Ron Grainer

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Ron Grainer (Born August 11, 1922 in Atherton, Queensland, Australia - died February 21, 1981) was an Australian-born composer who worked for most of his professional career in the United Kingdom. He is mostly remembered for his film and television music.

Before the second world-war, he studied music under Sir Eugene Goosens at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, but this was interrupted by World War II. He was called up to serve in the army on the islands after Japan invaded and Australia sent forces to monitor planes flying over. It was there that a barrel crashed against his leg when he was travelling in a truck and they had to drive over open ground very fast. He managed to get one leg over the tailgate but the other leg was crushed. There were no doctors at the base and he was in terrible pain and unconscious for several days before he was given medical treatment, by then osteomyelitis had entered the bone marrow. They wanted to amputate but he couldn't have survived the anaesthetic, so he did not lose his leg but was in and out of hospital for years and received an army disability pension.

Grainer collaborated with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop on a number of television series themes, including Giants of Steam (a documentary about railways) and, most famously, the science fiction series Doctor Who. Grainer was so impressed with Delia Derbyshire's realisation of his score (which remained the standard version of the Doctor Who theme for 18 years) that he is reputed to have said on hearing it, "Did I write that?". He also offered to split his royalty with her, but this was prevented by BBC bureaucracy.

Another famous Grainer-composed theme was for the series The Prisoner, which was based upon an earlier piece of music Grainer had written entitled "The Age of Elegance".

Perhaps one of his most eclectic film works was the music to The Omega Man, based upon the book I am Legend by Richard Matheson and starring Charlton Heston. The soundtrack was not released on CD until 2002 in a limited run of 3000 copies through FilmScoreMonthly[1]. Copies appear on eBay from time to time, but it is now considered a rarity. The music contains a mix of symphonic, jazz, avantguarde and electronic music.