Van der Valk is a British television crime drama series produced for the ITV network by Thames Television. It debuted on September 13, 1972 and initially ran to 1977, before being re-commissioned in 1991. The series was created by Nicolas Freeling, based on his novels about a detective in Amsterdam. It starred Barry Foster in the role of titular character Simon "Piet" van der Valk.
The signature theme, "Eye Level", was composed by Jack Trombey and was performed by the Simon Park Orchestra. The theme was released as a single (with the Crown Court theme, "Distant Hills" on the b-side) on October 27, 1972 and initially spent two weeks on the singles chart at the end of November 1972 before re-entering in September 1973 and reaching #1 for four weeks on September 29, 1973. The day before, a version by Ray Martin & His Orchestra was released. In November that year, Matt Monro charted with a vocal version titled "And You Smiled", which peaked at #28.
In 1974, Jim MacLeod released a version, subtitled "The Slosh", as a b-side of a single, as did Russ Conway on his release of his version of Charles Aznavour's "She".
In the final TV series, the theme was played at a slightly faster tempo than previously.