Home Fires

Working Lives: Meet TV composer Samuel Sim

The Bay (Credit: ITV)

Samuel Sim won two RTS Craft & Design Awards in 2015 for his original score and title music for ITV period drama Home Fires, and another last year for the title music of The Bay. The judges described Sim’s theme as “haunting and atmospheric”, giving “a Nordic noir feel to Morecambe”, the setting of the ITV crime drama.

How would you describe your music?

Julian Bellamy's speech to the RTS

Good evening. I’d like to start with an apology to Monica and Karen, our two signers tonight.  They maybe from Signpost - our multi-award winning Gateshead-based signing business -  but I bet they’ve not signed Anglo Saxon before….until tonight. Standby for a speech that can link Ant and Dec to the West Germanic version of Old English…yes, really.

ITV’s big drama: Television speaks to drama boss Steve November

Steve November

On 18 September 2016, Steve November has a problem. At 9:00pm that night, the slot arrives in ITV’s schedule that would normally be filled by the season premiere of Downton Abbey.

As Director of Drama for the ITV network, November has to find a replacement – Downton is ending, with the last ever episode to air this coming Christmas Day. And, given Downton’s blockbuster ratings performance, it’s going to be a fiendishly difficult act to follow.

Why is the Second World War so popular on television?

Turn on the TV on any given day and it's likely you'll stumble across something to do with the Second World War.

Whether it's new ITV drama Home Fires, reruns of Dad's Army, or a documentary about Hitler, decades after the war ended, it still dominates television schedules.

This week sees an increased output of programmes centred on the 1939-1945 conflict, as Britain commemorates the 70th anniversary of VE Day.