A flawless piece of work… it’s the Happy Valley of true crime documentaries. Anthony France, Evening Standard ★★★★★
This is serious journalism Gerard Gilbert, iNews ★★★★
British broadcasting legend, Jill Dando, was killed by a single bullet on her doorstep in 1999 in broad daylight. Despite one of the biggest homicide investigations in British history, the murder remains unsolved. This three-part series takes viewers through the twists and the turns of a true crime mystery as her family, friends, journalists, investigators and lawyers wrestle with the question: Who Killed Jill Dando?
Director: Marcus Plowright
Composer: Alexander Parsons
Production Company: Label1
Broadcaster: ITV
Despite the tragedy at its centre, the series also contains stories of warmth and joy. The biggest challenge was for the score to connect these, almost continuously, with much darker contrasting events of the day. I used various musical devices to try to achieve this – firstly the use of very loosely played acoustic instrumental parts, which we hear performed on violin, cello and flute. These bring a sense of warmth to darker scenes, as well as hinting at instability and a sense of what is to come in warmer moments. I also aimed to give an impression of different worlds colliding as parts weave in and out of time. The second was a four-note ascending motif, which returns at points that hint at the tragedy about to occur. Thirdly the use of vocals which we used to invoke a sense of memory and as a reminder of the tragic loss of life.
Violin: Alexander Parsons
Vocals: Hinako Omori
Cello: Joe Zeitlin
Composer: Alexander Parsons
Record Label: MovieScore Media / Reality Bytes
Mixed by: Alexander Parsons and Jamie Ellis (Tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 14)
Electric/Upright Bass: Rory Dempsey
Drums: Ollie Howell
Brass: Mike Underwood, Tom Dennis, Olly Martin
Keys: Alexander Parsons, Rob Gentry
Flute: Gareth Lockrane
Guitars: Adam Martin, Edward Mowat
Strings: Pete Whitfield
Composer: Alexander Parsons
Violin, synths, electronics, tape manipulations: Alexander Parsons
Cello: Klara Schuman, Joe Zeitlin
Guitar: Dave Malkin, Edward Venn Mowat
Voice: Tara Creme
The muscular men of the Chippendales captured the hearts, minds, and dollars of the 1980s in their iconic cuffs and collars. As women’s liberation collided with new ideas of modern masculinity, this unique moment in history catapulted the Los Angeles dance troupe to untold riches and global fame. But as the crowds out front sky-rocketed from hundreds to thousands, the men behind the phenomenon plunged into greed, paranoia, and ultimately murder. Discover the audacious true crime plot behind the scenes, as the beefcakes and businessmen who made male strippers a household name fell foul of the Curse of the Chippendales.
Coming soon to Discovery Plus (US)
Amazon Prime Video (UK)
I had a lot of fun working with original equipment from the 70s, 80s and 90s for the series, as well as putting together a 15-piece band to perform the score. We recorded at Press Play Studio in South East London, with Andy Ramsey engineering. I’ll share more about the process following the release of the series. A small taster of the music can be heard in the Amazon Prime trailer:
Music featured in the trailer, from episodes 2 and 3 of the series – both set in the 1980s:
1. Adonis – Alexander Parsons
2. LA – Alexander Parsons (Guitar performed by Adam Martin)
3. Stratten – Alexander Parsons
4. We Were Huge – Alexander Parsons
Executive Producers: Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn, Suzanne Lavery
Writer and Director: Jesse Vile
Producer: Suzette Styler
Editors: Kevin Konac, Matt Morris, Alistair Martin
Composer: Alexander Parsons
