Video of 'lost' Beatles Top of the Pops performance unearthed in Mexico

The BBC did not keep the original tapes of the 1966 performance 
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Video footage of the Beatles’ only live Top of the Pops appearance has been unearthed in Mexico.

The 11-second silent clip shows the legendary Merseyside band miming along to Paperback Writer during their 1966 appearance on the chart show.

It was previously thought that all video records of the performance had been lost, as the BBC did not keep the original tapes.

However, the show was captured by a family in Liverpool, who filmed their TV set with an 8mm camera, BBC News reports.

The footage eventually reached a collector in Mexico, who contacted Birmingham-based company Kaleidoscope, who specialise in finding missing TV footage.

“I think if you’re a Beatles fan, it is the holy grail,” Kaleidoscope’s Chris Perry told the BBC.

“People thought it was gone forever because videotape wasn’t kept in 1966. To find it all these years later was stunning.”

Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr pre-recorded a number of hits for Top of the Pops, but only performed live on June 16, 1966.

As a result, this episode of the show has been an ongoing point of discussion for devoted fans of the group.

Unearthed footage: The Beatles performed at Top of the Pops in June 1966
Getty Images

The band also mimed along to Rain, the B-side to Paperback Writer, during the performance, which marked one of their last live TV appearances together.

Discussing the lost footage in 2000, a BBC spokesperson said: “We don’t know whether or not this particular piece of Top of the Pops history has disappeared forever, but unfortunately there was a time when BBC programmes were not archived as carefully as they are today and some programmes were sadly lost.”

The ‘lost’ clip will be screened at the BFI as part of the Music Believed Wiped programme on April 20.

Hosted by Kaleidoscope, the screening will also feature footage of Elton John, T-Rex and Nina Simone.

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