BBC One - post lockdown presentation

[Spencer]

From a branding point of view, one (minor) problem with the 2s was that from 1997 onwards, the channel essentially had a highly recognisable, well-known logo… which wasn’t actually its logo anymore. The introduction of the curves at least meant that the channel was no longer relying on a legacy logo for its idents.

[Vertical Hold]

I think the dancers have aged rather well but it's probably the opposite for the circles. They probably outstayed their welcome.

I feel BBC2 reviving the 2s also had the same effect, taking an identity that was very fondly remembered but bringing them back diminished them for me.

I think after they heavily butchered them with edits, I can understand why they started to become aged..

The thing I hate the most about the edits, is how the circle of the idents and the appearance of the BBC One logo is not coordinated anymore!
I mean, BBC..

BBC Two bringing back the 2 idents was such a bad idea for me..

Assuming you mean the circles, had the longer versions stayed in place for much longer wouldn't they have become tired more quickly?

[Brekkie]

I don't think so - the C4 idents ran for roughly the same period and held up well.

[Joe]

I often find that it’s when tweaks start being made around the edges that a package begins to look past it’s best.

[Gary_S]

The main problem with the dancers is that they were the first package to be Not A Globe.

History is kind to them I think - the different idents complemented each other nicely.

[JAS84]

Third, actually - but the first one since the early 1960s. The other two, of course, are the Batwings, and the first BBC blocks ident which had a map of the UK behind the blocks instead of a globe.

[VMPhil]

No, I'm sorry, I don't buy into this revisionism about the dancers actually being good.

When you watch them in isolation, you can appreciate the production of them, the soundtrack, the direction, the choreography. They're well made.

But were they suited for television idents shown day in day out? In my opinion, no. They tired quickly and didn't suit all programmes like the balloons or the circles.

[Rob]

They tired quickly and didn't suit all programmes like the balloons or the circles.

As we all discovered less than 36 hours into their existence...

[Jonny]

No, I'm sorry, I don't buy into this revisionism about the dancers actually being good.

When you watch them in isolation, you can appreciate the production of them, the soundtrack, the direction, the choreography. They're well made.

But were they suited for television idents shown day in day out? In my opinion, no.

Good point. For every Skateboarders, there are several absolute clunkers like Music Video, Masai and Salsa - extremely naff and tacky.

It's difficult to review in retrospect because of how bad things got in the 2010s, as any semblance of presentation cohesion fell apart. It's therefore easy to apply a rose-tinge to 2002-06 era, which was a clean and well-rounded look *in places*.

I remember being thrilled when I learnt it was on its way out. The Circles rebrand was a clear improvement, filled with flair, moods and imagination.

[JAS84]

They tired quickly and didn't suit all programmes like the balloons or the circles.

As we all discovered less than 36 hours into their existence...

Yeah, when the Queen Mother died and they had to go into obit mode. They had to use the menu background, a blurred freeze frame of one of the idents.

[lobster]

they definitely weren't perfect - some looked and sounded great, others, sounded annoying and just didn't look that nice on screen.

I always liked Acrobats and Skateboard for serious programming and news, it worked well - they looked and sounded great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3whv5Fao8o

Capoeira on the other hand looked nice but sounded awful (like somebody playing a banjo with their feet), whilst Salsa, Festival, Tango and Music Video looked and sounded awful.

I suppose what I'm saying is that there was a lot of variation in them, not in production values, but in aesthetics.

What can be said of both the circles (original edits) and balloons is they were overall much more appealing and consistent across the set.

Am I right in my recollection that most of the circle idents went out in SD too? I seem to remember a few of them, like Hippos always looked a bit blurry (I suppose being mostly CG, it would have been more work than just a re-render to make it look good).

[Spencer]

I think you’re right – the circle idents were always SD, albeit with the logo form-up in HD.

[Joe]

No, I'm sorry, I don't buy into this revisionism about the dancers actually being good.

When you watch them in isolation, you can appreciate the production of them, the soundtrack, the direction, the choreography. They're well made.

But were they suited for television idents shown day in day out? In my opinion, no. They tired quickly and didn't suit all programmes like the balloons or the circles.

Nah, I don't agree. I completely get your point, and respect your opinion, but I always liked them, even at the time. I think they were solid, and felt 'big'* and exciting.

But who am I? – I also don't mind the Oneness idents and cringe at the hysteria on here about them. On the other hand, I will admit that the current package doesn't have the 'big' feeling that I felt the Rhythm and Movement set did.

*it's hard to articulate what this means, but I think it's about feeling like you're part of something exciting and significant, and watching something that a lot of people are. I think it applies to radio too, and how some shows feel tinpot and generic, and others feel like the nation is watching with you.

[Brekkie]

Although I do think they're better retrospectively I think one thing we can surely all agree on is the Christmas idents were rubbish then and still look rubbish now.

I also think regardless of idents the surrounding BBC1 presentation has been pretty poor ever since the dancers with both the initial white straps and then the shutter style endcaps. The Circle graphics were better but ultimately keeping the logo centre didn't always work, especially for menus.

[lobster]

One I thing I notice looking at the Dancers idents is just how awkward the 'BBC ONE' logo looks, in terms of it's positioning, but also the font, it doesn't look quite right, the E is quite a bit narrower than the O and it looks unbalanced to my eye when set against the equally sized BBC blocks.

It will be interesting to see what they do for the logo in the autumn, I always felt the numeral worked better and enabled much more creative use - some of these are really clever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8J9QBSNThw