1964 The Beatles' Missing Television Performance Footage Found

Previously lost film footage of The Beatles performing on the BBC's Top Of The Pops has reportedly been found and will be restored.

The band pre-recorded an appearance on the classic British music show on 19 March 1964 for performances of ‘Can't Buy Me Love' and its B-side ‘You Can't Do That.' The song was released as a single the following day and went on to be their fourth UK Number One.

Many episodes of Top Of The Pops have now been lost in time, often because the BBC regularly wiped and reused tapes. However, the film preservation group Film Is Fabulous has revealed that they were presented with a 35mm BBC negative of the performance at the recent British Film Collectors' Convention in Surrey.

If successfully restored, this would be the oldest surviving footage of the quartet on the weekly British music show, which ran between 1964 and 2004.

The group claimed that the family of a deceased former industry professional had passed the film on to them, and that they would work to restore the footage. They hope to be able to give the final results to the BBC.

"Discussions will also be held with other parts of the corporation to ensure the content is made available to a wide audience," Film Is Fabulous wrote on their Facebook page.

The Beatles on ToTPs



Film is Fabulous! is delighted to confirm the 35mm negative presented to John Franklin at the recent film convention in Oxted, contains the The Beatles first appearance on Top of the Tops. pic.twitter.com/hPvOjqPR8u

— filmisfabulous (@filmisfabulous) June 18, 2026

"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," the preservationists wrote on their social media.

"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."

Snippets of the performance on 8mm have previously been unearthed, but are very grainy and difficult to watch. Hopefully, this new footage will show the performance in better detail.

Related: The Rolling Stones and The Beatles Rivalry Rumor Is Finally Addressed by Lead Singer

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published June 20, 2026 at 7:13 PM.