Long-lost 80s TV theme tune to be released

Louise Camby found the tapes in her Tadworth home

The granddaughter of a music composer is releasing theme music to an 1980s TV show that was previously thought lost.

Johnny Douglas, who lived in Kingswood in Surrey, composed the music for Dungeons & Dragons, which aired for the first time in the UK 40 years ago on Tuesday.

To coincide with the anniversary, his granddaughter Louise Camby is releasing the track, having discovered tapes of the music in her Tadworth home.

Ms Camby said she "nearly fell off the table" when she found a cassette tape with the show's title on it when going through a stack of shoeboxes in October 2022.

Ms Camby would like to release a physical version of the music

She told BBC Radio Surrey: "I thought, my goodness what is this?

"I put it straight into the cassette player, that we thankfully still have, heard the music and recognised the opening immediately."

Worried the cassette might get chewed up in the player, she removed it and began to look for a company that could digitise the music.

It will be released on streaming platforms, while Ms Camby is also planning a physical release for fans who have been contacting her via social media.

Ms Camby said the response from fans had been incredible, adding: "I've been quite blown away".

Mr Douglas also composed the score for a 1970s film of The Railway Children and was involved in shows including Transformers and My Little Pony, although Ms Camby said Dungeons and Dragons was the most popular.

The TV show was based on the table-top role-playing game.