BBC Two: Difference between revisions

'''BBC Two''' is the secondary channel of the BBC. The channel was established in response to the 1962 "Pilkington Report" which claimed that ITV programing lacked any cultural relevance and therefore, the UK's third TV service should be run by the BBC. The channel launched on the 20th of April 1964. The launch was infamously plagued by a major power failure in London that night, meaning the first proper program wasn't shown until the following morning. BBC2 was technically ahead of the existing stations in the UK, broadcasting on a higher resolution 625 lines UHF system instead of the standard 405 line VHF system. In July 1967 BBC2 became the first British TV channel to regularly broadcast in color, with the switch coinciding with that year's Wimbledon tournament. BBC2 became known for airing high class programs and dramas, though in more recent years it has aired more mainstream content as BBC Four fills its original role. Notably, the most popular program on the channel for many years was the 2002 reincarnation of ''Top Gear''.

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File:Bbcii.jpeg

*There was also a static variant.

*There is an in-credit version used on ''Match Of The Day'' with the BBC logo extended with the number "2" in a fourth parallelogram.

'''Technique:''' 2D animation.

'''Availability:''' Extinct.

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:20px;">Regular Idents</span></div>

'''Logo:''' Three dots, colored {{color|green}}, {{color|red}} and {{color|blue}} respectively, appear on a black background. They shrink and merge into one white dot just above the center of the screen. A {{color|blue|blue} "{{color|blue|2}}" is then drawn around the dot, and when it is completed, the word "COLOUR", in white, appears below. The "2" then starts rotating around, and one at a time, three more "2"s (in the same style) appear, colored {{color|red}}, {{color|green}} and white respectively, before the {{color|blue|blue} "{{color|blue|2}}" reappears. The rotation continues for the rest of the logo.

*Variants:

*Circa 1972, the logo underwent considerable change. All the "2"s, plus the dots in them, were colored light blue; the font for "COLOUR" was altered in the same manner as for BBC 1's mirror globe logo of the time; and a white horizontal line was added between the word and the "2"s.

*By 1973, further changes had taken place, with the background color now dark blue and "COLOUR" and the horizontal line in light blue to match the "2"s.

*Christmas Idents:

**Christmas 1967-1971: On a black background, we the "2-cube" from before in white/red. Underneath the two is the text "B B C 2", followed by the text "COLOUR" also in white/red. Right next to it would either be a snowflake or a Christmas tree.

'''Logo:''' Three dots, colored green, red and blue respectively, appear on a black background. They shrink and merge into one white dot just above the center of the screen. A blue "'''2'''" is then drawn around the dot, and when it is completed, the word "'''COLOUR'''", in white, appears below. The "'''2'''" then starts rotating around, and one at a time, three more "'''2'''"s (in the same style) appear, colored red, green and white respectively, before the blue "'''2'''" reappears. The rotation continues for the rest of the logo.

'''Variants:'''

'''Availability:''' Extinct on TV.

*Special idents:

**A variant introduced in 1977 has the usual deforming animation, but reforms into a map of the UK and Ireland. This was seen before ''Open Space''.

'''Technique:''' Practical effects; see Trivia.

**Christmas 1985: A blue tinted, snowy landscape scene rotates around a magenta "2".

*Special idents:

'''Technique:''' Early computer animation.

'''Music/Sounds:''' A cheerful 18-note synth fanfare. In other cases, silent.

'''Availability:''' Extinct on TV.

**A version with the letter spelling "THE" was used before the first episode of ''The Late Show''.

**A spoof version of the logo, spelling "THREE" was used on BBC One prior to their showing of ''Roland Rat: The Series''.

'''Technique:''' Computer animation.

'''Availability:''' Extinct on TV.