Sarah Warne – TV & Film Composer

Sarah is a British Composer based in South London. She is best known for her work on Channel 4’s critically acclaimed television drama series, Humans, and her most recent scores for BBC’s Time and ITV’s Des. These series were preceded by Dark Money and Prey (series 2), alongside various primetime documentaries including several films for the BAFTA nominated series Catching a Killer (Channel 4), and features including Girls On The Edge (BBC2), and Treasures of Ancient Greece (BBC4).

Sarah recently scored Time (BBC1), Jimmy McGovern’s confronting prison drama series starring Sean Bean and Stephen Graham, which has just been nominated for 6 BAFTAs. Her most recent scores this year include 4 part drama series Our House starring Martin Compston and Tuppence Middleton for Red Planet Productions and ITV, and From Russia With Blood, 6 part documentary for Sky Atlantic directed by Oscar nominated director Jed Rothstein for Rise Films

Recent other film and television work includes The Great British School Swap, feature documentary She’s French(Chalfont Productions), the RTS winning Behind Closed Doors: Through The Eyes of The Child for BBC2, BBC mental health documentary Girls On The Edge, and Channel 4’s moving and insightful Can Cannabis Save Our Son? featuring Gogglebox stars Steph and Dom Parker; a documentary which looks at the effects of medical Marijuana on epilepsy.

Sarah is a graduate of the National Film and Television School. Prior to this, Sarah gained a degree in English Literature at Oxford University, which is where she developed her love for narrative and drama. Subsequently she studied contemporary and electronic music composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Though trained initially as a classical harpist and pianist, her music and sonic installations explore a wide variety of genres and musical techniques, both traditional and experimental. Her innovative use of electronics is nowhere better demonstrated than in her score for Humans, although her writing often fuses electronics with acoustic instruments and she is skilled at orchestration. Whether composing with melodic lyricism or crafting a subtle textural underscore, drama and storytelling is always at the core of what Sarah creates.

Beyond her television work, Sarah has scored a number of award winning short films which have been selected at numerous international festivals across the world including Cannes, Paris, Milan, Toronto, Palm Springs, LA, London, New York, Edinburgh, Berlin, Cologne, Talca, Leipzig, Ozu and Rio, to name a few. She also works extensively with projection artist Rupert Newman, creating light and sound installations both in the UK and abroad. Her Installation work with him has included an interactive installation for Bombay Sapphire Gin in London, lighting up the Four Seasons in Florence, Italy, a Sarah Haywood designed wedding at the Vaux le Vicomte Chateux in France, and lighting up a 48 foot ski jump in Cortina, Italy. London exhibits have taken place at prestigious venues including The Tramshed, The Hospital Club, The House of St. Barnabas, The Rook and Raven Gallery in Soho, The Crate in Notting Hill, and The Royal College of Art.

Selected Credits

TELEVISION DRAMA

Hollington Drive
(Westroad Pictures, 2021)
Director: Carolina Giammetta
Producer: Catrin Defis

Time
(BBC Studios for BBC1, 2021)
Director: Lewis Arnold
Producer: Simon Maloney

The Drowning
(Unstoppable for Channel 5, 2021)
Director: Carolina Giammetta
Producer: Jason Maza

Des
(New Pictures for ITV, 2020)
Director: Lewis Arnold
Producer: David Meanti

Dark Money
(The Forge for BBC, 2019)
Director: Lewis Arnold
Producer: Erika Hossington

Humans (series 3)
(Kudos Film and Television, 2018)
Directors: Jill Robertson, Al Mackay, Ben A. Williams, Richard Senior
Producer: Vicki Delow

Humans (series 2)
(Kudos Film and Television, 2016)
Directors: Lewis Arnold, Carl Tibbetts, Francesca Gregorini, Mark Brozel
Producer: Paul Gilbert

Prey (series 2)
(Red Productions, 2015)
Director: Lewis Arnold
Producer: Tom Sherry

DOCUMENTARY

The Real Des
(ITV, 2020)
Director: Iwan Roberts
Producer: Mike Blair

Growing Up Poor in America / Trump’s Breadline Kids
(PBS (USA), Channel 4 (UK), 2020)
Director: Jezza Neumann
Producer: Brian Woods

Catching a Killer: A Diary From The Grave
(Channel 4, 2020)
Directors: Jezza Neumann and Jess Stevenson
Producer: Brian Woods

Stacey Dooley: On The Psych Ward
(BBC3, 2020)
Director: Katie Rice
Producer: Brian Woods

The Great British School Swap
(Channel 4, 2019)
Director: Martin Fuller
Producer: Heenan Bhatti

Behind Closed Doors: Through The Eyes of the Child
(BBC2, 2019)
Director: Anna Hall

Steph & Dom: Can Cannabis Save Our Son?
(Frieda TV, 2019)
Director: Erica Gornall

Girls On The Edge
(Dragonfly Film and TV, 2018)
Director: Holly Challinor

A Killing In My Family
(Channel 4, 2017)
Director: Kirsty Cunningham

She’s French
(Chalfont Productions, 2017)
Director: Charlotte Seegers
Producer: Helen De Winter

Catching a Killer: A Bullet Through the Window
(True Vision Productions, 2017)
Directors: Erica Gornall, Jezza Neumann

Catching a Killer: The Search for Natalie Hemming
(True Vision Productions, 2017)
Director: Anna Hall

Treasures of Ancient Greece
(BBC, 2015)
Director/Producer: David Vincent

Kate Adie’s Women of World War One
(BBC, 2014)
Director/Producer: David Vincent

Vegas (NFTS, 2013)
Director: Lukasz Konopa

The Chinese Hajj
(National Geographic, 2012)
Director: Camille Faylona

SHORT FILM

Daggers Drawn
(2021)
Director: James Cotton
Producer: Diliana Alexander

Safia
(2021)
Director: Ahmed Abd
Producer: Arij Al-Soltan

Blue Room
(2020)
Director: Kate Cheeseman
Producer: Georgina French

Tabbouleh & Pie
(2019)
Director: Ja’far ‘Abd Al-Hamid

Home Girl
(Genera, 2019)
Director: Poonam Brah
Producer: Isabel Steuble-Johnson

What Happened to Evie
(French Fancy Productions, 2018)
Director: Kate Cheeseman
Producer: Georgina French

Is This Thing On?
(BBC Drama Productions, 2015)
Director: Max Myers

Oakwood
(BBC Drama Productions, 2015)
Director: Andrew Cumming

Out
(Visual Vybe Productions, 2015)
Director: Alex Lawton

The Magnificent Lion Boy
(NFTS, 2013)
Director: Anna Caro

Robomax
(NFTS, 2013)
Director: Moayad Fahmi
Producer: Daniel Demissie

Charlie Says
(NFTS, 2013)
Director: Lewis Arnold
Producer: Rob Danell

COMMERCIALS

Buy As You View
(Vermillion Films, 2016)

Kai
(Magnum Ice Creams 2015)
Director: Andrew Cumming

Like This, For Ever
(Random House Publishing, 2013)
Director: Nick Blake.
Author: S.J.Bolton

Queenie
(Random House Publishing, 2013)
Director: Nick Blake
Author: Jacqueline Wilson

Hetty Feather: Emerald Star
(Random House Publishing, 2013)
Director: Nick Blake
Author: Jacqueline Wilson

Dodger
(Random House Publishing, 2012)
Director: Nick Blake
Author: Terry Pratchett

Sarah Dannatt is the married name of Sarah Warne, Composer.