In association with Apple Films, the BBC’s Arena show has been granted unique access to some very special unseen footage of the Beatles during the making of a documentary about their 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour and is showing it exclusively at The Arena Hotel at thespace.org

Arena has cut this unseen footage to make a new short in which the Beatles take you on a magical coach trip from the Hotel to a classic British fish and chip shop. Shot en route to Newquay, the final destination of the Magical Mystery Tour, the film is available to view exclusively on The Space.

Magical Mystery Tour was first broadcast as the centrepiece of the BBC’s Boxing Day schedule in 1967. It confused and alienated audiences, was savaged by the critics and, aside from a muted appearance on BBC Two in 1979, has not been shown since.

And this Saturday 6 October at 21.45 on BBC Two, Arena: The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour Revisited  presents a new documentary which reassesses the artistic merit and cultural significance of the film before treating viewers to the digitally remastered full length Magical Mystery Tour – for the first time in 33 years.

Arena Editor, Anthony Wall says, “Few people have seen Magical Mystery Tour in its entirety and the material in the chip shop has never been shown anywhere. It captures perfectly the fabulous  world of The Beatles at this time. They’re happily sharing a simple meal with the other passengers on the coach as the astonished residents of Taunton gather outside and at the same time creating an extraordinarily avant garde film, which of course would soon be broadcast by the BBC to a dumbstruck nation.”