EastEnders 'doof doof' composer tells all

The man behind the EastEnders theme music has revealed that he started composing the famous piece at the age of seven.

Simon May said he came up with the tune that would become the EastEnders theme during boyhood piano lessons.

May, 71, told BBC Points West he is proud that the tune's opening "doof doof" drumbeat sounds are synonymous with some of the soap's most dramatic storylines - and he has even entitled his autobiography Doof Doof.

The musician, who also composed the theme tune to the 80s BBC drama Howards' Way, said: "I know some of the EastEnders cast and they always tell me that when they get their scripts they go to the last page to see if they've got their 'doof doof' line."