Here is some background information on the 21 (and counting) pieces we have created for the orchestras based on TV themes – old and new. To access the music, the MP3s and the Midi files click here on the TV Themes Resources Page – you will need a password to gain access.
| o. | Title | Composer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detectorists | Johnny Flynn (1983 – ) | A British single-camera comedy series from 2014 written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, who also starred alongside Toby Jones. The series is set in the fictional small town of Danebury in northern Essex; the plot revolves around the lives, loves and metal detecting ambitions of Andy and Lance, members of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club (DMDC). |
| 2 | The Wombles | Mike Batt (1949 – ) | A stop motion animated series (1973–1975) based on books by Elisabeth Beresford. It ran for two seasons and 60 episodes. The title song was written, arranged and performed by Mike Batt. An album of the songs from the series spent 17 weeks in the UK album charts, peaking at number 19. |
| 3 | Game of Thrones | Ramin Djawadi (1974 – ) | American (HBO) fantasy drama series, an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin. It ran 2011-19 for 73 episodes broadcast over eight seasons. Ramin Djawadi is a German composer of Iranian/German descent. |
| 4 | Monty Python’s Flying Circus | John Philip Sousa (1854 – 1932) | British TV comedy programme (1969–74), which used a version of the theme music performed by the Band of the Grenadier Guards. It was originally written as “The Liberty Bell” (1893), an American military march composed by Sousa for his unfinished operetta The Devil’s Deputy. |
| 5 | Dr. Who | Ron Grainer (1922-81) and Delia Derbyshire (1937 – 2001) | BBC science fiction programme broadcast since 1963. It depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called “the Doctor”, an extra-terrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling spaceship called the TARDIS. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. With various companions, the Doctor combats foes, works to save civilisations and helps people in need. The Doctor Who theme music was written by Australian composer Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic |
| 6 | Dangermouse | Mike Harding (1944 – ) | Animated series produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television (1981-1992). It features the eponymous Danger Mouse (voiced by David Jason) who worked as a secret agent and is a parody of British spy fiction, particularly the Danger Man series and James Bond. The series spawned a spin-off show, Count Duckula, and an updated series, under the same name, began airing in September 2015 on CBBC. Harding composed the music and sang the main and end titles with Doreen Edwards. |
| 7 | Antiques Roadshow | Paul Reade and Tim Gibson | BBC programme in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the UK to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979. As of 2021, it is in its 43rd season and has been presented by Fiona Bruce since 2008. |
| 8 | Thunderbirds | Barry Gray (1908-1984) | Barry Gray studied composition under the Hungarian teacher Matyas Seiber. Set between 2065 and 2067, Thunderbirds follows the exploits of the Tracy family, headed by American ex-astronaut turned multi-millionaire philanthropist Jeff Tracy. He is a widower with five adult sons. The Tracys form International Rescue (IR). They are aided in this mission by technologically advanced land, sea, air and space vehicles named the “Thunderbirds”, each assigned to one of the five Tracy brothers. Thunderbird 1, a hypersonic rocket plane (Scott Tracy); Thunderbird 2, a supersonic carrier aircraft (Virgil); Thunderbird 3, a single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft (Alan and John); Thunderbird 4, a utility submersible (Gordon) and Thunderbird 5, a space station (John and Alan). The series also featured several other popular characters – the engineer (Brains), Jeff’s elderly mother, a Malaysian manservant (Kyrano), his daughter Tin-Tin, undercover agent (Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward) and her FAB 1-driving butler and chauffeur (Aloysius Parker). |
| 9a | The ‘A’ Team | Mike Post and Pete Carpenter | An NBC action-adventure series (1983-7) about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. |
| 9b | Batman | Neal Hefti (1922 –2008) | 1960s American live action television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. Batman and his sidekick Robin were two crime-fighting heroes who defended Gotham City from a variety of archvillains. |
| 9c | Blackadder | Howard Goodall (1958 – ) | Blackadder was a series of four BBC pseudohistorical sitcoms, plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired from 1983 to 1989. All television episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as the antihero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder’s dogsbody, Baldrick. Each series was set in a different historical period. |
| 9d | Addam’s Family | Vic Mizzy (1916 – 2009) | The Addams Family was an American macabre/black comedy sitcom based on the characters from Charles Addams’ New Yorker cartoons. It was shot in black-and-white, and aired for two seasons on ABC (1964 – 66), for a total of 64 episodes. |
| 9e | Vision On | Wayne Hill | Vision On was a BBC children’s television programme (1964 to 1976) designed for children with hearing impairment. This piece “Left Bank Two” by Wayne Hill was used for the ‘gallery’ sequences then became the music for a subsequent TV series ‘Take Hart’. |
| 9f | Magic Roundabout | Alain Legrand | The Magic Roundabout was an English-language children’s programme (1965 – 1977 – 441 five-minute-long episodes). It used the footage of the French stop motion animation show Le Manège enchanté, but with completely different scripts and characters. |
| 9g | Last of the Summer Wine | Ronnie Hazlehurst (1928 –2007) | British sitcom (1973 to 2010). All 295 episodes, comprising thirty-one series—including the pilot and all films and specials — have been released on DVD. It is the longest-running comedy programme in Britain and the longest-running sitcom in the world. |
| 9h | Vicar of Dibley | Howard Goodall (1958 – ) | A British sitcom (1994 to 2020). It is set in a fictional small Oxfordshire village called Dibley, which is assigned a female vicar following the 1992 changes in the Church of England that permitted the ordination of women. |
| 9i | Mastermind | Neil Richardson (1930 –2010) | A BBC game show created by Bill Wright and inspired by his experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo during World War II. Contestants face two rounds of questions, one on a specialized subject of the contestant’s choice, the other a general knowledge round. |
| 9k | Cheers | Gary Portnoy (b. 1956) | NBC American sitcom (1982 – 1993) – 275 half-hour episodes across eleven seasons. The show is set in a bar named Cheers in Boston, Massachusetts, where a group of locals meet to drink, relax, and socialize. |
| 9l | Horrible Histories | NK | British live-action historical and musical sketch comedy series (2009 – 20). |
| 9m | ‘Z’ Cars | Trad. arr. Spiegl & Fry, | BBC British police procedural series (1962-1978) centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. The Z-Cars theme tune was arranged by Fritz Spiegl and his then wife, composer Bridget Fry, from the traditional Liverpool folk song “Johnny Todd”. It is used as an anthem by English football clubs Everton and Watford. |
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