What's your all-time favourite TV theme tune?

[fishdishwish]

Inspired by the passing of James Garner, as The Rockford Files had a pretty cool theme tune composed by Mike Post (who also wrote the Hill Street Blues and A-Team themes, amongst others).

For me, it has be a tie between The Littlest Hobo & (despite it's rather dodgy lyrics) The Fall Guy. Oh, and the lovely sweeping orchestral piece that Granada used to play at closedown (remember those?!) in the 1980s.

EXCELLENT thread for people who are bewilderingly struck down by insomnia at THREE IN THE MORNING, gnarr.

Agree with:

Ski Sunday
Twin Peaks
Howard's Way
Cities of Gold
Muskehounds
Champion the Wonder Horse

But page 8 and none of the following? Shocked and appalled.

Captain Pugwash
Hong Kong Fooey
Jamie! Jamie! Jamie and the magic torch!
The Onedin Line (we played that in school orchestra and everything)
The Red Hand Gang

Until tomorrow I'll just keep movin' on...

Oooh stinkingbishop I was just about to say Captain Pugwash!

Also Danger Man, Roobarb & Custard and Rentaghost.

Blockbusters
Blackadder
The Littlest Hobo
Greatest American Hero
Dexter
Oh yes, Roobarb and Custard
Rainbow
Dogtanian and the three Muskehounds
Red Dwarf
Jonathan Creek
Midsomer Murders

I uttterly adore the theme tune to parks and rec. It just makes me happy.

Also the Gilmore Girls opener. Watched them all when pregnant and my daughter pulled herself up for the first time to dance to it then one day. Lovely.

For childhood Ducktales.. wooohooo!

In The Night Garden will always make me cry; a lovely tune, and so evocative of toddler times now gone.
Also not sure if anyone has mentiond Father Ted?

Most haunting - theme to Southlands

Oh yes, Hong Kong Phooey was awesome.

Eric Clapton music over Edge of Darkness. Classy.
Oh yes to Jace Everett - I wanna do bad things with you (scrabbles among CDs). Please do.
Theme to In the Night Garden makes me want to cry. ?lost innocence?
Addams Family intro - I sing it to my rather large mother cat "Who is my cat? (Twice) You are my cat, my beautiful cat, you are my lovely lovely cat" and repeat. It's an ear worm too, that's my head gone for the day!

Really must get out more.

Am fool, Addams Family theme from film, which I've seen so often on TV I get mixed up.
But you know what I mean.
And Southlands theme, lovely lovely.

No one has said Brideshead Revisited.

or Howard's Way.

ORRR All Creatures Great and Small.

(but do agree with: Black Beauty, Hawaii 50, Thunderbirds, Rockford Files)

Gosh I forgot PIGEON STREET, their wings beat, beat, Bob's pigeons (and then something about Long Distance Clara, that feminist icon!)

Oh, Pigeon Street! It sounded like whoever composed it had had a little bit of ganja.

Rentaghost rocked, it could have been Cole Porter

Even a still-topical reference to Uri Gellar. I liked the way the action carried on over the end credits, too.

balloonslayer RTFT! They have!

That's said with a smile btw. It is quite long now. I know this because I had serious insomnia last night and read the whole thing which made me stay awake longer because my head was, literally, humming .

From the golden age of telly in the 70's...

The Water Margin
Poldark
Black Beauty
White Horses (60s but repeated many times in the 70's)
Flambards
Upstairs Downstairs
The Double-Deckers
Shoestring (just in the 80's)

Loved these seventies theme tunes -all make me cry!

Belle and Sebastian

Ski sunday

The secret garden

And ditto for white horses

The Persuaders. Very evocative...

m.youtube.com/watch?v=t99QQIXez4M

So many shows don't even have theme tunes any more. Tis sad.

Black Beauty - clearly the ultimate winner

Antiques Roadshow
Red Dwarf
Dogtanian
Mysterious Cities of Gold
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Quantum Leap
Cheers
Maid Marian and her Merry Men
Prisoner Cell Block H
Home and Away
Fresh Prince

Hamster

I find the Home and Away theme as vomit inducing as Sons and Daughters, but each to their own taste

Pickled I actually agree, it's pukey, HOWEVER, it's one of the few songs I can always remember all of the words to without hearing the music. So it becomes a go-to for random singalongs.

Teachers (Belle & Sebastian/Boy in the Arab Strap)
Morse (very clever piece of music)
Sopranos
GBH had a great soundtrack too (Elvis Costello iirc)

NigellasGuest - at last, thank you, I was beginning to think I was going mad! And yes, he did live in a caravan, not sure why though ...

Jonny Briggs

Red Dwarf! Of course! Brilliant. Loved that song.

It's cold outside, there's no kind of atmosphere...