Name That Tune

Red Dwarf's theme tune is highly-rated, says the Penguin TV Companion.

5 September, 2003

Published this week, the Penguin TV Companion by Jeff Evans may be another of an increasing number of books about the gogglebox... but you can't fault the author's taste in theme tunes. Red Dwarf's surreal, Fiji-inspired theme tune - the lyrics for which you can find here - came in at number four in the top ten TV theme tunes. It was written, as many will know, by Howard Goodall, with lyrics sung by actress Jenna Russell.

The full list from the top was: The White Horses, Fireball XLS, Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, Red Dwarf, The Protectors, Friends, Rupert The Bear, Laverne And Shirley, The Life And Times Of Grizzly Adams and New Faces. Our vote for Masters Of The Universe must have gone missing in the post...

While we're on the subject of Mr Goodall's writing genius, though, his show (written with Melvyn Bragg) The Hired Man has just landed in the Salisbury Playhouse for a run from September 2nd to September 27th. Inspired, on Goodall's side, by Brian Friel's play Translations, and based on Bragg's novel of the same name, it's a musical with a certain class - non-Broadway, but still stirring.

You can visit Howard Goodall's website via Links.