Episode 11 - Abbey Road

In the eleventh month of our year with the Beatles, Graeme Burk and Rob Jones are joined by Steven Schapansky of the popular Doctor Who podcast Radio Free Skaro to discuss the Beatles penultimate or final (depending on whether you agree with Graeme or Rob) album, Abbey Road. The trio discuss whether Abbey Road should be considered the Beatles' final album before moving on to a discussion regarding the surprises the Beatles still demonstrated in this album, the standout tracks and the linked suite of songs. Graeme, Rob and Steven also delve into whether Abbey Road was a progenitor of 1970s music and what state the band was in at the end of their career together.

For extra-credit homework, Graeme, Rob and Steven watch the sadly out-of-print 1982 documentary The Compleat Beatles and discuss why, even today, this is one of the best Beatles documentaries ever made, highlighting the strengths of the documentary, Malcolm MacDowell's narration and George Martin's gravitas. The three (who don't rule) examine why it is that perhaps the best Beatles documentaries are the ones where the Beatles aren't interviewed.