Watch clip from new Beatles film It Was Fifty Years Ago Today

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Clip from new Beatles documentary It Was Fifty Years Ago Today! Sgt Pepper & Beyond focuses on the death of manager Brian Epstein

John Lennon, Brian Epstein and Paul McCartney
John Lennon, Brian Epstein and Paul McCartney

A clip from new Beatles documentary It Was Fifty Years Ago Today! Sgt Pepper & Beyond has been released ahead of the film’s official launch.

The Alan G Parker directed film will be be screened in cinemas from May 26 – the 50th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, with the new excerpt focusing on the death of Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein.

He died at the age of 32 in August 1967 with the clip showing a news report from the time along with interviews with Apple Records’ Tony Bramwell and John Lennon’s sister Julia Baird.

Watch the clip below.

It Was Fifty Years Ago Today! Sgt Pepper & Beyond is set between August 1966 and August 1967 and explores why the band stopped touring during this period and how Sgt. Pepper was conceived and then recorded at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in London.

Parker said: “We’re combining first-hand accounts of the events that allowed Sgt. Pepper to happen with rare and unseen footage that we’ve forensically unearthed from mainstream archives and private collectors.

“The last days of touring, the execution of the album – and the aftermath that it left behind will, I hope, give the audience an intimate sense of the band, the time and the impact of this extraordinary album.”

Following its cinema release, the documentary will launch digitally on June 1 and on DVD and Blu-ray on June 5. A collector’s edition double-disc Blu-Ray and double-disc DVD with more than four hours of exclusive bonus material will also be out in July.

The Fab Four’s home city of Liverpool kicks off its celebration of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band today (May 25).

The city is curating the Sgt. Pepper At 50: Heading For Home arts festival which sees a broad range of artists from the worlds of music, dance, art, poetry and theatre come together to reimagine each of the album’s 13 tracks in 13 separate events.

The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s...50th Anniversary Edition album review

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more for Louder. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, The Tragically Hip, Marillion and Rush.