About six decades after the Beatles’ first appearance on *Top of the Pops*, the long-lost film was found

It was March 19, 1964, when they walked through the doors of the Top of the Pops studio for the first time. By then, the Beatles were already the biggest pop-rock band on the planet, and they had proven it the previous month.

Fresh from their tour of the United States—where the Fab Four had traveled in February to the other side of the Atlantic, sending their thousands of fans into a frenzy— they stepped onto the set of the most successful music show on television and made history.

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Their appearance that day on Top of the Pops was divided into two parts: the first was performed without an audience, as the Beatles had obtained special permission to record “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “You Can’t Do That”—two songs that made up the A- and B-sides of their new single.

The single was released the next day and became their fourth No. 1 on the UK charts.

The second part of their appearance on the show took place in the… traditional way: in front of a live audience, performing the same songs. The episode aired six days later, racking up huge ratings.

Of course, we’re talking about 1964—a time when the BBC didn’t keep archives of *Top of the Pops*, with the result that the Beatles’ performance has been considered “lost” for decades.

The Beatles’ missing 1964 ‘Top of the Pops’ performance footage found

Original 35mm film of “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “You Can’t Do That” will now be restored and returned to the BBC archives https://t.co/hvtwMoEuR5

— NME (@NME) June 18, 2026

That hasn’t been the case for the past few days. A 35mm negative from the BBC of that particular performance has been found, and now the film preservation team at Film Is Fabulous has the difficult task of bringing it back to life.

The team announced that they will work to restore the footage and return it to the BBC Archives. “Discussions will also be held with other departments within the company to ensure that the content will be available to a wide audience,” according to a post on the Film Is Fabulous team’s Facebook page.

Source: in.gr