BBC Two: Difference between revisions

File:Two4.jpeg|Neon

File:Two86.jpeg|Star Trek Night

* Station ID: Various, though all of the idents revolve around a numeral "2" set in Gill Sans Bold.

** From the launch of the ident set until 3 October 1997, the BBC corporate logo from 1988 in white appeared at the bottom of the screen.

** From 4 October 1997 until 19 November 2001, the new BBC Two logo (the 1997 corporate logo with the word "TWO" next to it, set in Gill Sans) faded in at the bottom of the screen a few seconds in.

** From 9 July 2014 until 2015, the BBC Two box logo from the 8th logo in white appears on the bottom-right side of the screen, and after 1.5 seconds, the box spins to reveal the words "50 YEARS" next to the boxed logo.

** From 2015 until 26 September 2018, the 2007 BBC Two box logo from the 8th logo in teal appears on the bottom-right side of the screen (on BBC Two Northern Ireland, instead of using the boxed logo, the channel opted to take the logo out of its box and place it at the bottom centre of the screen, similar to that of the 1991-2001 idents).

* Accompanying clock ident:

** The clock used the GNAT-designed clock first shown on BBC1, now on a disk with a white/cyan hue, black clock hands, and the dots and dashes inverting to darker to lighter hues. The disk stands on a cyan floor with a white light on a black background, causing a visible shadow to appear. This would be used up to 2001, where it was converted to widescreen when possible.

** There were two slight variations of the clock design, commonly used on the channel's closure for the night. The first variant, used from 16 February 1991 to mid-November 1991, appeared more close-up. The second variant, used from mid-November 1991 to 3 October 1997, appeared more further out. The overall design of the clock remained the same.

* A special documentary from 1995 named "[https://youtu.be/2wmOOBNKsfk The Tale of 2]" shows how they created the idents and the music. This is part of a series named ''How Do They Do That?'' (not to be confused with ''How Do They Do It?'') on the channel.

* Aside from Lambie-Nairn, the BBC's in-house design agency BBC Broadcast was responsible for most of the post-1997 idents.

* For programmes with Ceefax subtitles, the 888 caption appears in the top right. Beginning in July 1999, this was later changed to "Subtitles", following the uptake in digital television and the increased use of the new BBC Text service.

 

* Paint: A white polystyrene '2' is on a black & white background, splashed by a blob of viridian paint which hurtles in horizontally from the right side of the screen. This illusion was created by moving the '2' and the camera onto its side by 90 degrees anti-clockwise to make it appear as though the paint was falling sideways. The first and (officially) the last ident to be used in England and Northern Ireland.

* Water: An aqua-coloured '2' is on a teal coloured background, half submerged in a pool of water at a 45 degree angle. Using a similar method to Paint, the '2' and camera are both at 45 degrees, giving the impression of the water flowing diagonally when the shot of the '2' is upright. One of the four original idents to be shown throughout the run of the whole series.

* Water Reflection: Essentially the same as above, but the lighting is adjusted so that there is a reflection of the water on the upper half of the '2'.

* Blade: A sharp metal '2' falls onto a viridian-coloured block and impales it on its edge, before it begins to wobble from the impact.

* Neon: Also known as "Sign". A '2' is on a black background with seven viridian neon lights attached to it, flashing in random sequences.

* Copper Cut Out: A teal-coloured copper cut-out of a '2' on a similarly designed background emits sparks and glows from its edges.

* B/W Copper Cut Out: Essentially the same as above, but recoloured black-and-white with viridian sparks. Unlike its color counterpart, this ident was not used after the BBC rebrand.

* Glass: A glass-cut '2', which reflects light - with some noticeable viridian colour - in various directions. This ident was only used until 1993, though it remained in Northern Ireland until the BBC rebrand.

* Silk: A swathe of viridian silk drifts over the top of a '2' shape, as if they were ocean waves.

* Paper Cut Out: On a completely Grey paper-like foreground, a '2' is primarily a 2-shaped cut-out in the middle. The background behind it features a colourful blue sky, with white clouds that move, albeit slowly and subtly. This ident was only used until 1993, though it remained in Northern Ireland until the BBC rebrand.

* Shadow: The shadow of a '2' on a viridian coloured wall slowly rotates as it grows and shrinks in size, while giving off red and blue duplicates on its edges.

* Garden: With the aid of time-lapse photography, a flower bed blossoms white flowers which form together to create a '2'.

* Powder: A "2" falls past the red and blue lights and onto a white sheet of powder. The impact causes viridian powder underneath to rise and be sent flying.

* Optics: There is several optic fibres highlighted in viridian, pink and red, swaying side-to-side, quickly at first, but slowing down to form a "2". This is the first computer-generated '2' ident, introduced in late 1992.

