The Beatles
The Beatles, also known as the Fab Four, (AUDIO: 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men [+]Loading...["1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (audio story)"], PROSE: Time and Relative [+]Loading...["Time and Relative (novel)"]) were a music group from Liverpool in the 1960s. (TV: "The Executioners" [+]Part of The Chase, Loading...{"namedep":"The Executioners (1)","1":"The Chase (TV story)"}, PROSE: Time and Relative [+]Loading...["Time and Relative (novel)"])
The First Doctor, Barbara Wright, Ian Chesterton, and Vicki Pallister observed a Beatles performance of "Ticket to Ride" on the Time-Space Visualiser. (TV: "The Executioners" [+]Part of The Chase, Loading...{"namedep":"The Executioners (1)","1":"The Chase (TV story)"})
Members[[edit] | [edit source]]
The group consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. (PROSE: The Left-Handed Hummingbird [+]Loading...["The Left-Handed Hummingbird (novel)"], COMIC: Forever Dreaming [+]Loading...["Forever Dreaming (comic story)"])
Pete Best had also been a member before the band hit the big time. Some people believed the Beatles wouldn't last without him. (PROSE: Business Unusual [+]Loading...["Business Unusual (novel)"])
Stuart Sutcliffe also left the Beatles "before they made it big". (PROSE: Slow Decay [+]Loading...["Slow Decay (novel)"]) After teaching himself to play guitar, the Sixth Doctor travelled to Hamburg and stopped "Stu" from entering a club, convincing him to go home to his girlfriend instead. The Doctor then went into the club and, when Stu's band grumbled about his absence, offered to take his place. (PROSE: Gone Too Soon [+]Loading...["Gone Too Soon (short story)"])
Billy and Klaus joined the band after Paul McCartney left. (PROSE: The Devil Goblins from Neptune [+]Loading...["The Devil Goblins from Neptune (novel)"])
Iris Wildthyme once claimed to be the fifth member of the Beatles. (AUDIO: Iris Wildthyme and the Sound of Fear [+]Loading...["Iris Wildthyme and the Sound of Fear (audio story)"])
Brian Epstein served as the group's manager. (TV: The Devil's Chord [+]Loading...["The Devil's Chord (TV story)"], PROSE: Byzantium! [+]Loading...["Byzantium! (novel)"])
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
20th century[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Sixth Doctor jammed with the Beatles in Hamburg before they were big. (PROSE: Gone Too Soon [+]Loading...["Gone Too Soon (short story)"])
The Beatles' first concert was at the Cavern Club, a nightclub in Liverpool in 1961. According to the Eleventh Doctor, 96% of the audience were time travellers — and so was Lennon. (COMIC: What He Wants... [+]Loading...["What He Wants... (comic story)"])
The Tenth Doctor took Donna Noble back in time to see the Beatles perform "My Bonnie" at the Cavern Club. She ended up having them sign the album 1 which they hadn't made at the time – and which was on the yet-to-be-invented CD format. (COMIC: The Time of My Life [+]Loading...["The Time of My Life (comic story)"])
Graham O'Brien wanted the Thirteenth Doctor to take him to see this performance, but she was unable to as she had "used up all of the dates". (COMIC: The Power of the Mobox [+]Loading...["The Power of the Mobox (comic story)"]) By one account, the group suddenly turned into a pack of howling wolves during this performance, as a result of Rose-the-cat meddling with the Doctor's TARDIS. (COMIC: A Rose by Any Other Name [+]Loading...["A Rose by Any Other Name (comic story)"])
"Love Me Do", one of the Beatles' very first releases, was considered by Susan Foreman to be the most important song of the five years before 1963 and said that listeners at the time would later be proud to have been alive at the birth of the Beatles. At the time, however, not all were that enthusiastic. (PROSE: Time and Relative [+]Loading...["Time and Relative (novel)"])
They released their first two albums in 1963. (GAME: City of the Daleks [+]Loading...["City of the Daleks (video game)"])
In October 1963, Susan and Cedric Chivers listened to the Beatles on Susan's transistor radio. Cedric claimed that the Beatles were always playing on the radio. (AUDIO: Hunters of Earth [+]Loading...["Hunters of Earth (audio story)"])
The Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond travelled to 1963 to meet the Beatles, but were diverted into an alternate timeline created by the Daleks. After escaping it, the Doctor took them to meet Ringo Starr even though Amy had wanted to meet John Lennon. (GAME: City of the Daleks [+]Loading...["City of the Daleks (video game)"])
Also in 1963, the Tenth Doctor took Martha Jones to see a performance by the Beatles. (COMIC: Signs of Life [+]Loading...["Signs of Life (comic story)"])
In early 1964, the Beatles' song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was knocked off the top of the British charts by the Dave Clark Five song "Glad All Over", which peaked at No. 6 in the United States. (AUDIO: Threshold [+]Loading...["Threshold (audio story)"])
