What are the highest-charting TV themes of all time?
What are the highest-charting TV themes of all time?
Wait, Will Smith never released the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air​ theme?
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We all love a good TV feem toon. Whether it's insanely catchy, explains the premise in the lyrics or makes you feel all nostalgic, it's the hallmark of a truly great show. And sometimes they're good enough to enter the actual charts.
We've trawled the history of the chart and tracked down as many TV themes as we can remember to find out which ones performed the best over the years, and they're an... eclectic bunch.
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Surprisingly, a theme as classic as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was never even released as a single, while others barely scraped the chart at all, such as The Sopranos (80), Neighbours (83) and Home & Away (79). Though we're not surprised the Lost theme didn't get a look-in.
And we're not including songs which became TV themes years after their release (like Harvey Danger's 'Flagpole Sitta' for Peep Show), or themes which were reworked, remixed or covered (like Green Day's 'The Simpsons Theme', The Timelords' 'Doctorin' the Tardis' or Oxide & Neutrino's 'Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty)').
But we are including themes which were in themselves covers of pre-existing songs (like CCS's 'Whole Lotta Love', which was the Top of the Pops theme tune as well as a cover of Led Zeppelin's original).
We were torn on Anita Dobson's 'Anyone Can Fall in Love' as her lyrics don't appear over the EastEnders credits, but come on, it had to stay. It's Dobbo.
First, here's a quick rundown of numbers 40-11:
40. Cheers - #58 (Gary Portnoy - 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name')
39. The Royle Family - #56 (Oasis - 'Half the World Away')
38. Dawson's Creek - #43 (Paula Cole - 'I Don't Want To Wait')
37. Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads - #35 (Highly Likely - 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?')
36. Made in Chelsea - #34 (M83 - 'Midnight City')
35. Fraggles - #33 (Fraggles - 'Fraggle Rock Theme')
34. Happy Days - #31 (Pratt & McClain - 'Happy Days Theme)
33. The Inbetweeners - #30 (Morning Runner - 'Gone Up in Flames')
32. One Tree Hill - #27 (Gavin Degraw - 'I Don't Want To Be')
31. Hill Street Blues - #25 (Mike Post & Larry Carlton - 'Hill Street Blues Theme')
30. Celebrity Love Island - #24 (Jem - 'Wish I')
29. Malcolm in the Middle - #21 (They Might Be Giants - 'Boss of Me')
28. Howard's Way - #21 (Simon May Orchestra - 'Howard's Way')
27. Rupert - #14 (Jackie Lee - 'Rupert')
26. Brush Strokes - #13 (Dexys Midnight Runners - 'Because of You')
25. Top of the Pops - #13 (CCS - 'Whole Lotta Love')
24. Ally McBeal - #10 (Vonda Shepard - 'Searchin' My Soul')
23. The OC - #9 (Phantom Planet - 'California')
22. Z Cars - #8 (Johnny Keating Orchestra - 'Theme from Z Cars')
21. Moonlighting - #8 (Al Jarreau - 'Moonlighting')
20. Twin Peaks - #7 (Julee Cruise - 'Falling')
19. Boon - #5 (Jim Diamond - 'Hi Ho Silver')
18. Harry's Game - #5 (Clannad - 'Theme from Harry's Game')
17. Miami Vice - #5 (Jan Hammer - 'Miami Vice Theme')
16. Lazytown - #4 (Lazytown - 'Bing Bang (Time To Dance)')
15. Crocodile Shoes - #4 (Jimmy Nail - 'Crocodile Shoes')
14. Big Brother - #4 (Element Four - 'Big Brother UK TV Theme')
13. The Wombles - #4 (The Wombles - The Wombling Song')
12. EastEnders - #4 (Anita Dobson - 'Anyone Can Fall in Love')
11. Prisoner Cell Block H - #3 (Lynne Hamilton - 'On the Inside')
10. Minder - #3 (Dennis Waterman - 'I Could Be So Good for You')
"Write the feem toon, sing the feem toon...". Co-written by Dennis's then-wife Patricia, this was the first of several themes he sang for his own shows (a fact lampooned at length by Little Britain) including On the Up, Stay Lucky and New Tricks. None were as big as this classic.
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9. Power Rangers - #3 (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers - 'Power Rangers')
This was the brainchild of Simon Cowell, before he was TV's Simon Cowell. Capitalising on the huge popularity of the show with kids, it was a contender for the Christmas number one race in 1994. Best of all, it actually gave UK fans a spoiler for the next season ("that is the White Ranger"), a tactic which we're surprised hasn't been used since.
8. Friends - #3 (The Rembrandts - 'I'll Be There for You')
If you're going to be a one hit wonder, make sure your song is the theme to one of the greatest and best loved shows of all time. Reaching a peak of number 3 in 1995, it subsequently reached number 5 again when re-released just two years later. 
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7. The X-Files - #2 (Mark Snow - 'The X-Files Theme')
It might not have a killer chorus or any lyrics, but this haunting theme almost hit number one in the summer of 1996, showing just how big the cult sci-fi show was at the time. Bonus fact: a remix of the theme by DJ Dado was also in the Top 10 at the same time. We couldn't get enough of it.
6. Heartbeat - #2 (Nick Berry - 'Heartbeat')
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He may not have had the best voice of all time, but actor Nick Berry scored his second huge hit (after number one 'Every Loser Wins' from EastEnders), with this cover of Buddy Holly's classic - the title theme for the '60s-set cop show. And we heard this tune for what seemed like every Sunday for years and years and years.
5. Miami 7 - #1 (S Club 7 - 'Bring It All Back')
You may be forgiven for a) not remembering that this pop classic was the theme tune to S Club 7's TV show, or b) not remembering that S Club 7 had a TV show at all. S Club's debut single was also the theme tune to Miami 7, and gave them the first of their four number one singles.
4. M*A*S*H - #1 (The Mash - 'Suicide Is Painless')
Written by Johnny Mandel and Mike Altman (the 15-year-old son of the film's director Robert Altman), this was the theme to both the M*A*S*H movie and TV series. The theme was eventually released as a single in 1980 in the UK, reaching number one, and it later returned to the Top 10 as a cover by the Manic Street Preachers in 1992.
3. Van Der Valk - #1 (Simon Park Orchestra - 'Eye Level')
Yeah, don't worry if you've never heard of this one, but it was a big deal back in 1972. This ITV crime drama starred Barry Foster as the titular Dutch detective, and fans bloody loved its theme tune. Originally intended as library music, it was number one for four weeks and sold over a million copies.
2. Bob the Builder - #1 (Bob the Builder - 'Can We Fix It?')
Technically speaking, Neil Morrissey has one of the best-selling singles of all time. Maybe people just wanted to stop a boring Westlife ballad from being the Christmas number one back in 2000, but Bob's theme tune was a huge success, and spawned a number one cover of 'Mambo No 5' a year later. It would be like if Peppa Pig scored two number ones today. It just wouldn't happen.
1. Teletubbies - #1 (Teletubbies - 'Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!')
Everyone seemed to lose their minds in the winter of 1997, as over a million people rushed out to buy the theme tune to this iconic kids' show, complete with baby laughter and cringy nursery rhymes. Another Simon Cowell creation, it reached number one and just missed out on the Christmas top spot to the Spice Girls.