TV shows that completely changed their theme tune

My god, that show was like a nightmare. It was horrible.

The talking door knocker and the frog character. It had completely lost the plot by then.

I quite liked the Grandstand remix. I mean, nothing tops the original, but I seemed to dislike it a lot less than everybody else did.

You can see it in Noel just how annoyed he looked at everything by the time things got that ridiculous - he didn’t seem too happy at Freddie Starr popping up after his end of an era speech either!

I thought it was superb - certainly better than some that followed in the last few years of it's life.

This Morning is one. It's always had the same theme, though of course it's been rearranged many times.

I wonder how Grange Hill and Give us a Clue ended up with the same theme, did they both start at the same time, and did one then decide they must change it. Two shows with the same theme either at the same time it different times would be another one to think about.

Further on the remix / rerecording theme (pun intended):

DS9 went from a rather plodding, yawnworthy number

to something a bit quicker, a bit more rounded and with a pulsing arpeggio background which helped skip it along a bit.


TOS also had a few variations over its 3 year life.


Captain Scarlet had two *closing* themes over its run - an instrumental and a sung version, interestingly in different keys.



No link, but the first episode of Thunderbirds, Terror In The Sky (Tintin in the Fireflash) had a different recording of the famous theme than all the other episodes.

Room 101 - three different iterations, three different themes.

Working Lunch stuck with its excellent original theme until 2008 - when it was remixed with an entirely new format (new titles, presenters and set). This lasted until it was axed in 2010.


Second set of titles, same excellent theme


A remix of the original theme, with the fish and shark being shown the door in favour of a piggy bank

Some interesting point, videos and posts made in this thread so far.

I too enjoyed the Grandstand remix, it sat well with the titles, just a shame that they didn't update the look of the programme to go with it. I still feel like a grandstand style programme is missed on a Saturday afternoon.

I liked the Noel's House Party 1996 theme at the time with that grand sweeping shot of the drive in, but neither were a patch on the original titles and theme looking back.

I've spent most of this morning in bed (oo-er mrs) watching Mike & Angelo, I did not know about that first theme and then I became obsessed reading about it and why Tyler Butterworth left after two series, and how the changeover of actors occurred as a regeneration with the first episode of the third series, and I didn't have a clue that it lasted for 12 series until today with all 123 episodes coming from the house set.

Sub Zero had the same tune during all series; a clip of series 2 -

I think Grange Hill aired in 1978, with Give Us A Clue in 1979, obviously Give Us A Clue could have been recorded in '78. The tune fits the title of 'Give Us A Clue' better, but IMO it is not the best tune for either of them. The 1990s version of Grange Hill was a lot more dramatic and fitted the brilliant drama that it became. Give Us A Clue had it's best theme (again IMO) with the very glitzy Michael Parkinson version.

And I can't really understand why Grange Hill went back to the original theme for the final series. Presumably nostalgia for the adults working on the show, but it sounded stupidly dated by then and I can't imagine the kids really approving of it.

To be fair CBBC had totally changed it's demographic by then, and the show had 'jumped the shark' by moving to Liverpool, which seemed silly. But then Waterloo Road did something even worse, considering it wasn't a kids show years down the line.

The 90's theme tune was a lot better.

There was a certain era of Auntie's Sporting Bloomers with Terry Wogan that copied this title sequence.