1972 - Eye Level - Theme from Van Der Valk
Douglas Holland notes:
The start of the television series and therefore my introduction to Eye Level were coincidental with an
increasing number of visits to Amsterdam. As my knowledge of the city increased and Eye Level was played
as a tune in its own right, in my mind it became more evocative of Amsterdam than the TV Series and
remains so to this day.
Eye Level Notes & Links
Notes:
Eye Level was produced originally for the
De Wolfe Music Library and selected by Thames Television to be the theme tune
for their Netherlands based detective series, Van der Valk.
The work was based on a Dutch nursery rhyme which
Jack Trombey wrote a top line for,
Simon Park then wrote an arrangement, specifically for his own orchestra,
which he also conducted.
The track was fully entitled "Eye Level (Theme from the TV series 'Van Der Valk').
The tune became popular with audiences and, in a move which was unusual at the time for both library
works and television themes, Columbia Records issued it on a single (catalogue number DB 8946) with
the theme to Granada Television's drama series Crown Court, entitled "Distant Hills", on the b-side.
The record entered the UK chart and spent 22 weeks in the Top 40, four of them at number one.
Later it was used in a series of TV Advertisements for Alton Towers.
Links:
The notes above were extracted from:
Simon Park Orchestra - Wikipedia Entry
Notes:
Van der Valk was a British television series produced by Thames Television for the ITV network.
It starred Barry Foster in the title role as Dutch detective Commissaris "Piet" (real name Simon) van der Valk.
Based on the characters and atmosphere (but not the plots) of the novels of Nicolas Freeling, the first series
was shown in 1972.
The stories are mostly based in and around Amsterdam, where Commissaris van der Valk is a cynical yet
intuitive detective. Drugs, sex and murder are the gritty themes of the casework.
However, the beautifully shot Amsterdam locations give a peculiar contrast to this. Van der Valk also
contrasts with his naïf assistant, Inspecteur Johnny Kroon, and his superior, Hoofd-commissaris Samson,
who deals with the political fallout of the cases.
Series 1 ran for six 1 hour episodes and formed part of the Autumn Schedule in September and October 1972.
Series 2, this with seven 1 hour episodes, formed part of the Autumn Schedule in September and October 1973.
Series 3, was not made until 1977, but this time ran for twelve 1 hour Episodes and formed a major part of the Autumn/Winter Schedule.
Series 5, 1991 and consisted of only 4 Episodes, but each ran for 2 Hours.
Series 5 (final series), 1992 and consisted of only 3 Episodes, each running for 2 Hours.
Links:
The notes above were extracted from:
Van der Valk - British Television Series - Wikipedia Entry
Based on the Characters, but NOT the Plots of the Van Der Valk Books by:
Nicolas Freeling (3 March 1927 - 20 July 2003) - Wikipedia Entry
and starring:
Barry Foster (21 August 1927 – 11 February 2002) - Wikipedia Entry
