Theme tune to a TV pilot made for E4 by Tom Meeten and Barunka O’Shaughnessy, the premise a daytime magazine show presented by Princess Diana and Dodi al Fayed. Was due to air in 2007 but got pulled at the last minute.
Mr & Mrs Fandango 2008
Theme tune to a Comedy Lab made by Tom Meeten and Barunka O'Shaughnessy. Like most theme tunes, it went through many iterations before we settled on this. Not my favourite but you can sing the title along to it so that'll do.
From the dark days of yore
1998-
The Byronic Lord of Pop
2002-
For TV, radio & stage
2007-
For my own pleasure
2006-
Music to laugh at
2007-
A Musical CV
2000-
One of my favourites which didn't make the final cut, this is a suite of pieces originally
written for Alex Kirk's episode 'Self Storage'. Difficult to define -
Closing title music from short film The Baron, the closest thing it has to a theme tune. I say it's all done with computer software (by East West and Spectrasonics), but the director still suspects I have a secret orchestra tied up in my basement.
I didn't entirely abandon orchestral music for Series 2 -
The Day They Came to Suck Out Our Brains 2013
Theme tune to the online sci-
Another entirely orchestral score from 'A Man's Best Friend', this features so many of my favourite tunes from the series that I've decided to edit them together into an extended suite. Apologies if it takes longer than usual to load.
The main musical theme for Tony Way's beautiful story 'The Weatherman', which sadly became overshadowed by the sudden death of narrator Rik Mayall. A huge influence and hero to us all, he puts in a staggering performance in this episode.
On Sunday I was asked to write an apocalyptic tune for the end credits. The very next morning we heard the sad news about Rik. To have written this for the last scene of his final performance was unexpected and genuinely unnerving.
Murder in Successville (Trailer Mix B) 2015
Theme tune to Tiger Aspect's celebrity whodunnit for BBC 3, brilliantly held together
by Tom Davis as the spectacularly endearing DI Sleet. A hypothetical 2-
Murder in Successville (Original Pilot Theme) 2014
The original intro to Murder in Successville was much more based on the typical American cop shows of the 1970s (The Rockford Files was always mentioned as a touchstone) so I made sure this was funky with a strong cheesy melody.
Murder in the Lounge 2014
A jazzy 60s spy genre version of the original title theme, briefly considered as the main theme itself but ended up as incidental music. Though it worked well for the pilot, the series itself needed more modern sensibilities so the 60s stuff was out.
For Series 2, the production team had a much stronger idea of how each episode should look, feel and sound, so the first episode Vigilante was inspired mainly by Drive, with tunes to match. This one stood out so here's a special extended mix.
Miranda (Anti-
A short suite of several disturbing, action-
Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes 2016
Back to orchestral stuff and modern noir for the fifth episode of Series 2, taking a lot of its inspiration from Fargo and The Killing, creating a much more chilling atmosphere in the process. This is a suite of various elements, both used and unused.
This episode revolved around a secret agent's birthday party, so this tune incorporates both spy film and party elements. I wasn’t terribly sure about this at the time -
Weirdly enough my biggest panic came when I had to write a synth-
By the start of Series 2 the need for orchestral versions of pre-
Night at the Museum 2014
By the end of the series I'd pretty much run out of ideas and my original score for 'I'm Still Here' wasn't working. Then I found out I had to do it all in one evening, which probably explains why this track captures that ‘still working at 4 am’ sound.
This crazy episode written by the brilliant Toby Davies called for a main theme suggesting a beautiful tropical island, so I tried going for something The Shadows might have done in their heyday. A superb new bit of guitar software helped enormously.
The Last Laugh (Suite No 1) 2015
Back to pure orchestral for this story, written by Toby Davies about an am dram director (superbly played by Kevin Eldon) whose Christmas panto is ruined by an old rival. This is a suite of some of the earlier tunes before the pace goes overboard.
By this time, having done a series of Murder in Successville and psychological horror The Ghoul, I thought I'd done Bernard Herrmann homages to death, but somehow I came up with even more for this story. This is a merging of two separate tracks.
