Director Ron Howard tracks the fan phenomena that was Beatlemania from its zenith - 1963 to 1966 - to its end when the Fab Four withdrew from live performance. Landmarks from their US breakthrough in 1964 with I Want to Hold Your Hand to the controversy prompted by John Lennon's flippant "more popular than Jesus" remark are chronicled in a documentary that includes among its interviewees Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello and Eddie Izzard.