History Main / WestminsterChimes

* ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'': The doorbell of the Buckets, probably at the insistence of Hyacinth (who insists the name [[ItIsPronouncedTroPAY is pronounced "Bouquet"]]). Whenever people ring the doorbell, they give a look evincing the thought, "dear God, even her ''doorbell'' is pretentious!"

* This forms the basis for the background music of Twinkle Elementary in ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER|1}}'' and Sunflower Elementary in ''VideoGame/HamtaroHamHamsUnite!''

* The fourth segment is used at the beginning of the Clefairy pointing minigame in ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium''.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium 2'' uses it for battles in Earl's Academy--the chimes play, then it segues into an arrangement of the Pokemon Center theme.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' plays the fourth segment at the end of every school day in-game, naturally it's a Japanese school you're at.
* ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'' uses this as a puzzle- You have to play it on a piano that has its keys rearranged.
* Used as menu music in [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoClassic Grand Theft Auto: London 1969]].
* [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'', where an Ork says the word "Orkz" in this fashion.
* Heard after each wave in ''VideoGame/{{Thwaite}}'' to signify that an hour has passed between waves.
* The UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Kangaroo'' plays the Big Ben chimes when you ring the bell. (This replenishes the fruits.)
* Used when you make it to 6 AM in ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys''. ''Yaaaaaaay!''
* Similarly to how the chime plays at the end of a school day in Japan, the sunset in the ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' games is marked with the Westminster chimes. The fourth note is higher than normal, however.
* In ''[[VideoGame/StreetPassMiiPlaza Battleground Z]]'', the pencil's charged attack, Cram Session, cuts to a classroom in which the player character is trying to teach simple arithmetic to every zombie that was on screen when the attack was used, only to zap them with a BoltOfDivineRetribution when they just sit there looking dazed. The soundtrack for the scene is the Westminster chimes.
* The [[http://nintendogs.wikia.com/wiki/Keyboard Keyboard]] toy in ''[[VideoGame/{{Nintendogs}} Nintendogs + Cats]]'' has a button that will play this tune.

A little-known fact is that the quarters [[ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics have LYRICS.]] There are many variations, but the lyrics used by Big Ben (featured on a plaque in the clockworks room) are:

* In ''The Ghost and Mr. Chicken'', when Luther Heggs is spending the night in the haunted house, these bells can be heard in the distance just before the famous scene with the self-playing organ and the bleeding portrait.

* In ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', as Scrooge is awaiting the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past at 1 a.m.:

* In ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', as Scrooge is awaiting the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past at one o'clock in the morning:

[[/folder]]

* French singer Renaud used an electronic version of the first eight notes in his song "Miss Maggie", which is a big TakeThat aimed at UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': In ''Discworld/ReaperMan'', a demon-powered pocketwatch announces the half-hour by saying "Bing bing bong bing. Bingely-bingely bong bing bing". This trope is so familiar that even in print you can tell it's ''meant'' to be Westminster Quarters.

* [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/DanganRonpa Danganronpa]] has the Westminster melody play before Monokuma's morning and nighttime announcements. If the horror factor of the series is removed, they actually play before every announcement by the staff members in Hope's Peak Academy.

* The opening to [[SpellMyNameWithAThe The]] Ohio State University Marching Band's rendition of the school's alma mater, ''Carmen Ohio'', has the trumpet sections mimicking the bells (which play on campus every fifteen minutes at the Orton Hall belltower.)

* The Ohio State University Marching Band leads off its rendition of the school's alma mater, "Carmen Ohio", with an imitation of the campus's Orton Hall chimes.

* The New York Yankees play this when one of their players scores a run(home games only).

* The intro of Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling's "The Chimes Of Big Ben". Which makes sense because the song is inspired by the ''[[Series/ThePrisoner Prisoner]]'' episode of the same name.

* Well the TropeNamer and TropeCodifier is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiKOhOzQyZg Big Ben]] isn't it?
* Lots of doorbells have this as one of their standard digital tones.
* Some electronic air raid sirens have it as a test signal. So imagine the electronic doorbell tones, but at earsplitting volume, too!
* Japanese Schoolbells often use the Westminster chimes tune.
* Many antique clocks used this as a chime after "Big Ben" was built. However, the tune really originated from Great St. Mary's church in Cambridge, England, [[http://www.gsm.cam.ac.uk/great-st-marys/bells/ and was known as the "Cambridge" chimes before it was used in "Big Ben" at the Westminster Palace.]]

* Seems to be endemic to colleges and their belltowers. Examples include the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City_and_County_Building City and County Building]] in Salt Lake City.

* The ''Website/{{WrestleCrap}} Radio'' podcast briefly featured a device called the Clocktrolla (meant to count down the days until [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-wm.html WWE Women's Champion]] [[Characters/WWEDivas Candice Michelle]] eclipsed The Fabulous Moolah's twenty-eight-year reign as champion); upon activation, the Clocktrolla played a terrible rendition of the tune, performed on steam whistles.

* [[Music/PaulMcCartney Paul]] wasn't the only ex-[[Music/TheBeatles Beatle]] to work the WestminsterChimes into one of his solo songs. They also feature quite prominently as a RecurringRiff in Music/GeorgeHarrison's "Ding Dong, Ding Dong."

The most common tune played by clock chimes, in both in RealLife and fiction, is the one known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Quarters Westminster Quarters]]. The tune is constructed from five different sequences combining four pitches. Not all five are played at once: even at the full hour, only the last four are used, followed by between one and [[WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve twelve]] strokes on a deeper bell. The most popular of these sequences would seem to be the fourth (mi, do, re, sol) and fifth (sol, re, mi, do). (These are also played at third quarter, followed by the first.) Therefore, the most commonly heard in fiction are the fourth and fifth sequences, or the fourth alone, often repeated for effect in either case.

[[folder: Audio Book]]

* In ''Discworld/ReaperMan'', a demon-powered pocketwatch announces the half-hour by saying "Bing bing bong bing. Bingely-bingely bong bing bing". This trope is so familiar that even in print you can tell it's ''meant'' to be Westminster Quarters.

* The ThemeSong to ''Series/YesMinister'' was based on this motif (after all the original is attached to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster).
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY "Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong... wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong."]]

* ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'': The chimes are a key plot point in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes Of Big Ben]]". They help Number Six [[spoiler:realise he hasn't escaped to London, and remains a captive in The Village.]]
* ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'': The doorbell of Doug and Carrie's annoying neighbors, the Sackskys.

* ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'': The chimes are a key plot point in "The Chimes Of Big Ben". They help No. 6 [[spoiler:realise he hasn't escaped to London, and remains a captive in The Village.]]

* ''Series/ThePrisoner'': The chimes are a key plot point in "The Chimes Of Big Ben". They help No. 6 [[spoiler:realise he hasn't escaped to London, and remains a captive in The Village.]]