By 13 July 1964, the Beatles had sold out the first leg of their United Kingdom tour. (TV: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? [+]Loading...["Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? (TV story)"])
In November 1964, the Beatles went on tour in England. Ibrahim Hadmani, Helena, Andy Hansen, and Erimem got tickets by way of time travel to see them. (PROSE: In Search of Doctor X [+]Loading...["In Search of Doctor X (short story)"])
The Beatles performed their song "Ticket to Ride" on the 13 May 1965 instalment of Top of the Pops. The First Doctor and his companions Vicki Pallister, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright watched it via the Time-Space Visualiser. (TV: "The Executioners" [+]Part of The Chase, Loading...{"namedep":"The Executioners (1)","1":"The Chase (TV story)"}) According to one account which claimed that the Visualiser was a hoax, the people seen on the Visualiser were not the genuine historical figures but human slaves of the Pursuer-Daleks who were made to re-enact the event as a deception for the Doctor and his companions. (PROSE: Dalek Survival Guide [+]Loading...["Dalek Survival Guide (novel)"])
On his travels, the Monk, a renegade Time Lord, acquired a copy of the Beatles' appearance on the television series Juke Box Jury during the 1960s, which had been lost to history. (AUDIO: The Resurrection of Mars [+]Loading...["The Resurrection of Mars (audio story)"])
At some point during the 1960s, the Beatles received MBEs. (AUDIO: The Perpetual Bond [+]Loading...["The Perpetual Bond (audio story)"])
In 1969, Ace prevented Huitzilin from killing the Beatles on the roof of the Apple building on Savile Row. (PROSE: The Left-Handed Hummingbird [+]Loading...["The Left-Handed Hummingbird (novel)"]) The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones tried, unsuccessfully to attend the same concert. (COMIC: Black Death White Life [+]Loading...["Black Death White Life (comic story)"])
At some point during the concert, time distortion from the Rift Manipulator transported the Beatles to the roof of the same building in the 2000s. They were sent back after Torchwood opened up the Cardiff Rift. (TV: End of Days [+]Loading...["End of Days (TV story)"])
In September 1969, James Stevens got a Beatle to pose with him, making his marriage a front-page story. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy [+]Loading...["Who Killed Kennedy (novel)"])
In 1970, Paul McCartney left the Beatles. They acquired two new members, Billy and Klaus. (PROSE: The Devil Goblins from Neptune [+]Loading...["The Devil Goblins from Neptune (novel)"])
A German man was born the day the Beatles split up. (PROSE: Father Time [+]Loading...["Father Time (novel)"])
Mark David Chapman, manipulated by Huitzilin, shot ex-Beatle John Lennon outside his hotel on 8 December 1980. (PROSE: The Left-Handed Hummingbird [+]Loading...["The Left-Handed Hummingbird (novel)"])
The Second Doctor met the group at some point. (WC: Doctors Assemble! [+]Loading...["Doctors Assemble! (webcast)"])
21st century and after[[edit] | [edit source]]
By the 25th century, a museum dedicated to them existed in their home town of Liverpool. Vicki Pallister knew of them but had not realised that they played what she referred to as classical music. (TV: "The Executioners" [+]Part of The Chase, Loading...{"namedep":"The Executioners (1)","1":"The Chase (TV story)"})
Almost nothing was known of the Beatles in the 26th century. (PROSE: The Dead Men Diaries [+]Loading...["The Dead Men Diaries (short story)"])
By the 42nd century, they were considered classical music and appeared in a list of questions in the SS Pentallian's security lock, although Riley Vashtee implied the questions automatically changed due to the presence of Martha Jones and the Tenth Doctor on the ship. (TV: 42 [+]Loading...["42 (TV story)"])
Further in the future, the DJ on Necros had posters of several of the Beatles in his recording studio. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Revelation of the Daleks (TV story)"])
The Eleventh Doctor listed "...Join the Beatles..." along with other things that he could do before he died. (TV: The Wedding of River Song [+]Loading...["The Wedding of River Song (TV story)"])
Hakim Khan attempted to get his Alexa to play the album Rubber Soul, but was given directions to the nearest shoe shop instead. (TV: Spyfall [+]Loading...["Spyfall (TV story)"])
Song references[[edit] | [edit source]]
"Paperback Writer" and "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" played in the background of cafés visited by the Doctor, (TV: The Evil of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The Evil of the Daleks (TV story)"], Remembrance of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)"]) as did The Beatles' recording of "A Taste of Honey". (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)"])
