BBC extends The One Show for never-before-seen Beatles film

A still from Now And Then - The Last Beatles Song
(Image credit: Disney)

If you're a fan of The Beatles then you're going to want to tune in to The One Show tonight (Wednesday, November 1), because the daily talk show is getting a special extra-long show to celebrate the band.

Instead of being just half an hour long, The One Show is getting an extra 15 minutes, in order to air a brand-new short documentary on The Beatles entitled Now And Then The Last Beatles Song. It'll be introduced by Lauren Laverne who will also be commenting on the documentary, in its TV premiere.

Now And Then tells the tale behind the last song ever made by The Beatles, made by a music video director Oliver Murray. This coincides with the release of the song a day later on Thursday, November 2, and also a music video made for the track by legendary director Peter Jackson one day afterward.

The song was written as one of John Lennon's final songs, and alongside several more of his demo tracks, it was rediscovered in the 1990s on some tape cassettes. Recently it was finished by Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney (the two members still alive) using archival audio from George Harrison, and is considered by some as the "final Beatles song" despite there being other Lennon demos that haven't been officially revived.

"Now And Then" will be released alongside a remixed version of "Love Me Do", the band's first-ever single, and will also be included in an upcoming Beatles anthology released later in November. 

So Beatles fans are getting a bumper crop of entertainment, with a BBC Sounds podcast called "Eras: The Beatles" (narrated by Martin Freeman) and BBC Two repeats of classic Beatles performances, rounding out the week.

Because of the extra-long One Show, EastEnders won't start until 7:45 pm, though the Shetland season 8 is still on schedule for 9 pm.

If you can't tune in to The One Show to catch Now And Then — The Last Beatles Song, you'll also be able to catch up on iPlayer. Plus, Disney Plus subscribers can watch it on that platform, as it was added today. 

Tom Bedford
Streaming and Ecommerce Writer

Tom is the streaming and ecommerce writer at What to Watch, covering streaming services in the US and UK. His goal is to help you navigate the busy and confusing online video market, to help you find the TV, movies and sports that you're looking for without having to spend too much money.