BBC Two 1991-2001 idents

The BBC Two 1991-2001 idents were a set of television idents, broadcast from 16 February 1991 until 19 November 2001 on BBC Two. The idents went on to become one of the most popular series of idents in the world, to the point where they received fan mail. ["How do they do that?" BBC, 1995. Transcript from http://www.tvradiobits.co.uk/idents/bbc2d.htm] Several of the idents sported a consistent viridian hue, used in various fashions. The vast majority also featured use of a distinctive, synthesised bell-like sound in the accompanying audio tracks (especially prolific in idents such as "Car" and "Aerial", and the sole instrument of "Sign"), and became something of a signature instrument until circa 1998, when subsequent idents no longer featured it.

Ident conception

The idents were designed by branding expert Martin Lambie-Nairn, and first aired on the same day as the BBC1 virtual globe ident, also designed by Lambie-Nairn. They were introduced following a survey of viewers by the BBC, which revealed the previous ident for the channel - a computer-generated image of the letters 'T' 'W' 'O' receding into a white background - was considered 'dull' and 'worthy' by viewers. [http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/bbc2national/bbc2national1986.html] [http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/bbc2national/bbc2national1991.html] The new idents featured a figure '2' in a variety of different forms and environments, a format which is in essence still followed today. All of the original eleven idents, and most of those that followed, were shot as live action, using physical models.

hort animations

During the run of the idents, there were also quick, usually humorous short animations shown before the trailers. Such examples included a 2-shaped pancake landing in a frying pan, a '2' performing stunts on a bicycle, or a set of spinning plates in the form of the '2'. These were sometimes themed to suit a particular event, such as sport coverage. Examples include a set of snooker balls racked in the '2' shape (of which - like some others - there was more than one variant of the scene). Animations were also often created annually to match the theme of that year's Christmas symbol; for example, a set of short animations featuring Wallace & Gromit were used during the 1995 Christmas period along with a similarly themed ident.

Today, these animations are not remembered as prominently as most of the idents. They were usually only a few seconds long and, particularly from 1997, the '2' would become a character rather than a symbol, an idea that was carried on for the BBC Two yellow idents from 2001.

References

External links

* [http://idents.tv/blog/?p=456 idents.tv] the new BBC Two idents
* [http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/bbc2national/bbc2national1991.html BBC2 1991-1997 idents at TV Ark]
* [http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/bbc2national/bbc2national1997.html BBC Two 1997-2001 idents at TV Ark]