THE PROFESSIONALS PAD: HOME WHERE SOME OF TV'S BEST-KNOWN THEME TUNES WERE BORN

Mail on sunday 31 august 2014

Priory House is so large that when I ask its owner, film and television composer Laurie Johnson, how many bedrooms there are, he confesses he doesn’t know. ‘Seven, I think,’ he ventures, which turns out to be correct.

Not only is the house, in the North London suburb of Stanmore, huge, it is also extremely old. It was built in about 1530 and has a range of original features, including Tudor fireplaces throughout.

And there is also a secret tunnel, which is said to lead to the neighbouring stately home, Bentley Priory.

Johnson, 87 – who wrote the theme tunes for the television shows The Professionals, This Is Your Life and The Avengers – did much of his composing at the Grade II listed house, where he has lived since 1962. It is on sale for £4.595 million.

Included in the grounds is a rose garden that was started by the late author Dame Barbara Cartland. They were great friends and, through his film production company, Laurie made several movies of her novels.

When Laurie mentioned how much he liked her rose bushes, Dame Barbara – who lived for 50 years at Camfield Place, the other side of Hertfordshire from Stanmore – decidedhe must have them, and the bushes were transported to his garden.

‘She was a great professional, first-class,’ Laurie says of her. ‘She was a very good historian.

'She basically was always telling the same story, a love story, but it was the authenticity of the background that mattered.’

Priory House was built on the foundations of what is believed to have been the original 13th Century priory. As well as the seven bedrooms, one of which has an en suite shower room, the house has two bathrooms,  a drawing room, a formal sitting room, separate dining room, family room, library, study and conservatory.

The property also includes a former coach house and garage with attached stables. Planning permission has been granted for this area to be converted into a separate three-bedroom home.

Laurie wants to sell because ‘my mobility is not great, so we [he and his wife Dot] want to find something more suitable’. But he has no intention of retiring: he is currently planning a film version of The Professionals and is working on new scores.

He seems unfazed by the MBE he was awarded this year. All he will say is that ‘it sounds good!’ He is happier, unsurprisingly, talking about his work. ‘Theme tunes are like sneezing – they happen very quickly,’ he says. ‘They are like calling cards so that the audience knows what they are in for.’

Laurie has also written film scores at Priory House, including the one for Dr Strangelove, the Stanley Kubrick-directed 1964 satire starring Peter Sellers.

‘Film scores are a much more detailed, lengthy process,’ he says. ‘You are writing for specific scenes and developments in stories and you have to play on the subconscious of the audience. That’s the purpose of a film score.’

He says that while he does discuss each of his scores with the film’s director, ‘you have to come to your own conclusions of how to interpret the film musically’.

He explains how the writing process works: ‘You see the whole film and then you identify where the music is going to play’ – and adds that great film-makers set themselves apart because they ‘realise you have to combine all the senses’. ‘Fifty per cent of film-making is down to the soundtrack,’ he says.

He recalls Stanley Kubrick asking him what he thought of Dr Strangelove when he saw it. Laurie told him: ‘If you want the audience to feel as if they have been punched in the stomach, you’ve done it!’ Kubrick replied: ‘That’s exactly what I want!’

Lee Martin, director at estate agents Preston Bennett, says: ‘Priory House is the epitome of tranquillity and offers the ultimate in security and peace of mind.

'Perfectly designed to offer respite, this home boasts truly exceptional grounds and private access to Bentley Priory Nature Reserve.

‘With its enchanting grounds, which extend to 3.3 acres, it’s no surprise that one feels as if they are miles out in the countryside instead of in the heart of suburbia.’