Our fond memories of TV and radio shows often begin with their theme tunes. From the wheezing time-space swirl of Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire’s Doctor Who to the signature booming drums that welcome us to Albert Square, these pieces of music are among the most recognisable ever composed. But what is the magic formula for a great theme tune?
In BBC Radio 2's Tony Hatch As Heard On TV, returning this week with guests including Anneka Rice and Bob Harris, composer Tony Hatch — who wrote themes for Crossroads, Emmerdale and Neighbours — lifts the lid on how to compose for television. Alongside fellow maestros Simon May (EastEnders, Howard’s Way) and Matthew Strachan (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Home Front), they reveal ten secrets of their trade.
Hatch emphasises that a theme must be catchy from the start. 'For a lot of people, it’s a call-sign. They’re in another room, then they hear those notes, and they know they’ve got an ever-diminishing amount of time to get in front of the television.' May adds that, like a pop song, a TV theme needs a very strong hook, sonically and melodically. 'EastEnders has a very simple, binary structure. You can take out four bars and it still makes sense musically.'
Strachan notes that sometimes the job is simply coming up with a tune people will remember, like a bugle call saying 'come and watch' — the effect of The Archers or Coronation Street themes. Hatch explains that for Sportsnight, he was told it was about people running around very fast, so he made it bright and breezy. 'With an action show, you need an action theme. But you can’t be too definite with soaps, because you have no idea what the story’s going to be.'
The composers also stress the importance of reflecting the show's setting and mood. For Emmerdale, Hatch was given a storyboard of lonely country lanes, stone walls and meadows, and he wrote exactly that: isolation and a little melancholy. May notes that the Emmerdale tune undulates like the hills and valleys on screen, while the trumpet in Dynasty evokes power and influence. Strachan cites Ronnie Hazlehurst's work on Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em and Reggie Perrin as examples of music that perfectly conveys a character's awkwardness or melancholy.