I always have a creative lull halfway through any series and this was no exception. However, the demo I'd done for this episode some months earlier was one of my favourites so I think I got away with it. Basic idea: Morricone does Old MacDonald.
Normally I'd have worried that my work on this was too hard-
Another great thing in Series 3 was director Richie Pengelley's superhuman effort to add placeholder music to the early edits, giving me a greater feel for what we needed. Without that, I wouldn’t have had the courage to try something like this.
By the time Series 3 rolled around I'd discovered I could make quality music much quicker than before. This meant for the first time in Crackanory history I was able to watch an edit of the film before writing the music. This is a compilation of the first results.
Business as Usual 2015
Disaster struck as I was writing the final episode when my PC broke down completely.
Fortunately I just needed a new power supply but I had to keep the score simple to
hit the deadline. But you know me -
One of the more eclectic scores I did for Series 3, certain sections of The Vexed Message called for Mission:Impossible style music, like this bit, where Tony Way has to climb through an air vent and break into his boss' office.
The Wrath of Ken 2013
From Ep 5 of Brains (possibly my favourite), The Wrath of Ken was my first real chance
to write some proper incidental (i.e. non-
Reefer Niceness 2013
This laid back, surf-
Another experimental bit of 60s organ-
Restoration Man (theme demo) 2013
Fortunately my efforts with Me and My Monsters led to a fruitful relationship with Tiger Aspect, so great effort went into this demo when their factual dept asked me to write a new theme for this reality series. Sadly it didn't get used, so here it is.
Theme tune to the pilot of a spoof music series, written and directed by Gareth Tunley and produced by Channel X. An electro-
Going On 2010
The theme tune from Gareth Tunley’s arts parody Going On.The brief: something which sounded like it was written in the 1960s but updated for the 00s, part Hot Chip (see The Culture Show) with a professional sheen like The One Show. Did I manage it?
Me and My Monsters (Demo A) 2010
It feels long enough ago now to reveal some of the demos I did when I was asked by Tiger Aspect to pitch a theme tune for a show they were doing with the Jim Henson Company. Sadly I was so busy, I just did the first thing I thought of. But I do love it.
Big Shane (on 'What the Fun' FM) 2015
One of many silly radio jingles I wrote for a BBC/Tiger Aspect pilot starring Greg
James called 'Dead Air'. This is the full-
Me and My Monsters (Demo B) 2010
Demos A & B were, if you can believe it, written and recorded in one morning and sent off by lunchtime. Demo B was more of a serious attempt to follow the producers' guidelines, atonal guitar solo included. The lyrics are placeholders but I still love them.
Me and My Monsters (Demo C) 2010
To my amazement, my crappy demos got me down to the last three, so I got another chance, taking this one a little more seriously, though not realising I should have taken extra care to make it sound less like a demo. Obviously, I didn't get the job.
The Yearning 2014
The first piece I wrote for the film after my first meeting with Gareth. I wasn't sure if this was the opening theme, but everyone liked it so much it became the opening by default and, apart from a tiny tweak or two, this is basically unchanged from my demo.
Through a Windscreen 2014
Originally we wanted the score to sound entirely electronic but once I worked out how to use my string software, and applied a little love of Bernard Herrmann, this became Chris' theme, nailing the idea of him as a cop in deep psychological trouble.
Deep Cover 2014
Though we worried at first this tune was a little too irrelevantly Japanese, we liked
it so much that we adapted it, especially the string part, for various scenes (particularly
the sigil -
Into the Woods 2014
Another early piece, primarily inpsired by my frustration that 'A Sad Thing' didn't make it into Crackanory (see below). Basically I refined it and, though it sounds like nothing else in the film, it fits the Chris/Morland forest scene perfectly.
A Typical Chris Day 2014
Possibly my favourite piece in the film, this was a conscious attempt to use Chris' established theme and slowly evolve into something much darker, mirroring what's happening with Chris. This is the original mix, a little longer than it eventually became.
Completing the Loop 2014
A happy accident which came about when Gareth laid two of my improvisations over each other, itself inspiring a scene in the film. After which I tidied it up, adding strings to augment the main chord change. The final version in the film is slightly shorter.
