"Devil's Galop" is a piece of light music composed by Charles Williams. It became famous as the theme tune to the radio serial Dick Barton - Special Agent.[1] The name "galop" of the title refers to the galop dance as opposed to a horse's gallop.[2]
It has since been used in a number of productions, often to give a sense of dramatic urgency to a chase scene. As well as being the theme for the BBC Light Programme's serial Dick Barton, other appearances include Dad's Army, The Goodies, the Goon Show (the original theme music for which is called 'Goons Gallop' and is reminiscent of Devil's Galop). Monty Python used this theme throughout its run on television including the famous The Spanish Inquisition sketch.
The theme has been featured recently in Mitchell and Webb's The Surprising Adventures of Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar sketches[3], and the 30 Rock episode "Tracy Does Conan". The song was also used in the CITV children's show ZZZap! and was the theme song of the character 'Tricky Dicky'.