Coming Full Circle
BBC One is the primary television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and was the first to be launched in the United Kingdom. The channel has an annual budget of £840 million. It is funded entirely by the television licence fee, and therefore shows uninterrupted programming with no commercial advertising.
The latest identity debuted on BBC One at 10am BST on 7 October 2006. They were announced on 26 September 2006 as the replacement for the 'Rhythm & Movement' idents and were designed and produced for the BBC by Red Bee Media. A circle symbol was decided upon as the theme for the idents since it was described as a 'symbol of togetherness', but also a 'nod' towards the channel's heritage and in particular, the use of a globe logo for much of its history. All idents involve the basis of the action to be shown, be that footballers kicking a ball or children playing with flowers before the circle is shown to form and the BBC One logo animates onto the screen.
Idents
Bikes
Three dare-devil motorcyclists defy the wall of death as the camera moves above the action to reveal the circular motif.
Capes
Cloak-clad cyclists brave wet weather to create a spectrum of colours around an otherwise mundane roundabout. Their efforts are rewarded by the timely appearance of the sun at the ident's conclusion.
Dog Display
Acrobatic dogs you say? A pack of highly intelligent pooches make up this fun ident which sees its animal stars jump through rings of fire, form a perfect pyramid and encircle the BBC One logo as their grand finale. Note how the ring leader walks across the BBC One logo at the end. Sadly this neat touch was lost in the May 2009 recut version (which you can see here).
Football
An example of how precision football passing might appear if players were able to make incredibly complex mathematical calculations when playing.
Helicopter
This ident follows a helicopter on its journey towards a remote lighthouse. The footage was originally accompanied by a stirring operatic soundtrack. This is the resident sombre ident used by BBC One.
Hippos
Based on sychronised swimming whales in an episode of children's television series Charlie and Lola, this ident was produced using a combination of computer animation and live action backgrounds.
Kites
Kites sees a group of kite flying enthusiasts gather together to create a circle with their red kites. Filmed at Ynyslas beach in Wales and directed by Matthias Hoene, it was the first ident from the new package shown. This ident is often used to link into the News.
Lawn Circles
Robotic Stepford wives mow their lawns in a synchronised manner and in doing so create a series of unusual patterns.
Magical Forest
The natural world and a group of fairies come together to create a magical circle in a sunlit woodland.
Mission Control
A group of British scientists successfully land a space pod on a distant planet. Out of the pod emerges a curious rover that begins drawing circles on the face of the planet.
Moon
People on fishing boats come together to piece together the moon in this picturesque scene. Filmed at the Kamenjak peninsula in northern Croatia much to the anger and dismay of the Daily Mail, et al. NB: This ident has now been discontinued.
Neon
Neon figures come to life, and take a ride on a ferris wheel. Shot in Blackpool the ident was conceived by James Spence and animated by Brand New School, New York. Although this ident was originally reserved for Saturday evenings, since January 2009 its appearance during the other days of the week is no longer a rarity.
Petals
A group of children are shown playing with natural flowers in a meadow before joining hands to form a "ring-a-roses" dance.
Surfers
Carlos 'Coco' Nogales and others ride a huge wave before crashing down after the formation of the BBC One logo.
Windows
Residents on a housing estate use their windows to reflect sunlight into a ring. Filmed at the Greenwich Millennium Village in south east London and directed by Matthias Hoene.
Special Idents
From time to time BBC One produces special idents to advertise key programmes. A selection of special Circles are shown below.
Ashes to Ashes
A special ident was launched to co-incide with the start of the second series of Ashes to Ashes.
Burns Night 2009
This ident was used in Scotland and Northern Ireland to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scottish poet Robert Burns.
Other Presentation
A selection of trail endboards, next pointers and programme slides are displayed below.
