The Only Known Footage Of A Classic Beatles Performance Was Saved By A Doctor Who Episode

Back in the '60s, a famous crossover between "Doctor Who" and The Beatles prevented one of the band's performances from disappearing, TARDIS-like, into thin air. In the first episode of the 1965 story, "The Chase," The Beatles can be seen performing "Ticket to Ride" on "Top of the Pops" through the TARDIS' time-space visualizer.

The classic rock group participated in Britain's top pop show in April of that same year, but the original footage of the performance has since been wiped. According to the BBC, the only record is in the short clip shown on "Doctor Who." Due to copyright laws, several audiences are unable to watch it on streaming or on DVDs distributed internationally. The Beatles' imagery and music are so hard to license, even "For All Mankind" changed an Easter egg over lawsuit fears.

The Beatles might appear in "The Chase" through video footage, but the band was originally supposed to guest star in the series, playing older versions of themselves performing at a 50th anniversary show. The idea was scrapped by Brian Epstein, the band's manager at the time, who believed that this cameo wouldn't be a good fit for them. 

The scene where The Beatles' "Ticket to Ride" performance appears in the series features the Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions bopping along. A British space colonist from the future named Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) even says, "They're marvelous, but I didn't know they played classical music." Although the line was supposed to be ironic, it has become arguably accurate in hindsight, since The Beatles have long been considered a defining classic rock group.

Since then, "Doctor Who" has referenced The Beatles on countless occasions, but never as prominently as in the 2024 episode, "The Devil's Chord." In it, the Doctor (played by Ncuti Gatwa) time-travels alongside Ruby (Millie Gibson) to meet The Beatles in 1963. The duo strolls through Abbey Road and pays a visit to Abbey Road Studios, where the band is recording their debut album, "Please Please Me." Instead of catching a groundbreaking recording session, the Doctor and Ruby witness The Beatles recording one of their worst tracks ever. 

The incident leads Gatwa's character to realize that someone has been altering history, particularly messing with the role of music throughout time. The villain in question is Maestro, a music-consuming cosmic entity played by "RuPaul's Drag Race" winner Jinkx Monsoon. A world devoid of music is bound to be doomed, so the Doctor is very worried about Maestro and must find a way to banish him once and for all. 

Showrunner Russell T. Davis told TVLine that the goal was to make Season 14 of "Doctor Who" a joyful "escape from the real world." This is a sentiment that Gatwa echoed while discussing "The Devil's Chord" with Salon and how the episode benefits Series 14. "Song and dance tend to be things that spring out of us when we're feeling joyful, and musicals are just, yeah, exactly what Russell said: Joy." Given the fact that The Beatles have been a part of the "Doctor Who" universe for years — with the show providing audiences with archival footage of the band performing — it was about time for the Doctor to be face-to-face with the band (even if through a fictional iteration).