New shots of The Beatles show the band relaxing during the making of 'Help'

The Beatles’ 1965 film Help remains a pivotal creation in the band’s development; capturing them at a time when the quartet’s more experimental leanings were being explored, with a bias towards the surreal and abstract.

Directed by Richard Lester, the film’s plot revolves around Ringo’s possession of a sacrificial ring, which he can’t remove from his finger, setting up the the band being chased from London to the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas by religious cult, members, a mad scientist and the London police.

Help finally found its way to the iTunes store last month, alongside a new 30-minute documentary about the making of the film and those wonderful folks at Apple have slipped up some exclusive stills from the behind the scenes – all taken between February and May 1965.