The Nation’s Favourite Beatles Number One

The Beatles were a musical sensation like no other. Since exploding onto the music scene in the early 60s, the band has had an unparalleled musical and cultural impact on Britain and the world for over fifty years.

The Nation’s Favourite Beatles Number One will tell the stories behind some of the greatest Beatles songs ever. With interviews from Beatles’ insiders including musicians, friends, fellow performers and celebrity fans, we’ll hear about the stories behind the Fab Four’s best-loved hits.

These are the stories behind the 27 songs that reached number one here and in the U.S – from She Loves You to Let it Be – as the show hears from the people who were there to witness in person the extraordinary rise and rise of The Beatles.

Across 120 minutes, this prime-time celebration of the biggest and most influential band the world has ever seen uses archive from a number of sources, including rare and exclusive footage from the Beatles’ company Apple Corps.

Produced by Shiver, ‘The Nation’s Favourite’ format has previously counted down the hits of musical sensations and genres including Abba, Elvis, Queen, and Motown.

The Nation’s Favourite Beatles Number One is commissioned for ITV by Priya Singh, Commissioning Editor, Factual and Richard Klein, Director of Factual.

Commissioning Editor Priya Singh said: “The Beatles are a band that have defined popular culture and music for decades and so we’re thrilled to be celebrating their hits on ITV. Everyone’s got a favourite Beatles number one – but which is yours and which will be the nation’s?”

The programme is executive produced by Mark Robinson and produced by Stephen McGinn and John Piper.

Executive Producer Mark Robinson said: “The Beatles have had more number one singles in the UK than any other band. It’s a tough call to even start predicting what might be voted the nation’s favourite.

“It’s extraordinary to think that The Beatles’ output changed so dramatically within seven years – these are 27 songs that chart that extraordinary revolution in popular music”.

All the songs from the programme feature on the brand new CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray releases of The Beatles 1 and the deluxe edition The Beatles 1+. A visual rundown of The Beatles’ number one records, The Beatles 1 pairs beautifully restored videos for each song with brand new audio mixes. The Beatles 1+ includes additional bonus material of over 200 minutes of promotional films and videos.