Silva Screen

Sarah Warne’s powerful soundtrack to New Pictures Productions’ true crime drama is released on the 27th October 2023. Written by award-winning screenwriter, George Kay (Hijack, Criminal: UK) and directed by BAFTA-winning director Lewis Arnold (Sherwood, Time, Des), the 7-part drama is currently broadcast on ITV with all 7 episodes available to stream on ITVx.

Depicting the desperate five-year hunt for serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the series features a stellar ensemble cast including Toby Jones, David Morrissey, Katherine Kelly, Lee Ingleby, Jill Halfpenny, Jasmine Lee-Jones, Liz White and Daniel Mays. The Long Shadow focuses on the lives of the victims who crossed Peter Sutcliffe’s path and those of the officers at the heart of the police investigation. With the victims, their families and the survivors at the heart of this series, The Long Shadow brings a new perspective to a well-documented story.

Composer Sarah Warne explains her process - "There’s an isolation and vulnerability that threads through the score - mournful brass, fragile strings and textured vocals, but also a strangeness too; not just the elusive shadowiness of Sutcliffe himself but also of the scrambling officers that missed crucial developments in the case through arrogance, misogyny and institutional red tape. Driving percussive elements spur on the case, but poignant and haunting melodies always refocus us on the importance of the lives of the people in this story, and not on plot. One such melody can be found in ‘Tormenting George’ and ‘Under Scrutiny’, which feature a minor key adaptation of the hymn ‘Faith of Our Fathers’ (St Catherine Tune). This theme came to represent the sense of broken community and the failures of our institutions to protect the lives of women in this harrowing impossible-to-be-forgotten period of British history.”

Sarah Warne trained as a classical harpist, pianist and composer. In her composition work, she specialises in blending acoustic instruments with unique electronic signatures. Sarah is best known for her work on Channel 4’s critically acclaimed television drama series Humans, and her recent scores for BBC’s Time and ITV’s Des. Sarah has also scored various primetime documentaries including several films for the BAFTA nominated series Catching a Killer (Channel 4), and her recent series about Putin and Russian corruption in London, Once Upon a Time in Londongrad, which is a 6-part documentary for Sky Atlantic directed by Oscar nominated director Jed Rothstein for Rise Films.

Sarah Warne’s scores for Steeltown Murders, Humans, Des, Time and Dark Money are available on Silva Screen Records.