The composer Christopher Gunning, who has died aged 78 of renal cancer, operated with equal assurance in both the film and television world and the classical symphonic tradition. The music for which he is most widely known is that for ITV’s long-running series Agatha Christie’s Poirot, starring David Suchet, for which he won a Bafta in 1989 and created incidental music for some 40 of the episodes.
Gunning recalled that he wrote three candidate melodies for the ubiquitous signature tune for the producer Brian Eastman to consider; the third option was picked as best combining the spirit of the late 1920s and 30s with the slightly darker side of the Belgian detective’s character. The theme was played by the jazz saxophonist Stan Sulzmann in numerous variations across the series.
