Archive for April 2017

Jeff Meegan, David Tobin and Tim Garland collaborate on the music for Blood Sex and Money – a 24-hour radio drama epic for the BBC.

There’s something strangely liberating about being able to write such an eye-grabbing headline as Blood, Sex and Money and to know that it’s bang on topic. The three themes run throughout Emile Zola’s 20-novel saga of the  Rougon-Macquart families in the run up to the last quarter of the nineteenth century. When Jeff, David and Tim Garland were asked by the drama people at BBC Radio 4 to provide the music for a 27-episode epic, they were delighted.

Fenella Woolgar and Robert Lindsay, recording the 27-part drama.

Said Jeff: “It’s always a privilege to work alongside such a dedicated team of professionals. Our previous work with the Beeb has included Trollope’s Barchester Chronicles and Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo. The Zola trilogy was split into the three key themes with each being broadcast over a single week.”

Samuel West

And what a cast! Glenda Jackson, a double Oscar winner, made her return to acting after a 20-year career break to star in the series, alongside other heavyweights such as Robert Lindsay, Samuel West, Adrian Scarborough, David Bamber, Georgina Campbell and David Schofield.

Speaking on behalf of the three composers, David was interviewed by the BBC and talked about story telling  through music and the way that the team approached their work on the project.

The series has been a huge critical success for the BBC and has gathered awards and great press reviews – the Daily Telegraph called it “unmissable.”

Below: David talks about the team’s work on the epic for the BBC.