Today BBC1 screens its dancing idents for the very last time. You know the ones. People dressed in red cartwheeling on rooftops, or tai chi-ing by a loch, or zipping around a basketball court in wheelchairs, and several other politically correct gyrations. From tomorrow there's a new set of idents based on big swirly circles, including kite circles, bike circles and hippo circles. They're still sort of red, like the dancers, but the roundness echoes back to the good old BBC1 globe. If you can't wait 24 hours, you can watch all eight idents here on this YouTube showreel. You'll probably hate them first time round, but in four years I bet you'll be sorry to see them go. Just like you were when all the previous ones were replaced. Which is/was your favourite?
1964-69: The first black and white globe, on a black or white background [link][watch] 1969-74: The famous mechanical black and blue globe rotating in front of a curved mirror (nicknamed NODD - Nexus Orthicon Display Device)[link][watch] 1974-81: A bold update of the previous design, with bright yellow land and bright blue sea [link][watch] 1981-85: A less chunky logo beneath a slightly greener globe [link][watch] 1985-91: A computer-generated golden globe (nicknamed COW - Computer Originated World)[link][watch] 1991-97: A swirly globe designed by Martin Lambie-Nairn (the first corporate branding)[link][watch]
1997-2002: The balloons. Ah, the big orange balloons. I loved the balloons. Not quite as much as I loved the leapy jumpy flashy 2s over on BBC2 [watch], but the balloons were still great [watch]. Almost all of the shots were real too. Here's a list of all the locations where the balloons were filmed... • 1997: Swinside Stone Circle, Cumbria; Docklands, London; Felixstowe, Suffolk; South Downs; Snowdonia; Cardiff; Loch Duich, Highland; Forth Rail Bridge; Strangford Lough, County Down • 1998: The Needles, Isle of Wight; Cley-next-the-Sea, Norfolk; St Michael's Mount, Cornwall; Blackpool Tower; Dunluce Castle, County Antrim • 1999: Angel of the North, Gateshead; Armadillo, Glasgow; Second Severn Bridge; Millennium Dome • 2000: Skateboarders, Carnival; Market; Bungee
2002-06: The dancers - Capoeira; Salsa; Acrobats; Haka; Hip hop; Ballet; Tapdogs; Festival; Music video; Bollywood; Tango; Tai Chi; Skateboarders; Masaai; Tumbler [link][link] 2006: The circles(with filming locations) - Bikes (Shepperton Studios); Ring a roses (Coton Manor, Northants); Kites (Ynyslas beach, Borth); Moon (Kamenjak peninsula, North Croatia); Surfer (Puerto Escondido, Mexico); Windows (Greenwich Millennium Village); Football (Haberdasher Estate, Hackney); Hippos (computer generated)[link][watch]
1964-69: The first black and white globe, on a black or white background [link] [watch]
1964-69: The first black and white globe, on a black or white background 