I agree with captainhaddock. The best theme tunes were from that golden era of the 1960s and 70s. I never get tired of listening to the themes to The Sweeney, The Persuaders!, The Professionals, Jason King, etc... And let's not forget the amazing compositions of Barry Gray -- Thunderbirds, UFO, Stingray, Captain Scarlet etc... The US themes from those eras were unforgettable too; Mission: Impossible, The Rockford Files, Star Trek, Starsky & Hutch, Ironside, Hawaii 5-0 to name but a few.
When I was a kid, I would record all my favourites by sticking a microphone in front of the TV speaker! Got a couple of cassettes full of classics, recorded off air at the time! Anyone remember Planet of the Apes, Hong Kong Phooey, Logan's Run, Screen Test??? Ah, those were the days!!!! The very first record I ever bought was a TV Themes LP, Children's TV Themes by Cy Payne (I think!!!). Then all the usual suspects of that era, The TV Times Record of TV Themes by Jack Parnell and The Detectives by John Gregory. For me, I'm afraid, the era of the truly brilliant TV theme is long since gone, although there are some good ones and some talented people around today. The likes of Brian Bennett, Alan Hawkshaw, Francis Monkman and Steve Gray were responsible for some of the best, which is why I wish more of them were easily available on CD.
But to return to the original question; what is the best current TV theme music. Well, there's only one possible contender, isn't there? Despite it's present appalling arrangement...
DOCTOR WHO by Ron Grainer.
