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It’s hard to pinpoint whose idea it was, but the characteristic moptop became a Beatles trademark, spawning thousands of imitation wigs.

Their legacy lives on in unexpected ways.

Craig Brown presents a series of kaleidoscopic glimpses of the Beatles through time.

Drawing on interviews, diaries, anecdotes, memoirs and gossip, he offers an entertaining series of vignettes that capture the mood of an era.

It’s a journey that takes us from 9th November 1961 when Brian Epstein first heard the four young men in a sweaty basement, via their mop top haircuts, to the jaw-dropping prices paid for the most trivial of memorabilia.

And along the way there is the music, always the exuberant, the playful and ever-changing music.

Read by Mark McGann and Craig Brown

Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters

A Waters Company production for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2021.