“Magical Mystery Tour Revisited” broadcast on UK BBC2

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As part of the promotional effort for the reissue of The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” film, which was released on October 8, 2012, a new documentary titled “Magical Mystery Tour Revisited” aired on the BBC on October 6. This documentary included interviews with figures such as Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Peter Fonda, Paul Gambaccini, Terry Gilliam, Neil Innes, Paul Merton, Barry Miles, Annie Nightingale, and Martin Scorsese. It also featured accounts from Jeni Crowley and Sylvia Nightingale, who participated in the original Magical Mystery Tour and shared their experiences in The Beatles Monthly Book magazine.

Additionally, select interviews from this documentary were compiled into a condensed, 20-minute version. This shorter documentary was included in the deluxe edition of the “Magical Mystery Tour” reissue.

From BBC website:

Arena presents the greatest Beatles story never told – the making of Magical Mystery Tour – full of fabulous Beatles archive material never shown before anywhere in the world.

Songs you will never forget, the film you have never seen and a story that has never been heard. In 1967, in the wake of the extraordinary impact of Sgt. Pepper, The Beatles made a film – a dreamlike story of a coach daytrip, a magical mystery tour. It was seen by a third of the nation, at 8.35pm on BBC1 on Boxing Day – an expectant public, hoping for some light entertainment for a family audience.

However, Magical Mystery Tour was greeted with outrage and derision by middle England and the establishment media.

‘How dare they’, they cried. ‘They’re not film directors. Who do they think they are?’ they howled. Where were the four lovable moptops of Help! and A Hard Day’s Night?

What propelled The Beatles to make this surreal, startling and – at the time – utterly misunderstood film?

Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour!

Last updated on May 15, 2023