Half the World Away was originally approached about using an Oasis song for a series about a working-class family in Manchester, he suggested "Married with Children" and was confused when "Half the World Away" was chosen. On tour in America when "The Royle Family" was first screened, he claims the penny did not drop until he returned to the United Kingdom to find the series a huge success and viewed it, feeling the song was perfect for the series. He now claims not to think of "Half the World Away" as an Oasis song, but rather as the theme tune to "The Royle Family".
Radio 4 UK Theme 4 UK Theme to make way for a "pacy news briefing" caused much controversy in the United Kingdom, including extensive discussion in the British media and even in Parliament. Austria-born Spiegl moved to the UK as a refugee in 1939, after his parents fled Nazi persecution of Jews after the Anschluss. He had contributed several pieces of music to the BBC, including a theme for Radio 4 based on a children's skipping rhyme introduced in 1973 (called "A Skipping Tune"), which was replaced by the "Radio 4 UK Theme". The "UK Theme" was created in 1978 at the suggestion of