Torquemada

BBC News - What makes a great TV theme tune?

It has to be Department S..


and The Persuaders for me


So what are your favourites?

Gary Barker Illustration

jaycad

grange hill (original theme)
the sweeney
upstairs downstairs
thriller
fawlty towers
cheggers plays pop!!!

'QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT'

umte

Is there any better theme tune that tells you what's coming up in the next hour than this?


I don't think so

James Fox

Most of my all-time favorites are American:

Bonanza
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The Twilight Zone
The Fugitive

But I have a few British favorites:

The Avengers
Doctor Who (the old one before JNT fiddled with it)
The Prisoner

jaycad

yes! the original dr who theme is brilliant even if i can't stand the programme!

'QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT'

paul kersey

For me, a great TV theme has to be instantly recognisable and must stick in the mind forever. It needs to almost give you a clue as to what kind of show it is that you are about to watch. Hence for me, as usual, the old ones are the best. My personal favourites are the original "Randall and Hopkirk", "The Prisoner", "Dr Who", "Thriller ","Orson Welles Great Mysteries", Man In A Suitcase" and "The Tales of Edgar Wallace".
On a slight change of tack and not wishing in any way to show disrespect to Sir John Dankworth, I wonder how many people picked up on the claim that he was the composer of the theme for the Avengers. The theme that he wrote was for the original Ian Hendry/Patrick MacNee series, and is not the more famous theme which was written by Laurie Johnson. As I said, I mean no disrespect to Sir John and his family.

didi-5

It's got to be something that stands up without the programme, and something that is memorable.

For me:

The Adventures of Black Beauty
Cadfael
Man in a Suitcase
Hawaii Five-O
Mission: Impossible
Upstairs, Downstairs

Rowdon

Radio 2 DJ Stuart Maconie reckons all the great theme tunes get you singing the title, although there are no words - For example:

dit - diddlit - diddlit - diddlit BONANZAAAA

or

The sweeney, the sweeney, dit - diddle - it dit dit diddit.

And others.

frame69

Frame.

frame69

Oh,and this one

Maurice

ROADS TO FREEDOM (BBC, 1970):
Georgia Brown singing La Route est Dure

The theme has resonance for viewers frustrated by
absence of VHS or DVD since last repeat broadcast in 1977.

Tonch

My top ten (not in order!!!)

Doctor Who (original version)
The Persuaders!
Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?
Follyfoot
Please Sir!
Man In A Suitcase
The Sweeney (melancholy end theme is, if anything, even better than the hard hitting opener IMO)
World In Action
Captain Scarlet (especially the end theme sung by "Spectrum"!)
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)

Here is my eleventh "guilty pleasure":
Rupert The Bear

Prior to Torquemada's opening post I had forgotten just how good the Department S theme tune was (haven't heard it for years but it was one of my favourite TV shows in its day). Must slip in an honourable mention for Weekend World too (notice how my top ten has already crept up to being a top thirteen! ) - the riff from "Nantucket Sleighride" by rock group Mountain...awesome tune!!

The common denominator I feel is that each is remembered as an integral part of the show itself and in most cases is instantly recognisable/familiar, even to those who were not a fan of the actual TV series.

With a ring like that I could...dare I say it...rule the world!

phil

I did'nt like the series much but always thought the theme music was great.

Freddie Freeloader

Hi Paul..

thank you so much for posting that vid. I was on the verge of writing an indignant rant regarding misinformation and would have looked silly !

The Laurie Johnson Avengers theme is, along with John's Tomorrows World theme, a
powerful Proustian whiff of my childhood.
Never knew about the Dankworth Avengers. Sounds great. Reminded me of Gil Evans.

It's all making me misty-eyed to recall a time when composers crafted, with pencil and paper, sophisticated and intelligent music that was recorded by twenty or more REAL HUMAN musicians !

Here's another of my favourite themes.
Subtle harmonies, more charming modulations than the Crinkle Crags ridge, melodic guitar riffs, lovely background vocal arrangement...
the whole thing's one of the most joyful and catchy themes.

(Too bad it's a drum machine, though...).

darrenburnfan

One of my all time favourites, Tony Hatch's theme from BBC2's Man Alive weekly documentary film series.

Nobody ends like they started out.