New documentary on Sir Paul McCartney’s lost bass guitar to be released

A new documentary about recovering Sir Paul McCartney’s long lost bass guitar is set to be released as part of the BBC’s Arena series.

The new films will celebrate 50 years of Arena, which began life as a magazine show in 1975 before later moving to standalone films, with other upcoming documentaries on the secret sketchbooks of painter JMW Turner and lost audio tapes of artist LS Lowry.

The Beatle And The Bass will follow the fan-led The Lost Bass Project campaign to recover the Hofner 500/1 bass guitar, which went missing in 1972 and was used on early Beatles songs such as Twist And Shout and She Loves You.

Sir Paul said:

“I think anything that’s nicked, you want back, especially if it has sentimental value. It just went off into the universe and it left us thinking, where did it go? There must be an answer.”

The film features new interviews with Sir Paul, his brother Mike, friend and artist Klaus Voormann, and collaborators such as Elvis Costello, as well as those involved in The Lost Bass Project, which found the instrument in the attic of a terraced house on the south coast of England.

Sir Paul played the bass guitar for the first time in more than 50 years in December last year during his concert at London’s The O2, which also saw him bring out Beatles drummer Sir Ringo Starr and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood.

Sir Paul McCartney performs on stage at the O2 arena in London (Lucy North/PA)

Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks, will look at the artist’s 37,000 private sketches, drawings, and watercolours, including erotic sketches that were previously thought to have been destroyed, and will feature actor Timothy Spall, who played the artist in Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner, as well as artist Tracey Emin.

The film will feature guitarist Wood, who is also an artist, artist and filmmaker Sir John Akomfrah, and naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham, along with an array of art historians.

Lowry: The Lost Tapes will see audio tapes from the final four years of his life reveal his formative memories and experiences that shaped him as an artist, and as a person.

Mark Bell, commissioning editor of BBC Arts, said:

“I am so proud to have had a hand on the tiller of Arena – it is the programme that opened my teenage eyes to authored documentary filmmaking and is widely regarded as the world’s greatest creative documentary strand.

“It has championed art and culture in its myriad manifestations for half a century and has been home to many outstanding directors.”

Since its launch, Arena has seen more than 600 films commissioned including Bob Dylan: No Direction Home, Rudies Come Back: The Rise And Rise Of 2 Tone and Paris is Burning, as well as profiles of the likes of Amy Winehouse, Nelson Mandela and Orson Welles.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary, the BFI will host a screening of My Way and The Chelsea Hotel, two of Arena’s best loved films on October 1 at the National Film Theatre in London.

There will also be a 50th anniversary season of Arena classics on BBC Four this autumn, with a further 50 titles from the archive available on iPlayer.

A release date for the new films is yet to be announced.