One of the most prolific and respected composers is Australian-born and British-based Barrington Pheloung. He first came to the public's attention when he wrote the theme for the TV series Morse, based on the books by Colin Dexter. The haunting theme cleverly used the morse code for the word Morse as an underscore for the music. (Check out the theme at the TV and Movie Theme Archive.) A soundtrack album was popular enough to get into the charts. You can read an article about Pheloung and the way he writes his music (using a mouse and a computer now, rather than a pen and manuscript paper). You can also check him out in even more detail at his site.
So Where Do I Look?
If you enter "TV Themes" into any of the regular search engines, you'll get a list as long as your arm of good places to go (4,701 from Altavista alone).
If you're already musically talented, check out an organisation based in Sheffield which has one of the largest collections I've seen of manuscripts for TV and film music.
MIDI Fans can check out their favourite TV themes by going to one of the myriad sites which have TV music listed in MIDI format. Another large site is Alexexela's MIDI site.
Of course, for most of us, we can only pick out music one fingered on the piano - if we're lucky. So the helpful chaps at The TV and Movie Theme Archive have put together an exhaustive list of TV music, from Absolutely Fabulous to Yes Prime Minister. Not only that, but they also give you links to places where you can actually buy CDs of the music you like. Another good place to visit is MattyG's TV Theme Site.
Of course, you could overdose on nostalgia. But, next time you watch your favourite TV show, just spare a thought for the composer who's sweated blood over the first thirty seconds.
