TV theme tunes set tone for general election night

By Kevin Young
Political reporter, BBC News

The old BBC theme music had been in use since the election night of 1979

It's not just the political leaders who'll face the music on election night.

When the polls close on 6 May, the BBC and ITV will stage their traditional battle for viewing figures as their all-night results coverage begins.

And just as much thought has gone into the programme theme tunes as the logistics of covering 650 counts and analysing all of the results.

Both broadcasters have commissioned new sets of opening credits for the occasion.

The BBC has used a recording by its own concert orchestra to replace a theme which had run in various forms since 1979, while ITV is unveiling a sequence which was created using keyboards and samples.

Richard Blair-Oliphant, enlisted by the BBC to compose its music, says he was asked to come up with something which reflected the fact "this is likely to be a fairly historic election".

He was told it should be "serious, important and classy".

"Essentially I had to come up with a good tune but not a cheesy one."

"Most people are only going to hear this thing once, so it's got to be instantly accessible to people," he says.

Jane Thompson, who is directing ITV's coverage for news provider ITN, says commissioning a theme is "absolutely the best part of the creative process" when planning election programmes.

"Rather sadly, you tend to only use the music for the big night, or maybe a few promos [trailers] that go out beforehand.

"A lot of work is invested in one big production and it's almost a shame, really, because it's some of the best music the composers come up with."

ITV's brief contained words such as "excitement", "anticipation" and "urgency", she adds - "all those sorts of things you associate with election programmes".

And Ms Thompson says this basic guidance has barely changed over the decades.

ITV's theme tune for election night has "whooshes and whizzes"

"It's a little bit like Groundhog Day when I sit in meetings and hear what people require of the music."

The BBC was "very fortunate" to have an orchestra on hand to record its theme, Mr Blair-Oliphant admits.

"The concert orchestra has a fantastic group of players, so that was a privilege.

"I think they're very good at picking up an idea very quickly. They certainly got what we were trying to do within a couple of plays."

ITV used to have musicians in the studio but "we haven't got the luxury of an orchestra", Ms Thompson concedes. But composers Dave Hewson and Bill Bayliss used samples and electronic music "so good that often you would defy anybody to say whether it was an orchestra or not", she says.

THE EDITORS The idea for our new titles from looking and listening back over the many election nights the BBC has covered The BBC's Craig Oliver blogs about the programme

"We've tried to inject more contemporary sounds into things, with whooshes and whizzes, and various sound techniques which you can use to enhance the programme."

'Keeps me awake'

She acknowledges viewers are unlikely to dwell on the theme afterwards - "I expect if you asked people to hum the theme to Election '97 from ITV, they wouldn't remember it" - but says it makes her feel good to be involved in its creation.

"It keeps me awake at night because once we start rehearsing it, I can't get it out of my head."

I think there's some kind of inverse law where the shorter the piece of music, the greater the scrutiny it gets Richard Blair-Oliphant, composer

Mr Blair-Oliphant says he usually works on longer pieces of music for dramas and documentaries, so creating a 45-second theme was "a very different challenge" where "you've got to get to the point pretty quickly".

"I think there's some kind of inverse law where the shorter the piece of music, the greater the scrutiny it gets - but quite rightly so, in this case."

So is he looking forward to his moment in the spotlight? He seems to be keeping things in perspective.

"Early in my career, I'd have got very excited about it.

"My first-ever project was a short film and the longest piece of music was the closing titles.

"I was watching it with the whole cast and crew in the director's house, and of course the continuity announcer talked right over it," he says.

"So you get used to people chatting over your music."

Election 2010 will be shown from 2155 BST on Thursday 6 May, with separate programmes on BBC One and ITV1.