Following his 2023 short film ‘Now and Then’, The Last Beatles Song’, made in collaboration with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sean Lennon and the Harrison Estate to celebrate the release of the Beatles’ final single - acclaimed writer and director Oliver Murray is proud to continue his relationship with the band by directing the new and final (nine) episode of the Beatles’ legendary Anthology Series.

First released three decades ago, The Beatles’ eight-part “Anthology” series reinvented the music documentary. Instead of a standard treatment centred on an outside narrator and talking heads, “The Anthology” featured John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr candidly telling their own story. It introduced The Beatles to new generations of viewers and listeners and marked the start of a creative and commercial afterlife that continues to this day. Under Murray’s direction there is now a completely new Episode Nine, full of unseen material including behind-the-scenes footage of Paul, George and Ringo reuniting between 1994 and 1995.

Verus Ferreira spoke to Oliver Murray to know the details of this great project that he has done.

So, Oliver, thanks for speaking with us today, the day of the Beatles Anthology release. The original series from 1995 has been lovingly restored and you’ve created a brand new episode 9. To begin, can you tell us what first drew you to the project?

The truth is, I grew up with The Beatles and their music is just part of the atmosphere of my childhood. So when the opportunity came up to work on material connected to the Anthology, it felt like stepping into a living piece of cultural history. It wasn’t something you could say no to.

And what was the biggest challenge in handling the material?

The scale of the band’s legacy. There’s just an overwhelming amount of expectation when you’re given the gift of curating all the footage, photos, interviews, studio outtakes etc. The challenge was less about selecting what to use and more about preserving the spirit of the band while trying to add something meaningful for contemporary audiences. You want to honour the legacy, but you also want to make something that feels alive.

You’ve mentioned before that you see The Beatles as a kind of blueprint for modern creativity. Can you expand on that?

What’s amazing about them is that they reinvented themselves constantly, album to album, even within albums. They were always experimenting. And I think that’s what makes them timeless. It’s not nostalgia; it’s curiosity. For filmmakers or artists of any kind, that’s a really powerful model.

Did working on this project change how you see the band?

It did. I think I understood them, like most people do, as these almost mythic figures. But when you go through all the raw material, you see how human they were. You see the tensions, the jokes, the exhaustion, the excitement… It made me appreciate not just the music, but the dynamic between them.

Is there anything in the footage that particularly surprised you?

There’s a moment, well, it’s several moments, actually, where you see them trying disagreeing about the band’s history. And it’s wonderful, because we’re so used to seeing only their story written up as definitive modern folklore. It reminds you that memory is subjective and it reminds you that genius is a process, not a moment.

What do you hope people take away from the Anthology now, all these years later?

I hope people see it not as a museum piece but as something ongoing. The Beatles aren’t frozen in time, they still evolve through how people listen to them, reinterpret them, argue about them. The Anthology is a kind of time capsule, yes, but it’s also a way of sparking new conversations. That’s what I’d like people to feel.

Working on this means a lot to you. Is there anything you’d like to add?

Just that it’s a privilege to work on material that means so much to so many people. You feel a responsibility, but also a joy. That’s rare.

Thank you, Oliver.

Thank you.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira