The 60s: The Beatles Decade — Season 1, Episode 4: Peace & Protest 1967-1968
Documentary • 30 min • 1 season, 5 episodes
Episode synopsis
In April 1967 The Beatles produced the drug fuelled Sgt Peppers, an Album that was to change everything. The Beatles had turned to eastern mysticism and become distant from their mentor, Epstein, who died suddenly. Britain was undergoing a radical transformation from the legalisation of homosexuality and abortion to the relaxation of theatre censorship and introduction of the 'no contest' divorce. But soon the social revolution was overtaken by political revolt on the streets against the Vietnam War. At the beginning of 1968 the Beatles took control of their own careers. They had a grand vision of a media empire and set up a number of companies under the name Apple. It proved to be a disaster. Privately the Beatles were arguing - about Yoko, about what they should record, about the future. Outwardly they were still sensationally successful. But there was trouble brewing.
About The 60s: The Beatles Decade
When people are asked to think about the 1960s, they automatically think love, peace and...The Beatles. Over the decade, the Fab Four changed from cheeky pop mop-heads to blissed-out experimentalists, and this transformation mirrored the country as a whole. This five-part documentary series looks at how the world's most famous pop group personified one of the most explosive and volatile decades of the 20th century. Although the 60s generation had it all, a changing political landscape and changing attitudes to sex and relationships were dragging Britain into a new age. By the end of the decade, The Beatles had split up, proving that the band's personalities and their music had become true symbols of an iconic decade.