[1] He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where his tutors included Edmund Rubbra and Richard Rodney Bennett.

He also won three Ivor Novello Awards, for the TV miniseries Rebecca, and the film scores for Under Suspicion (1991), and Firelight (1997).

His other film scores included Goodbye Gemini (1970), Hands of the Ripper (1971), Ooh... You Are Awful (1972), the film version of Man About the House (1974), In Celebration (1975), Rogue Male (1976), Charlie Muffin (1979), Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981), Knights of God (1987), When the Whales Came (1989), Lighthouse Hill (2004) and Grace of Monaco (2014).

[4] Gunning composed the music for nearly all of the Poirot TV films starring David Suchet, and worked on all three series of Rosemary and Thyme featuring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris.

[9] Gunning completed thirteen symphonies between 2001 and 2020,[1] several of which have been recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer and released on Signum Classics.