In 1960 he gave up playing in the band to spend more time on composition. He wrote some very successful film music, e.g. "The Servant", "Darling", "Modesty Blaise" and "Morgan, A Suitable Case for Treatment". He wrote the television theme for "The Avengers" and "Tomorrow’s World", as well as lots of music for television adverts. He composed a musical version of "Lysistrata" together with Benny Green for the Bath Festival.