MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #38

Number 38: Danger Man
"Every government has its secret service branch. America, CIA; France, Deuxième Bureau; England, MI5. NATO also has its own. A messy job? Well that's when they usually call on me or someone like me. Oh yes, my name is Drake, John Drake."
This is the theme from the first series. It changed from the second series and they used another in the US, I gather. It was written by Ted Astley, who also wrote the theme tune for ‘The Saint’. He was also, incidentally, Pete Townsend’s father-in-law.
A lot of people think that the 'Bond, James Bond'-esque secret agent character, played by Patrick McGoohan just beforehand in this show, went on to become Number 6 in 'The Prisoner'. One thing that’s certain is the influence of this DM on another DM: Danger Mouse (see TOP TV THEME TUNE Number 44).

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #39

Number 39: Monty Python’s Flying Circus
This demented Grande Dame of British comedy was once outrageously new and radical! And the opening titles with John Cleese on the beach announcing “And now for something completely different” would pop up almost randomly during the show to betoken that. We would all discuss it avidly in the playground and in the bike sheds at High School the next day, re-enacting highlights, mangling the pronunciation of their name as they did. And only a few bars of John Philip Sousa's military march 'The Liberty Bell' (1893) is enough to take me right back there.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #40

Number 40: Skippy
One of the most infectious theme tunes ever! Most recently in my mind when Ryan Styles beautifully recreated Regina Fong’s use of the song for a thumping singalong at the wonderful Readers Wifes Fan Club nights last year at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern.
I am also very fond of it because, ever since our geriatric cats were kittens, Stu has pretended regularly that the boy cat is a kangaroo and interrogated him about kids trapped in the old mineshaft. The real kangaroos apparently had a shit time, with animal-handling practices that wouldn’t be countenanced these days. One story I read says they got an emu drunk in order to make it more malleable when filmed.
And then there was always the impression Tony Bonner made (helicopter pilot Jerry), in those tiny shorts that were spray-painted on.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #41

Number 41: (Bill and Ben) The Flowerpot Men
Flubadup! Wee-ee-eed… I think I remember this fondly from the late 50s, although I’m not sure we had a TV till the early 60s. Whatever, somebody at the BBC was having a great time creating trippy psychedelia for kids in black and white. I still think of this every time I stack flowerpots in our little conservatory.
There’s the “Watch With Mother” theme first here and then the unfolding flower logo, which you got every day after the One O’Clock Gang Show, iirc. Then there was a different puppet show every day. I think it was Rag Tag and Bobtail on Monday, Tuesday was Andy Pandy, and the Woodentops were on Friday. Bill and Ben must have been Wednesday or Thursday then. But I may be misremembering totally. Great to hear the tunes again though, evoking childlike wonder.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #42

Number 42: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Illya Kuryakin! Napoleon Solo! Back in the 60s, I had a Man From U.N.C.L.E. suitcase (full of spy gadgets) and even bought several of the tie-in books. All because I fell in love with Scottish actor David McCallum (Kuryakin). Of course, I never saw it in colour. Here’s a thrilling snatch of what captivated me as a youngster.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #43

Number 43: The High Chaparral
Written by David Rose, an incredibly prolific TV theme composer, born in London, and also Judy Garland’s first husband (from 1941 to 1945). His most famous composition was perhaps The Stripper.
They used music well on the show and I watched it avidly as a youngster because it was all very homosocial, all about the men in the Cannon and Montoya families: Big John, Uncle Buck, Blue Boy, and Manolito. Only years later did I find out that “Chaparral” is a woody shrub that grows in those desert lands. I had thought it was Spanish for Chapel.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #44

Number 44: Danger Mouse
Myfanwy Talog sang this and it was her partner, David Jason’s most memorable role, giving the voice to Danger Mouse. I don’t much like Jason, frankly, so I pretend not to know it’s his voice.
I was in my twenties when this was on, so it’s probably quite shameful that I was such a fan. It was a triumph of surreal humour masquerading as a kids’ cartoon show and I loved the braggadocio of the theme tune, written by comedian Mike Harding.