About this episode
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 whether being a Beatle is quite so fab after all. Maybe it’s time for something new. To become a different band entirely. In Part 3 of Eras: The Beatles, Martin Freeman finds the band at a critical juncture in their story - the extraordinary decision to abandon the live shows that made their name, and embrace the potential of the recording studio with the groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Featuring illuminating archive from the band and their contemporaries, we’ll follow the Beatles as they shape popular music for decades to come with the birth of the concept album.