Maths in a Box Theme Tune

Educational Minimalist Synth-Pop

Many years ago, I wrote a brief piece about the BBC Schools programme Maths in a Box, and today the theme tune popped into my head again so I thought it was vitally important that I brought it to everyone’s attention again.

Almost nursery rhyme like in its rhyming simplicity, the “Ticky ticky tocks, it’s maths in a box” refrain burrows into your subconscious and remains seated there for decades like a persistent barnacle on a rock. It’s helped, of course, by the hypnotic drum machine and two-finger synth playing which only enhances its earworm credentials. And aside from the follow up line of “It’s as easy as 1-2-3” that’s all there is to the theme tune, so I can’t say much more apart from: IT’S SUBLIME!

So, what are some other examples of ridiculously catchy, yet simple theme tunes? My favourite, from the same era of Maths in a Box, is the Chock-a-Block theme - a synth-pop banger for the under-fives.