ACTION TEAM
2017 - 2018
ACTION TEAM: SLOW BUILD
May 17 & 19, 2017
ACTION TEAM: ROCK THEME
May 18 & 19, 2017
ACTION TEAM: ITV TRAILER MIX
January 26 - February 2, 2018
Action Team was a mighty powerhouse of a show,
continuing in the dramatic comedy vein of Murder in
Successville (and made largely by the same
production team, at the newly-formed Shiny Button
Productions), but with even greater ambition (and a
slightly higher budget). For once, the brief was fairly
straightforward: Bond meets Bourne, with a dash of
modern British crime drama. The trick was managing
this in a tiny home studio with a PC and an armful of
orchestral software.
The MAIN THEME came first (actually two main
themes, but with the same tune) and the rest of the
score grew from that. You’ll be able to hear the
central hooks played over and over in different ways
throughout (most obviously in BRIEFING IN THE
WIND, a compilation of cues from Episode 1 which all
revisit the main theme in some way).
As you’d expect, there’s plenty of action music here.
LOGAN’S LEAP was written for a scene in which
central character Logan (played by Tom Davis) finds
himself clinging to the roof of a speeding train. In
ORCHESTRAL SMACKDOWN, he takes on an entire
string section with his bare hands, each cello scrape
and percussive stab specifically placed to mirror the
violent action on screen. MONTENEGRO MOTOR
SHOW is a busy car chase through the streets of an
Eastern European village. BIRTHDAY BASH CLASH is a
fight at a birthday party with a murderous clown.
But there’s sensitivity here too. THE TIGER’S DEN and
THE STOCKHOLM SOLUTION focus on two different
love stories threaded through the series, while
INCARC-E-RATION explores what happens when you
mix empathogenic chemicals with enhanced
interrogation techniques.
And then there’s the darkness. For the scenes with
the central antagonist, Vlad (also Tom Davis in a dual
role), I took other parts of the score and slowed them
way, way down until they became much heavier and
more menacing, then morphed them in and out of
each other to create a disorientating effect. There
were moments like this in every episode, but I’ve
selected two here: DARK MONTAGE, a compilation of
the darkest, heaviest cues from Episode 3 (which
featured more Vlad than usual); and FINAL DRESS,
written to accompany the final showdown between
Logan and Vlad.
The amount of work that went into this show was
staggering. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to secure a second
series. But you can still watch the first on Amazon
Prime.
Music from Action Team licensed courtesy of
Endemol Shine.
BRIEFING IN THE WIND (from ‘Abacus’)
November 12, 13 & 17, 2017
THE MEET (from ‘Abacus’)
November 10 & 16, 2017
ORCHESTRAL SMACKDOWN (from ‘Abacus’)
November 17 & 21, December 8, 2017
SHEPHERDS IN CHAD (from ‘The Antelope’s Tail’)
November 6, 9 & 19, December 7, 2017
THE TIGER’S DEN (from ‘The Antelope’s Tail’)
November 2, 3, 8 & 9, 2017
HOME INVASION (from ‘The Antelope’s Tail’)
November 3, 5, 6, 20, 21, 26 & 28, 2017
LOGAN’S LEAP (from ‘The Antelope’s Tail’)
November 7, 8, 9 & 20, 2017
BIRTHDAY BASH CLASH (from ‘Mind Games’)
November 26 & 28, 2017
DARK MONTAGE (from ‘Mind Games’)
November 23 & 26-29, 2017
INCARC-E-RATION (from ‘Mind Games’)
November 24 & 26, 2017
THE STOCKHOLM SOLUTION (from ‘Taken’)
December 2, 2017
MONTENEGRO MOTOR SHOW - Version 1
(from ‘Taken’) December 1 & 4, 2017
HARD AS VOLK (from ‘Super Mega Robot’)
December 3 & 13-15, 2017
WOOD FOR THE TREES - early version
(from ‘Super Mega Robot’) December 15, 2017
MONICA SAVES THE WORLD - early version
(from ‘The Antelope’s Tail’) November 20, 2017
INFOMANIA (from ‘Push the Button’)
December 17-18, 2017
MISSION CASTLEFUCKER (from ‘Push the Button’)
December 16, 18 & 19, 2017
FINAL DRESS (from ‘Push the Button’)
December 16, 18 & 19, 2017
THE GHOUL
(ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK)
Available for streaming and download
exclusively on Bandcamp