Hi David, thanks for giving us an interview.  When did your involvement begin on 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet'?

When I was shown the first script of the first episode. The same day I saw some rough cuts of the first scenes they had shot.

 How did you picture the music in your mind as you composed it - did you get to see the footage first, or did you have to work from a script and try and build a picture in your mind of what it would look like?

On the day I saw it, I went to bed that evening with it in my head and as I was about to hit the sack I wrote "That's living alright" on manuscript I had on the bedside table. In the morning I finished it off with Ken Ashby a friend from America who I was working with on another project at the time.

 How surprised where you when 'That's livin alright' hit the number 3 spot in the UK chart?

Extremely.  I knew Joe Fagin was a GREAT singer and was more thrilled for him than anyone else.

 Were the follow up series themes Get it right and Back with the boys again, intended as another possible chart hit, and were you disappointed with its low score in the charts?

It was because the new location sort of required a new theme. Personally I think it was a mistake to change the themes, but that is what the TV company wanted. I retained the rights to the first themes, but they wanted a share of any new theme.

 Did you try and give certain characters their own 'theme' of music, i.e. softer for one character, lighter for another, menacing for another etc?

Yes. Different instruments as well. Oz was a dobro guitar, a bit sloppy, Barry a harmonica, a bit of a drawl.. sort of thing. 

During the second series, you composed a piece for an ASDA shopping sequence, which contained the ASDA TV jingle.  Were ASDA happy for you to use this, and were you worried at all about using it?

I can't remember using an ASDA jingle personally! Maybe in the dub the director added it in which case I am sure they would have had permission.

 In your opinion, which series did you get the best musical results from, first or second, and why?

The first for the theme and probably the second for the incidental as the situations moved a bit more.

 When you first started work on the show, did you believe it would become so successful and what do you think is the basis of it's success?

I had no idea really. It is hard to know what will happen. TV in this country is rather destroyed by the programme controllers. It depends on the slot you get. We were lucky we got a good one and that really helped. Saturday mornings after the screening on a Friday night was great for selling records.

 And finally David, what are you currently working on?

I have just produced the theme for a new sit com called "The house that Jack built" which will be screened on the BBC probably in the summer. It stars Adam Faith and Gillian Tailforth. There are 6 episodes and they are really funny. Don't miss it. My major project at present is as musical supervisor for a new musical by the chaps who gave us BUDDY in the West End. The new show is called 125th street and will open in Bromley in September and in the West End in October. It is set in Harlem in 1969 and is a real blast! Don't miss that either!