Great tv theme tunes

[LMcD]

Barrington Pheloung: Inspector Morse
Patrick Gowers: Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett/Granada)
Wilfred Josephs: I Claudius
Ronnie Hazelhurst: Yes (Prime) Minister
Ron Grainer: Steptoe and Son, Maigret and Tales Of the Unexpected

[gurnemanz]

Heimat - Nikos Mamangakis

[Historian]

'The Flashing Blade' cheated a bit by using Berlioz' 'Symphonie Fantastique' as incidental music but I still rate it's theme tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Sb9AoirSU

[Oakapple]

This is from Fall of Eagles. I hadn't heard of Mahler or his music before but this got me interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfq356s5gbA

And this one is very hard to beat. Some say it's based on a song by Lead Belly but I remember a folk singer of the 1960s singing it. Some of you out there will know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnuMAL2YKgI

Someone mentioned The Great War. Not a theme tune but in later episodes Prokofiev's 6th symphony was used to great effect. I know some people object to music like that being used in the background but I hope it brought a piece that was not well known then (and not so much now either) to a wider audience.

[burning dog]

And this one is very hard to beat. Some say it's based on a song by Lead Belly but I remember a folk singer of the 1960s singing it. Some of you out there will know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnuMAL2YKgI

An early recording was by Leadbelly (sounds like it could have been an older song).

Ha Ha, This-A-Way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgicvAZ4D1A

The Robinson Crusoe tune is very memorable. I can't recall much about the programme..

Loved this one by John Barry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOK4-UTsaRM

The original Doctor Who!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75V4ClJZME4

recent versions don't cut it

[Edgy 2]

There have been some great tv sport theme tunes over the years

https://youtu.be/HLHMxFGqhIs

https://youtu.be/gWxcx4msBMA

https://youtu.be/naD6cYYVs_c

https://youtu.be/jsFi_7yd1vs

and many more

[cloughie]

There have been some great tv sport theme tunes over the years

https://youtu.be/HLHMxFGqhIs

https://youtu.be/gWxcx4msBMA

https://youtu.be/naD6cYYVs_c

https://youtu.be/jsFi_7yd1vs

and many more

Not forgetting Zadok!

[Barbirollians]

Not forgetting Zadok!

Which forumite is it who could not bear the Adagio from Spartacus due to the Onedin Line ?

[zola]

Then there was ITV's flagship current affairs programme, This Week, that used the Karelia Suite.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Which forumite is it who could not bear the Adagio from Spartacus due to the Onedin Line ?

When I was teaching, I found the reverse to be true. The most aggressive yobbos would melt when they heard it, commenting "I just LOVE this music."
(And so do I.)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Ron Grainer: Steptoe and Son, Maigret and Tales Of the Unexpected

And don't forget Doctor Who.

[zola]

Ready, Steady, Go...the weekend starts here !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-XPgccjiqw

Uh huh, it was the Manfreds.

[LMcD]

Then there was ITV's flagship current affairs programme, This Week, that used the Karelia Suite.

During the 1960s part of the fourth movement of Rachmaninov's 1st symphony was used as the theme tune for Panorama.
Sibelius's 'At The Castle Gate' was (and maybe still is) used to introduce 'The Sky At Night'.
Music from the first movement of Mahler's 2nd symphony was used at the start of a 1975 BBC2 drama serial called 'A Legacy', which almost nobody remembers. It was based on a book by Sybille Bedford.
Georgia Brown sang 'Le route est dure', the theme tune to the sadly 'lost' drama series The Roads to Freedom.

[cloughie]

Ready, Steady, Go...the weekend starts here !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-XPgccjiqw

Uh huh, it was the Manfreds.

10.35 pm on Fridays, made sure I got home from youth club in time to watch it - there were some great groups on there - didn’t call them bands then!

[Nick Armstrong]

It'll be a good 'un that beats this.................

Yes teams... The Virginian is right up there!

Some other favourites above too, but (I think, unless I missed it), not my absolute top favourite: