What was the original Van Der Valk theme tune and who performed it?

Posted by

Boss on Aug 07, 2022 - 01:42PM

Van Der Valk has a pretty familiar theme tune (Picture: Rex Shutterstock)

Series two of the ITV reboot of Dutch detective drama Van Der Valk is just around the corner.

will return as Piet Van Der Valk in the Amsterdam-set crime drama alongside Maimie McCoy as Lucienne, Luke Allen Gale as Brad de Vries, Elliot Barnes-Worrell as Job Cloovers, Darrell D’Silva as pathologist Hendrik Davie, and Emma Fielding as Julia Dahlman.

However, viewers watching the first series realised one very important element from the original Van Der Valk was missing.

The was notably absent from the 2020s version of the 1970s series, which saw Barry Foster take on the iconic role of .

Instead, viewers got a new theme tune, with only hints of the original – leaving many of them fuming, as the classic track remains very well remembered after all these years.

So, just what was the original theme song, and who was it by?

What was the original Van Der Valk theme and who performed it?

The original Van Der Valk theme was called Eye Level.

It was originally performed by the Simon Park Orchestra, who landed themselves a pretty big hit with the track, as it went all the way to number one in 1973.

Eye Level was based on a German/Dutch nursery rhyme, which was also inspired by Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro, and was adapted by Dutch composer Jan Stoeckart.

The track was originally released in 1972 – the year that Van Der Valk made his TV debut – but only spent two weeks in the charts, before soaring to number one when it was re-issued the following year.

It stayed at the top of the charts for four weeks, selling over a million copies and being certified platinum in the process – also becoming one of the 12 biggest selling singles of the 1970s.