© Kris Dewitte
The composer tells Timmy Fisher how she came up with that memorable Line of Duty theme music.
TV music is a little like a secret character – a patchwork of familiar themes and textures, weaving in and out of the drama unseen. At least, that’s how Carly Paradis describes it. For the Canadian composer, the best TV music is inseparable from the show: “I find a strong, memorable theme so incredible,” she tells me over Zoom. “That it can connect emotionally with people. That, when they hear the tune, they instantly know what it’s from: I love that.”
Paradis knows a thing or two about memorable themes. She’s the composer for BBC One’s hit police drama Line of Duty, which returns for a sixth season on Sunday 21st March. When the Line of Duty trailer was released, much of the subsequent excitement centred around her music: that unmistakable melody, circling round and round, whipping up tension like a Kansas twister. (“When those piano keys hit you know s**t’s about to go down,” wrote one Twitter user.)