1. James Bond Theme (1962)
Dum di-di-dum dum, dum dum dum, dum-di-di-dum dum . . . Monty Norman based his theme to the first James Bond film, Dr No, on a song called Good Sign, Bad Sign, which he wrote for a stage version of VS Naipaul’s novel A House for Mr Biswas. John Barry gave it its extravagant arrangement, though, and his rich blend of jazz, pop and classical led to him composing for a further 11 Bond films — tossing in greats such as Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever as he went.
2. Doctor Who (1963–)
We could go down a rabbit hole debating the influence of composer versus arranger but whatever Ron Grainer’s theme sounds like on a piano, it’s the full electronic, white-noise and musique concrète treatment by Delia Derbyshire and the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop that makes it sound like a masterpiece. The Seventies versions best match spooky texture with chugging momentum before the tinny Eighties versions or the heavily orchestrated 21st-century versions, but your favourite probably depends on when the show first chilled your bones.
3. Dad’s Army (1968–77)
Jimmy Perry based this sitcom great on his experience in the Home Guard as a youth. As well as cowriting the scripts with its director David Croft, he cowrote the theme tune with Derek Taverner. Their spot-on pastiche of a wartime song, Who Do You Think You Are Kidding Mr Hitler?, was sung by the comedian Bud Flanagan not long before his death. Perry later wrote the theme tunes for his and Croft’s sitcoms It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum and Hi-de-Hi!
4. Chinatown (1974)
“Play it sexy, but like it’s not good sex,” the trumpeter Uan Rasey was told when he played this theme. Has film music ever matched its material better than the trumpet-led, strings-drenched theme to Roman Polanski’s lemon-sour, full-colour neo-noir? The opening harp notes evoke the water-starved Los Angeles where Jack Nicholson’s private eye will meet Faye Dunaway’s femme fatale. The rest of the tune almost drowns you in curdled romance. Amazingly Jerry Goldsmith put the soundtrack together in ten days after another composer’s score was rejected.
5. Jaws (1975)
Daaa-da! Daaa-da! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da . . . and the rest is history. We could have filled this list with nothing but John Williams scores: almost every Steven Spielberg film; Superman; Harry Potter; Star Wars and sequels . . . but this alternating pattern of two notes set up the shark flick that got his and Spielberg’s stellar careers going. “Responsible for half of the success of the film,” according to Spielberg, it soon became the universal indicator of a menace that lurks and then accelerates.
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6. Grandstand (1975–2007)
The BBC’s flagship Saturday afternoon sports show had two earlier themes before it pepped itself up with this big-band masterpiece by Keith Mansfield. With its boinging percussion and swaggering horns, it evoked the battle ahead that day: the glorious struggle of top-level competition with a minor-key harmonic hint halfway through that ultimately the real triumph is in taking part, and that win or lose we are all ultimately food for the worms. Not reading too much into this, are we?
● Billie Eilish on her Oscar-nominated Bond theme No Time To Die
7. Ghostbusters (1984)
“Who you gonna call?” Ray Parker Jr had to write this pop anthem at speed after the film-makers had rejected dozens of other people’s efforts. He was stuck until he opted to make it sound like a jingle for the ghostbusters themselves. Does it also sound like I Want a New Drug by Huey Lewis & the News? Lewis thought so and successfully sued. Parker’s tune had “the same kind of riff in it”, the director Ivan Reitman later admitted, “but it was a totally original song”.
8. Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000–)
It’s hard to imagine Larry David’s squirm-inducing comedy of Tinseltown manners without the parping tuba of its theme tune. It long predates the show, though. Called Frolic, it was written by the Italian composer Luciano Michelini for the 1974 film La Bellissimi estate and used in a 1990s bank advert, when it caught David’s ear. “It tells the audience: ‘Don’t take this seriously, it’s just fun,’ ” he said.
9. Stranger Things (2016–)
Sure, it’s not a tune you find yourself walking around humming. And yet Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein of the Texas synth band Survive came up with one of the most evocative themes of the 21st century with this eerie tune that swiftly summons up the early-1980s setting with its retro-futuristic, sub-video-game sense of chill and foreboding and home entertainment. And all in under a minute!
10. Succession (2018–)
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Classical grandeur meets hip-hop beats meets sleigh bells in this 90-second overture to the exalted, luxurious yet deeply dysfunctional Manhattan existence of the billionaire media mogul Logan Roy and his clan. Currency trader-turned-composer Nicholas Britell told The Times in 2019 about mixing up an out-of-tune piano with “dark, late 1700s” chords. “There’s this sense of things being out of proportion with themselves, like, ‘Is this even proper?’ ” He sent his tune to Jesse Armstrong, the show’s British head writer, who sent a two-word reply: “F*** yeah!”
