Eras

After establishing themselves as one of music’s pop giants, the ABBA legacy continues in an exciting new chapter - ABBA Voyage. The futuristic and visually groundbreaking show ignites a new love for ABBA, once again.

In Episode 5, Sara Cox sits down with the producers of ABBA Voyage - Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson (who is also Benny from the band’s son) to discuss how the concept came about, and what really went into creating one of the most talked about shows of the last decade.

As Svana and Ludvig give us an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at ABBA in the studio and Sara Cox also digs into what might be on the cards for ABBA in the future.

A Cup & Nuzzle Production for BBC Sounds and Radio 2.

They’re famous for their marriages, divorces, and impossibly perfect pop songs.

But how much do you really know about ABBA?

In this series, Sara Cox is your guide to Sweden’s biggest musical export.

When Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Anni-Frid won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, their lives changed forever. But that win didn’t come easy.

Because the road to Waterloo is a long one. It took years of hard work, and the combination of four world-class talents - each of them already successful in their own right - to pull it off.

Through the BBC’s archive and new interviews with experts and insiders - as well as the group’s timeless back catalogue - you’ll get to know ABBA like never before.

With Waterloo, ABBA became an international act. But in the aftermath, they were almost written off as one-hit wonders.

In Episode 2 of ABBA: Eras, Sara Cox tells the story of how the group pulled themselves back from the brink of obscurity - and found legions of new fans a very long way from Sweden.

Featuring rare BBC archive material, expert interviews and lashings of ABBA’s indelible pop, this is your window into the musical genius and sheer perseverance that brought ABBA to their rightful place at the top.

It’s 1979, and ABBA are one of the world’s most famous bands. But beneath their successful surface, things are changing.

In Episode 3, Sara Cox follows the band to the peak of their career. As ABBA release some of their most iconic and sophisticated music, their personal relationships come under incredible strain. The band play on - but how long can they really last?

Through the BBC Archive and brand new interviews, we chronicle the beginning of the end for the masters of the scene.

After a wildly successful but gruelling decade, ABBA were no more. Their ‘indefinite hiatus’ allowed each member of the group to follow their own path. But nothing lasts forever - not even endings.

In Episode 4, Sara Cox tells the story of a comeback like no other.

From pop history’s greatest Greatest Hits, to theatrical smashes, Hollywood acclaim and futuristic entertainment experiences, ABBA have achieved a truly timeless legacy.

Through the BBC Archive and brand new interviews, you’ll understand exactly why.

In the final episode of Eras: The Beatles, we hear the story behind The Beatles' final single Now and Then, including new interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Narrated by Martin Freeman, the episode also features insight on the new track from Sean Ono Lennon, Olivia Harrison and Peter Jackson. In 1994, Yoko Ono gave Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr a selection of unfinished demo tapes recorded by John Lennon in the 1970s. Two of those songs, Free as a Bird and Real Love, were arranged and released on 1995’s Beatles: Anthology project. A third demo was never completed. At the time, the tape was deemed too muddy to work with. But, decades later, a new machine-assisted learning programme, pioneered by Get Back director Peter Jackson and his team, made Now and Then, the final Beatles single, possible – with each Beatle performing on the track. Listen to the story of how it came about as Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and more reflect on the decades and discuss the making of the band’s last song.

If you’re in the biggest band there ever was, how do you cope when it all comes crashing down? That’s the question John, Paul, George and Ringo were asking themselves in the spring of 1970, when it was announced that The Beatles were breaking up for good. In part five, Martin Freeman arrives at the end of an era - and the start of four more. In the aftermath of the split, bitter recriminations give way to new beginnings, and each individual Beatle embarks on a successful solo career. Rumours of a reunion swirl, before a senseless act of violence seems to draw a line under their story as a unit. But a band like The Beatles never goes away - it lives forever in the people who love it... and this is a story that never really ends.

When tragedy strikes at the end of 1967, the Beatles are faced with an uncertain future. In the months and years to come, cracks begin to show in the foundations of the world’s most powerful musical unit. As each member matured and developed as artists, the end became inevitable. In part four of Eras: The Beatles, Martin Freeman explores the pressures that broke the biggest band on the planet, and the incredible music that this turbulent era produced. From the high-minded psychedelia of Magical Mystery Tour to the drama of Let It Be and the masterpiece that was Abbey Road, the BBC Archive team have scoured their collections to bring you the interviews that shine a light on a dark period for the Beatles.

No high lasts forever. And in 1966, the pressures of fame begin to weigh on the globetrotting lives of John, Paul, George and Ringo. From a close-call with military police in the Philippines to an all-out religious backlash in the United States, the band starts to question whether being a Beatle is quite so fab after all. Maybe it’s time for something new... to become a different band entirely. In part three of Eras: The Beatles, Martin Freeman finds the band at a critical juncture in their story - the extraordinary decision to abandon the live shows that made their name, and embrace the potential of the recording studio with the groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Featuring illuminating archive from the band and their contemporaries, we’ll follow The Beatles as they shape popular music for decades to come with the birth of the concept album.

In Eras: The Beatles, Martin Freeman tells the story of the Fab Four’s rise, fall and rebirth - and how they changed the world along the way. It’s 1964. British Beatlemania is in full swing. But this summer, the Fab Four are about to go global - and nothing can stand in their way. In part two of Eras: The Beatles, the band scales new heights as they enter the pop stratosphere on both sides of the Atlantic. From silver-screen adventures to the invention of Stadium Rock, the BBC Archive team have scoured their collection for the interviews that put you right at the heart of those manic months on the road - including a special find that hasn’t been heard since it was first broadcast 60 years ago.