__NOTOC__
Malcolm John Batt (1 May 1929 - 26 August 2017) was a British solicitor, who under the pen name John Malcolm was also a writer and composer of library music. He composed ''Non Stop'', a short orchestral piece that was used as the
ITV News theme tune from its inception in 1955 and for over thirty years. Born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, he was a chorister at
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...
and won a scholarship to
King's College, Taunton.
[Philip Lane]
Biography at Naxos Records
/ref>
Legal career
John Batt was articled with the Salisbury firm Whitehead, Vizard, Venn and Lush (now Whitehead Vizard). After national service, in which he acted as a court martial prosecutor for 18 months, he set up a firm of solicitors in Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
- Batt Holden - staying there for 50 years. In 1964 he was also instrumental in establishing the solicitors Batt, Broadbent and Beecroft in his home town of Salisbury, to which he returned as a consultant in 2007.
Using the name John Malcolm, Batt wrote his first book ''Let's Make it Legal'' in 1966, one of a careers series about life as a solicitor. In 2000 he represented Sally Clark
Sally Clark (née Lockyer, 15 August 1964 – 15 March 2007) was an English solicitor who, in November 1999, became the victim of a miscarriage of justice when she was found guilty of the murder of her two infant sons. Clark's first son died in ...
, another solicitor who was wrongly convicted of murdering her two sons. Batt was part of the appeal team during a re-trial which ended in her acquittal. He wrote the book ''Stolen Innocence'' about the case in 2005, this time under the name John Batt.
Batt continued to take cases and act as a legal consultant well into his 80s. He died suddenly in Dorking
Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...
, Surrey at the age of 88, having survived his wife Jane. There were three children - Gina, Charles and Joanna.
Writer and composer
According to Philip Lane ''Non Stop'' was written in 1946 as a piano piece while Batt was aged 17 years old and still at school in Taunton, "to spite his music master who despised popular music".[ In 1951 the publishers and music library Francis Day & Hunter took it on and had it recorded in Belgium in an orchestral arrangement by Ivor Slaney. The ]ITN
Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...
editor chose it as a theme tune in 1955 after advice from conductor John Barbirolli
Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 ...
who suggested it during a visit. It remained in use for over thirty years. ''Non Stop'' was attributed to John Malcolm, as was his subsequent work in television drama scripts and music.
In 1969 he used ''Let's Make it Legal'' as the basis for the Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
series ''The Main Chance
''The Main Chance'' is a British television series first aired on ITV in four series between 1969 and 1975. It is a drama series that depicts the sudden transformation in the life of a solicitor, David Main (played by John Stride), after he m ...
'' (1969-1975), sharing the script writing with Edmund Ward and others. He also wrote the theme music. Batt was also part of the team at Yorkshire that created ''Justice
In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...
'' (1971–73), another legal show, and wrote scripts for the BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
Series ''Trial'' (1971). He also wrote the music for other series, including ''Mischief'' (1969), and for commercials.
The Music of John Malcolm
', Francis Day & Hunter recorded music library, FDH LP 1016
External links
John Wilson conducts 'Non Stop' by John Malcolm
Theme tune from ''The Main Chance''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batt, John
1929 births
2017 deaths
British solicitors
British composers
British writers