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The Beatles Anthology is a documentary series on the career of The Beatles. It was broadcast on UK television in six abridged parts between 19 and 23 November 1995, while in the U.S. it was seen as three feature-length episodes. An eight-volume VHS set and an eight-disc Laserdisc set were released on 5 September 1996. The series was re-released on DVD in 2003, with an 81-minute special-features disc.An official documentary on The Beatles career had been in the pipeline as far back as 1970. Long-time friend and Apple Corps manager Neil Aspinall had compiled footage from various sources around the world of concert, interview and television appearances. From this archival footage, Aspinall assembled a 90-minute feature film which was tentatively titled The Long and Winding Road and was completed in 1971. At this point, none of the former members had any involvement with the project and plans for its release lay dormant until 1980, when John Lennon stated as part of a legal deposition against the producers of the musical 'Beatlemania' that: "I and the other three former Beatles have plans to stage a reunion concert," an event to be filmed as a finale of The Long and Winding Road (which was now to be a television special).[1]George Harrison watched the film on 10 April 1970, the day the Beatles' break-up was announced.[2] According to Yoko Ono, the concert would have been held in England: "Just days before his brutal death, John was making plans to go to England for a triumphant Beatles reunion. His greatest dream was to recreate the musical magic of the early years with Paul, George and Ringo ... (he) felt that they had traveled different paths for long enough. He felt they had grown up and were mature enough to try writing and recording new songs."[3] The alleged plan for a reunion was abandoned after Lennon was murdered on 8 December.In 1992 the project was once again resurrected, as a six-part documentary series. This time, the surviving members (later to be dubbed in the press as 'The Threetles'), were directly involved, giving interviews on film with Jools Holland. Also interviewed were insiders Neil Aspinall, the band's press agent Derek Taylor and their long-time producer George Martin. The title of the documentary was now changed to The Beatles Anthology as George Harrison was against naming the entire Beatles career after a Paul McCartney song.[citation needed] This new title was to be a working one but it eventually stayed as it suited the parties concerned.[4]A rough cut was completed in 1993, which was much more interview based and focused on the events as opposed to the final cut, which included more concert and television performances.[5] This early version of the series has since leaked and been released via bootleg.The documentary was broadcast on television in three feature-length episodes comprising six abridged parts (two per episode) on Sunday 19 November, Wednesday 22 November and Thursday 23 November 1995. It aired from 9 pm to 11 pm on ABC. The documentary was released on VHS and Laserdisc the following year.When the Anthology was first shown on American television, on ABC, the tagline for the network during the time was "A Beatle C".[6][7]The documentary was met with generally positive reviews. Richard Buskin, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beatles, commented that with the small lineup of only the four Beatles plus Martin, Aspinall and Taylor to voice their recollections, the retelling of the band's story was "extremely subjective."[8] Secondly, whereas McCartney, Harrison and Starr "provided insights into their legend from the mature perspective of men in their fifties, Lennon's mostly originated from when he was in his twenties or thirties."[8] When viewing the separate interviews, the three surviving Beatles did not always recall events the same way. Compromises had to be reached so that sensibilities were not offended, in particular to regard with events resulting in the 1970 breakup. The end result was not a definitive story of the Beatles' history, but rather a diplomatic celebration.[8]The plans for a concert were abandoned and replaced with the intention that the surviving three members would play some more "incidental" music in between segments and interviews. It was then put forward that some "new" songs should be written for the project by the Beatles. Both McCartney and Harrison wrote some material, which became the song "All For Love", but it was then suggested to ask Yoko Ono if Lennon had any material he had left unfinished that they could work with. In 1994, after appearing on stage with McCartney at Lennon's posthumous induction to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Yoko gave Paul cassette tapes containing four song demos that Lennon had been working on: "Free as a Bird", "Real Love", "Now and Then" and "Grow Old With Me". The latter two were left unfinished by the group,[9] but "Real Love" and "Free as a Bird" were completed with producer Jeff Lynne in 1994/95, and premiered during the Anthology's initial broadcast.All songs are written by Lennon–McCartney and performed by The Beatles, unless otherwise noted."You couldn't get a cup of sugar, let alone a rock' n' roll record." - George Harrison"George and I shared an apartment in Green Street, Park Lane ... Wow! ₤45 a week. A fortune." - Ringo Starr"Miami! That was just like paradise because we'd never been anywhere with palm trees." - Paul McCartney"She (The Queen) seemed pleasant enough, you know; made us relax." - John Lennon"We were all expanding in all areas in our life; opening up to a lot of different attitudes." - Ringo Starr"I should have said television is more popular than Jesus; then I might have got away with it." - John Lennon"We got backstage to see Maharishi and I said to him: 'Got any mantras?'" - George Harrison"I'm really glad that most of our songs were about love, peace and understanding." - Paul McCartney