV shows. With several years' experience writing for and editing TV, film and music publications, his areas of expertise include a wide range of genres, from comedies, animated series, and crime dramas, to Westerns and political thrillers.
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The release of a freshly remastered documentary series about The Beatles on Disney+ has sent fans of the band into a frenzy over the past few days. But the most intriguing part of The Beatles Anthology is actually brand new.
A ninth episode has now been added to the 1995 TV series for its streaming debut, featuring some footage of The Beatles’ recording sessions from the mid-1990s that’s never been seen before. We see the remaining band members alive at the time attempting to turn John Lennon’s original demo of “Now and Then” into a workable recording.
While this demo wasn’t a definitive song of Lennon’s post-Beatles solo career, it was a composition written with his former songwriting partner Paul McCartney in mind, which was a missing piece in the Beatles puzzle until McCartney and Ringo Starr finally completed it in 2023. Yet, The Beatles Anthology has now revealed that they didn’t complete it as originally planned.
Disney+ might already have played host to documentaries like Beatles ‘64 and Peter Jackson’s groundbreaking Get Back project, but this additional episode of the Anthology series is the streaming platform’s most exciting release from the Fab Four so far. It rewrites a piece of Beatles history about which there’s been fervent speculation for 30 years.
The Beatles Anthology’s New Episode Shows Their 1st Attempt At “Now And Then”
Paul McCartney George Harrison and Ringo Starr performing in The Beatles Anthology in 1995-1
The Beatles Anthology has rightly earned a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score thanks to its creative and surprisingly intimate portrait of the most popular band in the history of modern music. The first eight episodes of the docuseries have been remastered and reedited for the streaming age, and deliver a stylish and comprehensive version of The Beatles’ story.
It’s the new ninth episode that’s especially eye-catching, though. After telegraphing the reminiscences of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr through group interviews and relaxed catchups, it dives into the recording process of the three new tracks – based on John Lennon demo tapes donated by Yoko Ono – they attempted to produce for their Anthology albums.
Only two of these tracks, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love”, were completed. Their recording of the third, “Now and Then”, was aborted after a single extended session, because John Lennon’s demo of the song was too difficult to work with. Nevertheless, the Anthology documentary has now presented a coherent picture of their first attempt to record it.
This Version Of The Song Would Have Included John Lennon’s Original Bridge
The Beatles Singer John Lennon
Because of John Lennon’s tragic assassination in 1980, three years after he recorded his demo version of “Now and Then” on a tape labeled “For Paul”, the song was never going to be completed as he originally intended it. However, when it was finally released as a Beatles single in 2023, Lennon’s original bridge for the song was notably absent.
For many fans, this yearning middle eight transition with its soaring chord changes was a fundamental aspect of the song’s emotional appeal. The fact that Paul McCartney and Giles Martin had gotten rid of this bridge altogether was perceived as an affront to Lennon’s songwriting.
In fact, we learn from the ninth episode of The Beatles Anthology that McCartney didn’t initially intend to remove Lennon’s bridge from the song. In one snippet of the 1995 recording session for “Now and Then”, we see McCartney, Harrison and Starr gathered around a piano.
McCartney tells his bandmates, “After that, instead of going back to the rest of the chorus, we come out into the middle.” He then plays the opening chord of the middle eight from Lennon’s original demo. For the first time, we have conclusive proof that a version of “Now and Then” involving all four Beatles could have included that bridge.
Paul McCartney Predicted The Beatles Would Complete “Now And Then” Eventually
Sir Paul McCartney plays the guitar onstage during a performance at Glastonbury.
A notorious workaholic, Paul McCartney toured North America once again in 2025, and doesn’t show signs of slowing down his career anytime soon. What’s more, there was no way he was ever going to stop playing music without giving the final Beatles song another go.
He got there in the end, completing “Now and Then” almost 30 years after starting work on it. There’s a hint in The Beatles Anthology that things were always going to end this way, when McCartney is talking about the band’s botched attempt to record the song in 1995:
“With anyone else, this would definitely be the end. But with The Beatles, you've got to watch out. They could do it. There's always a surprise somewhere along the line. It might not go away, that one."
His prediction was correct. The Beatles completed the track at long last in 2023. George Harrison had passed away by then, but his takes from the Anthology recording session made it onto the final version. The Fab Four’s last song certainly wasn’t how John Lennon would have intended it in 1977, but it was a worthy final bow nonetheless.
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Like Follow Followed The Beatles Anthology TV-14 Documentary Music Release Date 1995 - 1996-00-00 Network ABC Directors Geoff Wonfor Writers Bob SmeatonCast
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Revolutionizing music and pop culture, The Beatles transformed rock with groundbreaking albums like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr crafted timeless hits that defined a generation, cementing their legacy as one of the most influential bands in history.
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Would The Beatles' "Now and Then" be better with John Lennon's bridge included?
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