William Alan Hawkshaw BEM (born 27 March 1937) is a British composer and performer, particularly of themes for movies and television programs. Hawkshaw worked extensively for the KPM production music company in the 1960s and 1970s, composing and recording many stock tracks that have been used extensively in film and TV. His song “Charlie” is heard on Just For Laughs Gags. In 2016, he was awarded a doctorate for his contributions to the music industry.
As such, he is the composer of a number of familiar theme tunes including Channel 4 News, Grange Hill and Countdown. In addition, he is an arranger and pianist, and in the United States with the studio group Love De-Luxe scored a number 1 single on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with "Here Comes That Sound Again" in 1979.
He is the father of singer-songwriter Kirsty Hawkshaw, who was a member of the dance music group Opus III from 1991 to 1995, and has also worked with artists such as Tiësto, Delerium, BT, Seba, and Paradox.