Someone said the best way to write a great TV theme tune is to write a good tune, then scribble all over it. This is pretty much that theory in action. Of all the tunes I tried for the Crackanory theme, this crazy slab of madness is the one people liked best.
The original idea for the Crackanory score was to take a well-
Psych Sleeves 2013
Not having been classically trained, I wasn't too confident about my orchestral arrangements
and soon started trying different styles -
Peace Talks 2013
Then one week halfway through the series I started getting much more comfortable with the orchestral stuff and came up with this for 'The Translator'. I agree it still sounds like a computer rather than an orchestra but I was overjoyed with the tune.
Love You 2013
Things got tricky when we started using licensed tracks instead of traditional or classical pieces but some of them inspired worthwhile tunes, like this finale to Kevin Eldon's "What Do You Say?" which remained fairly intact and played over the credits.
Compute with Me 2013
I still couldn't help trying to convince the team that a more eclectic style would be more fitting for my skill set, so one week I went the extra mile with this Kraftwerk pastiche. To my surprise it was an instant hit and closed the episode 'Pleasure Drone'.
The Big Decision 2013
By the end of the series, a decision was reached that using pre-
A Sad Thing 2013
This string quartet & piano piece (for 'My Former Self') felt like a major breakthrough. I was gutted when it was left off the soundtrack in favour of another track. But I believe it’s made a return in the Audible version.
Wengerbeat 2017
The first episode of Series 3 featured an extensive scene at an art exhibition (supposedly hosted by Arsene Wenger) which needed background dance music throughout. This 8 and a half minute epic is the end result of two days’ frenzied slog.
Credits in Victorian Successville 2017
The insanely funny Victorian episode starring Martin Kemp was second to air in Series
3 but last to be filmed, so this end credit music -
Finis 2016
Crackanory’s fourth series started in cinematic style with Tony Way’s A Close Slave, set in Ancient Rome. All the dialogue was spoken in Latin, so I gave my music Latin titles to match. This was written for the end credits, but lost out to another track.
From the Heart 2016
Another closing title track, this time from Episode 2. I remember having great difficulty finding the right tone for this score for some reason, until somehow this poured out of me at the end of a very long night. Probably my favourite piece from the series.
Arn Widdowson’s The Despot of Tea was a brilliantly inspiring character-
A Handsome Young Man 2016
An orchestral-
The End 2016
My score for Proxy Lady ended up being quite a mixed bag, but I’m quite fond of this short piece I wrote for the end credits. This is also one of the few episodes I managed to miss on transmission, so I’ve still no idea if they used it. Do let me know if you can.
Purple Mill Stream 2016
Sarah Morgan’s incredible Devil’s Haircut mainly called for lots of barbershop harmonising (which someone else did, thank God, and brilliantly), but a random reference to Prince at the end led to this silly idea for the end credits. A night well spent. I think.
Misdirection 2016
Possibly my favourite Crackanory score and one of the very best episodes, Toby Davies’ The Disappearance is an intensely clever story about a pair of London stage magicians. This ‘Daisy Bell’ inspired piece goes in one direction, then back the way it came.
Infinite Bender 2016
The final televised episode (so far) was Kevin Eldon’s Pickled. As usual, by the end of the series I felt utterly drained, so it shocked the life out of me when I wrote this punchy slice of madness. A last push before the inevitable crash and burn.
The Shadows are My Friends 2015
As with all TV & film, more gets shot than you actually need and I usually end up writing tunes that never make the final cut. This was in fact my favourite of all the stuff I wrote for the party scene, with its wonky 50s guitar, but sadly it had to go.
One of the various party tunes I had to write as part of the soundtrack for James Wren and Bob Pipe's short film The Monster. This is a slightly leaner, more stripped back version than the one heard in the film.
Mournful Beast/End Titles 2015
I've morphed two pieces together here, the first a mournful keyboard piece designed
to reveal the Monster's sadness, followed by the end title music, a much more forceful,
John Carpenter-
I needed a love theme to cover the scene where Madeleine and The Monster walk home through the park. I wanted it to start out sounded like something more stylised from the 80s and morph into something more natural to mirror the emotions by the end.
