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New BBC TWO idents

Oooh, lovely.

Off The Telly reckon they've taken their lead from the current Channel 4 ones, and it's a fair point, but I think they're distinct enough that it's not really any kind of wholesale filching. And if anything, it's simply more of a continuation of the fine heritage established by the 1991 set (still, for my money, the finest set of channel idents ever created). Indeed, the new colour palette seems a deliberate attempt to evoke the 1991 colour scheme, which is no bad thing. BBC2 have got a tradition of great idents - and that big 2 still looks great in any context - and this new set seems, at first glance, to uphold that, although obviously we'll have to wait until Sunday to get a true sense of them in motion.

They piss all over the current BBC ONE ones, though. Oh, and :

Viewers can also create their own versions - citizen idents - of the new BBC Two look by downloading the 2 template from the channel website - bbc.co.uk/bbctwo.

YES PLEASE.

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Comments

I'll reserve full judgement until I've seen them move, but first impressions are - yes, lovely. And thank *fuck* they haven't gone down the "people idents" look.

Love the colour as well.

By John Hoare
February 13, 2007 @ 3:13 pm

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In fact, interestingly, they look a lot like the *trailer* bumpers of the 1991 set, rather than the actual idents themselves...

By John Hoare
February 13, 2007 @ 3:14 pm

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They look classy which is the description all BBC Two idents should aspire to.

By Zagrebo
February 13, 2007 @ 3:29 pm

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It's just a shame they're keeping the ugly box that doesn't work in widescreen, rather than going back to the 91-style centred logo, like BBC ONE did.

Having said that, FOUR has made the box work pretty well.

By John Hoare
February 13, 2007 @ 4:06 pm

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By John Hoare
February 13, 2007 @ 4:07 pm

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Meh... they look nice, but they're still live action, like every other fucking channel.

By Jonathan Capps
February 13, 2007 @ 5:19 pm

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True, but then most of the 91 BBC2 idents were live action, and they're the best idents ever!

I think it suits the channel pretty well. The *symbol* is still paramount, rather than people, unlike a lot of channels - that's the most important thing.

By John Hoare
February 13, 2007 @ 5:22 pm

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> True, but then most of the 91 BBC2 idents were live action, and they're the best idents ever!

Agreed, but they were just pure physical effects. The problem with these new ones, for me, is that they show real things like a car, a man being chased, a festival etc. It's too 'real' and, when you boil it down, just the same idea that EVERY OTHER CHANNEL has had over the last few years.

Still, keeping the '2' shape is good. And I do like them... it's just they're not quite what I wanted.

By Jonathan Capps
February 13, 2007 @ 5:37 pm

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It is true that they're rather more rooted in reality than they could have been. I just don't mind that, really, although Tent and Sunroof look a bit bland in this regard. I'll reserve full judgement until I see them moving, though.

Others are just great, though. Zoetrope especially reminds me so much of an old-style BBC2 ident.

By John Hoare
February 13, 2007 @ 5:47 pm

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I wonder what the worst ident they could possibly do would be. Maybe Ricky Gervais's face filling the screen and him repeating 'this is BBC2, obviously' over and over again. Or a '2' with legs walking around London landmarks. Or maybe a scene of a woman giving birth and they hand her a '2' wrapped in a blanket.

By performingmonkey
February 14, 2007 @ 6:24 pm

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> Or maybe a scene of a woman giving birth and they hand her a '2' wrapped in a blanket.

I'm sure that's been done. Not perhaps with an ident but as part of an advertising campaign.

By Karl
February 14, 2007 @ 10:55 pm

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you say rooted in reality but dont you think there is something other worldly about a massive 2 in the environment?

By anonymous
February 15, 2007 @ 6:20 pm

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Oh yes, of course - but still, they're rather less abstract than the 91 set, I think.

By John Hoare
February 15, 2007 @ 6:23 pm

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yes but personally i think it would be backtracking if they were all really abstract. at least they are original.

By anonymous
February 15, 2007 @ 6:25 pm

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NEWSFLASH: DAILY MAIL IN "MAIL MAKES BIGGER ARSE OF ITSELF THAN USUAL" SHOCK

Seriously. You know how everyone with any sense thought they just copy and pasted their rants and changed a few words? It's true:

And now on BBC2...the 15-second link that cost £700,000

[...]

A BBC2 spokesman said: "Three of the scenes were filmed in £1.2million on 80 seconds of footage featuring synchronised swimming hippos, surfers, kite-flyers and children playing in a meadow.

The clips replaced previous segues introduced in 2002 costing £700,000 and featuring dancers in wheelchairs, Bollywood performers and tangoing couples.

Note the oh-so-subtle error...

By Somebody
February 16, 2007 @ 4:24 am

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Quite apart from getting the numbers 1 and 2 mixed up, they also seem to forget that 700,000 is FUCK ALL when you consider the idents will be used for years to come. Cretins.

By Jonathan Capps
February 16, 2007 @ 12:29 pm

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Why let facts get in the way of a rant against the BBC?

By Seb
February 16, 2007 @ 1:11 pm

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No, it's not that they "got 1 and 2 mixed up" - this wasn't an article about the "circle" BBC1 idents, it's about the new 2s. They copy and pasted from their old article and forgot to change some of it bar the find'n'replace on 1-->2...

By Somebody
February 16, 2007 @ 2:53 pm

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Fucking hell. That is fantastic.

One to mail to Private Eye, I think. Although they've probably already got it.

By John Hoare
February 16, 2007 @ 3:29 pm

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Video clips of Tent and Zoetrope now on Media Guardian. The latter is MEGA.

By Jamie
February 16, 2007 @ 3:51 pm

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>No, it's not that they "got 1 and 2 mixed up" - this wasn't an article about the "circle" BBC1 idents, it's about the new 2s. They copy and pasted from their old article and forgot to change some of it bar the find'n'replace on 1-->2...

Yes, I know. I just didn't word it very well.

By Jonathan Capps
February 16, 2007 @ 6:05 pm

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Well, Tent and Zoetrope are on the BBC TWO site.

It looks like my predictions were correct - Tent is really pretty dull, and not as good as any of the current set of 2s. Ont the other hand, Zoetrope is the best new ident I've seen for ages.

By John Hoare
February 16, 2007 @ 11:35 pm

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