Vicki knew all the words to the Beatles' first LP. Barbara questioned if this was something a young woman should know. (AUDIO: 1963 [+]Loading...["1963 (audio story)"]) Jo quoted "I Am the Walrus", after the Third Doctor said, "I am he and he is me," she replied, "and we are all together, goo-goo-goo-joob?" She explained it was a song by The Beatles, to which the Second Doctor asked how it went, intending to play it on his recorder. (TV: The Three Doctors [+]Loading...["The Three Doctors (TV story)"])
The Seventh Doctor referenced a song by the group, saying "It's been a hard day's night", at a dinner party in Gabriel Chase. (TV: Ghost Light [+]Loading...["Ghost Light (TV story)"]) Andy Hansen bought the albums Beatles for Sale and A Hard Day's Night in 1964 as a Christmas gift for Helena. (PROSE: In Search of Doctor X [+]Loading...["In Search of Doctor X (short story)"])
Lucie Miller quoted one of the group's songs when asking if the Eighth Doctor would still need her when she was sixty-four. (AUDIO: Immortal Beloved [+]Loading...["Immortal Beloved (audio story)"])
Karimov quotes the lyric "four thousand holes in Blackburn Lancashire" when he mishears Lucie saying she was from Blackpool. (AUDIO: Brave New Town [+]Loading...["Brave New Town (audio story)"])
The Tenth Doctor told Martha Jones he was a bit busy to remember who had more number one singles, then muttered, "Here Comes the Sun", before returning to the problem at hand – which happened to be that they were falling into a star. The Beatles were a part of the quiz to get the ship working again, made by the crew. (TV: 42 [+]Loading...["42 (TV story)"])
The Tenth Doctor once told the Vaipid Committee that there wasn't a great secret to happiness: as the Beatles had said it was just "All You Need Is Love". (COMIC: Shadow of the Vaipid [+]Loading...["Shadow of the Vaipid (comic story)"])
Other references[[edit] | [edit source]]
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The Beatles were considered one of, if not the most, influential musical congregations of the second half of the 20th century. (TV: "The Executioners" [+]Part of The Chase, Loading...{"namedep":"The Executioners (1)","1":"The Chase (TV story)"}, PROSE: Time and Relative [+]Loading...["Time and Relative (novel)"])
Isobel Watkins, Mike Yates, Polly Wright, Ace and Jo Grant all compared the Second Doctor's hairstyle to those worn by the Beatles. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy [+]Loading...["Who Killed Kennedy (novel)"]; AUDIO: The Hexford Invasion [+]Loading...["The Hexford Invasion (audio story)"], The Three Companions [+]Loading...["The Three Companions (audio story)"], The Light at the End [+]Loading...["The Light at the End (audio story)"], The Defectors [+]Loading...["The Defectors (audio story)"]) Susan Foreman pointed out that the First Doctor's hair was longer than the Fab Four's. (PROSE: Time and Relative [+]Loading...["Time and Relative (novel)"])
The Eighth Doctor had copies of their songs. (PROSE: Anachrophobia [+]Loading...["Anachrophobia (novel)"])
On visiting East Sussex in 1912, Vicki expressed a desire to visit London and see the Beatles, not realising that she was decades too early. This led Constance Arden to believe that she was a keen coleopterist, given her apparent interest in beetles. (AUDIO: The Suffering [+]Loading...["The Suffering (audio story)"])
Jo Grant once considered asking the Third Doctor to take her to a Beatles concert. (PROSE: Come Friendly Bombs... [+]Loading...["Come Friendly Bombs... (short story)"])
Father Martin described himself as "a new-fangled trendy priest, out go the hymn books, in come the Beatles and the Kinks". (PROSE: Do You Dream in Colour? [+]Loading...["Do You Dream in Colour? (short story)"])
Sylvia Noble told her daughter Donna that the Beatles were the most beautiful music in the universe. (PROSE: Most Beautiful Music [+]Loading...["Most Beautiful Music (short story)"])
Lucie Miller owned a Beatles T-shirt when travelling with the Doctor. (AUDIO: Dead London [+]Loading...["Dead London (audio story)"])
Alternative timelines[[edit] | [edit source]]
Fitz Kreiner saw the Beatles perform at Live Aid in an alternative 1985 in which they did not break up in 1970. In this parallel universe, "Back Home" and "Little Girl" were Beatles songs. "Jealous Guy" also had different lyrics. Fitz collected alternate timeline Beatles records during his travels with the Eighth Doctor. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles [+]Loading...["The Gallifrey Chronicles (novel)"])
In an alternate timeline manipulated by Lenny Kruger, the Common Men became the most famous band in the world in place of the Beatles. The timeline was repaired by the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa. (AUDIO: 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men [+]Loading...["1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (audio story)"])
Other realities[[edit] | [edit source]]
In the Daft Dimension, the Second Doctor, not long after his regeneration, joined the Beatles as their recorder player, fitting in with them thanks to his haircut.
