MRH : Do you feel your jazz background, and particularly your ability to improvise as a musician, is partly responsible for your ability to work in so many genres, or is it more a reflection of your curiosity and hunger for something new?

CT : I have one simple word that always surfaces whatever I am working on:‘Scared!' Will I be able to achieve what I want and create something that moves me forward? Even though Jazz enables me to improvise quite easily, it is more the hunger for the new and the curiosity which drives me.

MRH : Some may know you best for your thriller (Crimson Rivers 2) and science-fiction (Puppet Masters) scores, and might find your music for Doc Martin to be very surprising because of its lightness; there's none of the brooding writing of your darker-themed scores, and I wonder if writing a score with definitive light touches is much harder than a doom-and-gloom, apocalyptic orchestral score?

CT : The artist Turner painted huge seascapes and colour beginnings (very forward looking watercolours). Some actors/actresses – Dame Judy Dench for example – will perform heavy roles as well as light ones. It doesn't make one a lesser person (although some producers will mark you down, but that's their loss) but a bigger one. Not everyone feels they can switch, and that's fine too. No score is easy to write, whether it is a solo instrument, a full orchestra or totally electronic.

MRH : How did you become involved with the Doc Martin series?

CT : Martin Clunes had filmed two Doc Martin films for Sky. His character in those films was quite different. As I understand it, Buffalo Pictures presented Granada with a new approach, which they liked and it was turned into a successful series on ITV. I had met Martin on the set of ‘Goodbye Mr Chips' and I knew he liked the music I had composed for that film. So his wife, the producer of Doc Martin, Philippa Braithwaite, simply asked if I would be interested. Of course I didn't hesitate.

MRH : Are you surprised by how well the show has been received?

CT : I am not surprised as it is one of the few programmes that is perfect for the whole family. With most dramas there are many people with many views, and the vision can be hard to read sometimes. The deciding team on Doc Martin is small - Martin, Philippa, and the director, Ben Bolt - and with very strong opinions. We all know what we are aiming for, and over the years it has become a sort of a family. By filming only every other year, they make sure to keep up the quality
and have time to develop strong scripts. I am very pleased by its success - but that doesn't alter the fact that we all have to continue to work very hard. There is no ‘dead wood.'

MRH : Was the soundtrack album a project you had planned, or did it come about from the keen interest from devoted fans?

CT : It was because of the fans of the show who kept asking for the soundtrack. I am very fussy about issuing soundtracks in general, and only agree if I think the CD can be played as an album.

MRH : The instruments and musicians used for the show's episodes are very intimate, and I wonder if you prefer exploring the nuances of a small combo versus a large-scale orchestra, since the performance nuances of a few are perhaps more tactile, and can arguably have a more personal impact upon the listener?

CT : The acoustic guitar fits very well for what I need, and the tango (which was Martin's idea) carries a dignity, slightly overpowering aloofness that matches Martin's character of an established surgeon sent from the city to deal with a local community – a quirky doctor who is caring but difficult, out of step sometimes, doesn't suffer fools, a bull in a china shop, but ultimately very human. The tango is not Cornish but works great with the story. So yes, small community, small band – for this it works. A large orchestra would create the wrong ‘feel.'