The show's theme music was originally The Procession of the Sardar, by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, a student of Rimsky-Korsakov. Later, it was replaced by Allegro Non Troppo, the first movement from Malcolm Arnold's Second Set of English Dances Opus 33. The ten programmes titled The Papers used the Gershwin Piano Concerto in F as opening and closing music; when it reverted to the original title, it was replaced again by the Arnold work, which was also used for the revived programme on radio.
