The Beatles' "lost" first Top of the Pops performance has finally been found

19 June 2026, 12:41

Original 35mm footage including the two songs has been discovered.

The Beatles and Top of the Pops are two British institutions, but nearly all of the footage of the band on the show has been lost to the sands of time.

As with the vast majority of the first decade of the show, their performances were wiped long ago, making the recordings something of a holy grail for fans of both The Beatles and Top of the Pops.

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Amazingly, long-lost film footage from the band's very first performance on the show – on March 19, 1964 – has now been discovered.

The band pre-recorded mimed performances of both sides of their then-current single 'Can't Buy Me Love' and 'You Can't Do That' at the BBC's London studios for later broadcast on the show.

Snippets of the performance on 8mm have emerged previously, but are borderline unwatchable, and this newly found footage will be something else altogether.

Film is Fabulous! – an initiative to preserve vulnerable film collections held privately in the UK - has revealed that they were given a 35mm negative of film inserts at a recent convention.

The Beatles on Top of the pops 25/3/1964 (original video)

"Film is Fabulous! is delighted to confirm the 35mm negative presented to John Franklin at the recent British Film Collectors' Convention (BFCC) in Oxted, on behalf of the family of a deceased former industry professional, contains the missing BBC film inserts of The Beatles first appearance on Top of the Tops [sic]," read a post on Facebook.

"Recorded on the 19th March 1964, at the BBC's Television Theatre (since renamed The Shepherd's Bush Empire), in London, the inserts beautifully captured the Fab Four at the height of Beatlemania.

"Passages of the recording show the studio, the technicians, and the make-up ladies. There were four takes of the first song, 'Can't Buy Me Love', with two being aborted because of technical errors. During breaks, the Beatles openly joked, and could be seen dancing to amuse themselves.

"The other song, 'You Can’t Do That', had two takes. During the second of these recordings John Lennon pulled a funny face when the camera came in for a 'close-up' It's an amusing piece of Beatle history.

"Film is Fabulous! will return the digital scan, and the 35mm negative, to BBC Archives. Discussions will also be held with other parts of the corporation to ensure the content is made available to a wide audience."

From the description, it seems as thought high quality film footage of all the takes is present, as well as the behind the scenes moments.

The Beatles on Top Of The Pops - 15 April, 1965 - Surviving Extract - HQ Best Quality

While The Beatles featured on Top of the Pops many times in their early years, they almost always pre-recorded their appearances in London, rather than traipsing to Manchester's Dickenson Road Studios where the show was filmed for its first couple of years.

They only actually performed live on the TOTP stage once, on June 16, 1966, where they played 'Paperback Writer' and 'Rain'.

And after they quit touring, The Beatles would instead send promotional clips – some of the first recognised music videos – to represent and promote their hits.