Soundtrack Review: Great British TV Themes

Soundtrack: Great British TV Themes
Composer: Various
Label: Silva Screen Records
Release Date: July 25, 2011

If you grew up watching old British shows through the BBC, ITV, and/or PBS, this is definitely a soundtrack for you. It has just about every major British show I can think of, and a few I admit I’d never known about. Just to give you a basic idea, here are some of the shows included: Steptoe and Son (precursor to the American Sanford and Son), Doctor Who, The Avengers, The Benny Hill Show, Eastenders, Coronation Street, The Prisoner, Danger Man, and more. Many of the shows present on the album ran in the 1960s and 1970s, but also includes programmes that ran into the 90s and 21^st century, such as The Bill and the aforementioned soap operas Eastenders and Coronation Street.

The album includes game shows from Countdown to Blockbusters and even The Crystal Maze (for all you Richard O’Brien fans). You even get the original Big Brother theme. It has just about every Gerry Anderson-produced shows theme, including Space: 1999, UFO, Captain Scarlet, Stingray, and even one of his live-action series, The Protectors. A few non-Anderson children’s shows are present as well, such as The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe and The Magic Roundabout. The soundtrack even adds music from news segments such as “The World at War” and “Match of the Day.”

A notable aspect for this album is that it will certainly make you interested in some of the shows you may not know. One in particular that I will have to look up to watch now is Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), in which the ghost of the former helps his detective partner solve mysteries in a comical, somewhat-supernatural manner.

The artists themselves on the soundtrack are a veritable mash-up of different composers and orchestras, from the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra to Ron Grainer, who is essentially the John Williams of BBC Television themes. Some of the themes can vary slightly from the originals, depending on who is performing the track, but all in all creates a nice nostalgic feel. Other than that, not a lot of more modern shows, which may be for rights reasons and the fact that so many release their own soundtracks now.

If I had my way, here’s some songs that would have been included, old and new:

• Danger Mouse
• Law & Order: UK
• The Young Ones
• Coupling
• Black Books
• A Bit of Fry and Laurie
• Count Duckula

However, here’s the actual tracklist:

Track Listing:

CD 1: 1957-1971

1. Captain Pugwash
2. Coronation Street
3. Steptoe And Son – Old Ned
4. The Saint
5. Fireball XL5 – Fireball
6. Dr. Finlay’s Casebook
7. Doctor Who
8. Hancock – Hancock’s Tune
9. Danger Man
10. The Magic Roundabout
11. The Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe
12. Stingray
13. The Avengers
14. Thunderbirds
15. Man In A Suitcase
16. The Prisoner
17. Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons
18. BBC Cricket – Soul Limbo
19. Please Sir!
20. The Benny Hill Show – Yakety Sax
21. Cadbury’s Milk Tray – The Night Rider
22. Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased)
23. Monty Python’s Flying Circus – The Liberty Bell
24. UFO
25. Match Of The Day
26. The Persuaders
27. The Onedin Line – Adagio from Spartacus

CD 2: 1972-2006

1. Film 72 – I Wish I Knew How It Felt To Be Free
2. Van Der Valk – Eye Level
3. The Adventurers Of Black Beauty
4. The Protectors – Avenues And Alleyways
5. The World At War – Theme
6. Fawlty Towers
7. The Sweeney
8. Space 1999 – First Series
9. The Good Life
10. The New Avengers
11. The Professionals
12. Ski Sunday Theme – Pop Looks Bach
13. Minder – I Could Be So Good For You
14. Tales Of The Unexpected
15. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – Nunc Dimitis
16. Blockbusters
17. Only Fools And Horses
18. Countdown
19. The Bill – Overkill
20. EastEnders
21. Casualty
22. Inspector Morse
23. Red Dwarf
24. The Crystal Maze – Force Field
25. Between The Lines
26. Big Brother – UK TV Theme
27. Lewis – Main Theme

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars