The 88-year-old composer Jim Parker, who won a Bafta for his work on Midsomer Murders and House of Cards, has passed away.
In a 60-year career, he collaborated with the comedian Victoria Wood and the author Sir John Betjeman.
Parker was also well-known for composing the scores for television series including Foyle’s War, Soldier Soldier, and Mapp and Lucia.
Claire, Parker’s daughter, remarked that he “wore his talent lightly” and “had a quiet passion and a great sense of humor.”
In addition to composing for television dramas, he also composed music for the popular factual series Changing Rooms and Ground Force.
The composer collaborated with English poet and author Sir John on four albums and also performed with the rock band Procol Harum.
He composed the music for the original BBC series House of Cards, which Netflix subsequently adapted, as well as the BBC One drama The House of Elliott.
Parker won his first Bafta for the sequel to House of Cards, To Play the King, and went on to win three more for The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, The History of Tom Jones, and A Rather English Marriage.
Claire Parker stated,
“His primary objective was for audiences to appreciate his music.”
“He was well-respected and well-liked in the music and television industries because he composed so many memorable theme songs and always gave his all, which resulted in many long-lasting collaborations.”
Friends, family members, and coworkers will mourn him. Parker was born in 1934 in Hartlepool, County Durham, and he began his musical career as an oboist in the British Army band stationed in post-war West Germany.
In 1959, after receiving a silver medal from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, he was awarded an honorary degree.
Later, he became a member of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra before joining the Barrow Poets, a poetry and music group that recorded six albums and collaborated with poets such as Stevie Smith, who wrote the poem Not Waving But Drowning.
The most successful of Parker’s three musicals was Follow The Star, a retelling of the origins of Christmas.
In 1979, the late comedian Victoria Wood engaged him to arrange the songs for a film adaptation of her début play Talent.
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