By this point, the group were writing a song called "The Fool on the Hill". (COMIC: The Daft Dimension 506 [+]Loading...["The Daft Dimension (DWM 506 comic story)","''The Daft Dimension'' 506"])
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
Appearance in The Chase[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Beatles were to have filmed an in-studio cameo for The Chase in which they played elderly versions of themselves, circa 1996, playing at the Festival of Ghana. The band's manager, Brian Epstein, vetoed this on the grounds that it would be poor for the group's image. Had the planned cameo gone through, this would have contradicted John Lennon's death in 1980, creating an anachronism.
As a compromise, Epstein allowed the production team to use footage from a 1965 Top of the Pops episode of the group singing "Ticket to Ride". Ironically, this clip only survives because of its use in the first episode of The Chase, as that specific Top of the Pops episode no longer exists in the BBC Archives. Thus, the clip that Who's production team sourced is the only known surviving footage of that performance known to exist.
Appearance in The Devil's Chord[[edit] | [edit source]]
All four members of the Beatles appeared as characters in the 2024 episode "The Devil's Chord". In a rarity for Doctor Who, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were featured in the series while their real-life counterparts were still alive. The premise of the episode was inspired by the fact that the Beatles' songs could not be used in the series due to the prohibitively high cost of obtaining the rights.
The Beatles continuing after 1970[[edit] | [edit source]]
The reference in The Devil Goblins from Neptune, suggesting the Beatles continued as a group with new members after 1970, implies the story might take place in an alternate timeline or reality, or that in the Whoniverse the history of the Beatles differed from the real world. This is supported by the reference to an alternate-timeline version of the Beatles in The Gallifrey Chronicles that never broke up and were still performing in 1985.
At the end of the original BBC trailer for the 105-minute compilation repeat of Planet of the Spiders, as broadcast Thursday 26 December 1974, the 1974 BBC One Christmas globe appears and the continuity announcer's voice-over tells viewers that coming up next is "The Beatles" — referring to a showing of the Fab Four's 1965 adventure/comedy feature film Help![1]
Use of songs in Doctor Who stories[[edit] | [edit source]]
As mentioned above, The Evil of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks originally had the Beatles songs "Paperback Writer" and "Do You Want to Know a Secret?", respectively, as background music. Rights issues caused complications for the BBC. The audio release of the former story edited out the song, while the video release of Remembrance replaced the original with a cover version. Since "Ticket to Ride" appears so prominently in The Chase, the appearance of the song in that story accounts in part for the delay in releasing that story onto DVD.
In March 2010, The Chase was finally released to DVD in Region 2 (Europe) with the "Ticket to Ride" sequence intact. It was later announced that despite the clip originating from a BBC programme, that permission could not be obtained for the sequence to be included in non-European releases of the story, which has resulted in the master being used for Region 1 (North America) and Region 4 (Australia and region) being edited to remove the sequence.[1] A less-obvious edit occurred with the DVD release of Remembrance of the Daleks which saw the Beatles recordings heard on its soundtrack replaced by cover versions by other artists.
Maxwell Edison, a recurring character and occasional companion of various incarnations of the Doctor in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip, is named after the eponymous murderous character in "Maxwell's Silver Hammer".
"My Bonnie" was one of the few songs performed and recorded by the Beatles that was not in copyright as of The Time of My Life's publication in Doctor Who Magazine in 2008. As a result, Jonathan Morris wrote the Beatles performing the song in The Cavern Club in The Time of My Life.[2]
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ Planet of the Spiders DVD release.
- ↑ Commentary in The Widow's Curse graphic novel
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