‘The Beatles: Get Back’: What to Watch if You Miss the Documentary Series
In 2021, The Beatles: Get Back allowed viewers to watch as The Beatles scrambled to write new music. The documentary series captivated viewers, but with only three episodes, it seemed like it ended just as quickly as it had begun. Though director Peter Jackson has said that a follow-up isn’t out of the question, it may take a while. In the meantime, here are a few films and series to watch.
Where is ‘The Beatles: Get Back’ available?
Though The Beatles: Get Back became available to watch in Nov. 2021, Jackson had been working on it for several years. Initially, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to accept the project.
“I actually didn’t say yes,” he told Vanity Fair in 2021. “I said, ‘Can I look at all the footage first? And then I’ll let you know.’ Because I was thinking, I’d love to make a Beatles film, but I don’t want to make the Beatles-breakup film. That’s the one Beatles movie I would never want to make.”
Ultimately, though, the hours of footage, originally from the 1970 documentary Let It Be, charmed him.
“What I found is that I was laughing continuously,” he said. “I just was laughing. I was laughing and laughing and laughing, and I didn’t stop.”
Jackson’s take on the footage became The Beatles: Get Back, which is available to stream on Disney+.
What to watch if you liked ‘The Beatles: Get Back’
It has been over a year since the release of the series. With no follow-up in sight yet, here are several similar programs to watch.
McCartney 3,2,1, another series from 2021, has six episodes in which Paul McCartney and producer Rick Rubin discuss music, their creative processes, and their history in the music industry. The series received acclaim from critics and audiences alike, even picking up three Primetime Emmy nominations. It is available to stream on Hulu.
In 2011, Martin Scorsese worked closely with Olivia Harrison to create the film George Harrison: Living in the Material World. The lengthy documentary tracks Harrison from his youth in Liverpool, to his years with the Beatles, to his life and philanthropy after the group broke up. The film won two Primetime Emmys and a Critics Choice Award. It is available in two parts on HBO Max.
In 2022, McCartney’s daughter, Mary, released the documentary If These Walls Could Sing. It presents the history of Abbey Road Studios and features interviews with many of the musicians who have played there. McCartney and Ringo Starr give interviews, as do artists like Elton John and George Lucas. The film is available on Disney+.
For a similar series that does not focus on The Beatles, the 2022 series My Life as a Rolling Stone is perfect. The series has four episodes, each of which focuses on a different member of the Rolling Stones. They discuss their music and memories they’ve made with the band. The series is available on Amazon Prime.
Peter Jackson hinted at a possible follow-up
In the future, Jackson may release a follow-up to The Beatles: Get Back. While nothing is concrete, it isn’t out of the question.
“[T]here’s five or six hours of fantastic material that we didn’t include, and I don’t want it to go back into the faults for fifty years,” he said on The Business With Kim Masters. “So, let’s just say that it’s a conversation that’s happening, but it’s not necessarily a definitive one at this point.”
Jackson also said he is working on a different Beatles project with McCartney and Starr.
“I’m talking to The Beatles about another project, something very, very different than Get Back,” he told Deadline in 2022. “We’re seeing what the possibilities are, but it’s another project with them. It’s not really a documentary … and that’s all I can really say.”