* Car: A remote-controlled teal '2' car drives around in random directions across a yellow background.

* Dog: Also known as "Fluffy Dog". It features a fluffy green '2' whirring, yapping, and doing back flips in the manner of a toy mechanical dog.

* Balloon: A silver, helium-filled balloon in the shape of a '2' bobs around gently in a fixed spot. There were two versions. The difference was only in the soundtrack. One had a loud trill at the start.

* Crystal Ball: A crystal ball rolls over the "2", severely distorting the image as it passes. Only used for a couple of weeks from November to December 1993.

* Firecracker: The firecrackers explode in sequence, causing the base "2" to be thrown about in different directions. A hidden cable stops the "2" from being blown away completely, and there is one firecracker remaining that does not explode.

* Diary: There is a white "2", with several paper layers peeling off and drifting away in different directions through blue and orange lightning. Originally planned to have ten layers of paper peeled off in quick succession, only the first four peels were used due to wiring issues, with the footage edited for a looping effect.

* Steam: There is a viridian, metallic "2" at a hot temperature. Several drops of water, dispensed from a ring of syringes, splash on and beside the "2", evaporating in steam.

* Aerial: There is a dark green "2" with aerials attached to it in a red studio, appearing in random places between flashes of static, before finally appearing in the centre of the screen.

* Duck: This ident depicted a soapy setting, from which a yellow '2' resembling a rubber duck emerged, giving a little squeak. Beginning in June 2000, later versions of Duck have the 'BBC TWO' DOG's colour changed to black in order to be visible on the lighter background.

* Paint Pot: A follow-up of Paint, except it has a silver paint pot being bombarded by lots of small viridian "2"s, falling sideways.

* Zapper: It has a fly zapper shaped like a "2" on a wall, a fly becomes attracted to its light, and the zapper breaks on contact as the fly buzzes away, leaving behind a smoke trailer. This ident was designed and animated by Andrew Daffy at Framestore.

* Gorilla: There were two variations on this ident. A gorilla stands up a yellow '2' in one ident, named "Gorilla Shadow", and knocks it over in the other, named "Gorilla Tantrum". Directed by Steve Clarke.

* Swan: It featured three white '2's swimming past a clearly bemused swan, which shakes its head shortly after. A tint of viridian is also seen on the water at the top of the screen.

* Dalek: Originally a special ident for Doctor Who Night, its popularity meant it went on to join the roster of regular idents. It featured black & white Daleks in the shape of '2's (largely inspired by the Supreme Dalek from the 1988 ''Doctor Who'' episode "Remembrance of the Daleks") moving between a grey corridor. A variant on this ident, named "Exterminate", has the sequence opening with the Dalek '2' shouting the familiar phrase (in a voice similar to Dave Ross' Dalek from the 1975 ''Doctor Who'' episode "Genesis of the Daleks").

* Excalibur: It features a bevelled, metallic, cerulean blue "2" rising from the pool of water sideways, in style of Paint. As the "2" emerges, stray droplets of water fall back into the way, causing vertical ripples.

* Catalyst: It features a turquoise polystyrene "2" on a dark teal and white background, a bunch of liquid droplets fly in from the top right corner of the screen and cause flames to flare up around the '2' on contact. The flames die down after about 16 seconds, revealing the 2 to be completely undamaged, before the cycle repeats.

* Wave Night: A retake of the Wave Day ident, it now featured a navy blue background and darker liquid and a bright cyan "2". The side with the liquid rose is flipped.

* Predator: It begins centred on a '2'-shaped butterfly sitting within a jungle environment. The camera then zooms out, and the '2' is gobbled up by a larger green '2' in the form of a Venus Flytrap.

* Kebab: Inside a grill area, there is a meat shaped "2" on a kebab spinning as the flames go up, engulfing slightly. There were 3 variations where the kebab was in different stages of cooking.

* Woodpecker: On an orange background, there are five poles, many viridian '2's edge their way down the poles in the same manner as a mechanical woodpecker.

* It's Scary Out There: The logo zooms through an empty graveyard with fog flowing. The camera then zooms in further, until a zombie corpse like "2" bursts out of the ground and the camera suddenly pulls back as lightning flashes briefly.

 

'''Special Idents:'''

* Made in Japan: The animation starts with the Japanese numeral for "2 (二)". A smoke effect billows out, and the Japanese "2" dissolves through to the usual "2" seen in the final image on the left.

* Pop Art: Apparently pop art animation; at the end, the "2" zooms in. It's unknown what actually happens as there is no description of this ident apart from the fact that it has the same audio as "Glass".

* English: A dining table complete with cups of tea, cake, and other baked goods is shown with a house-shaped cosy in the middle. A person from off-screen puts a plate of crackers on the table and removes the cosy, revealing a "2" shaped teapot. Note the Hilda Ogden style ducks on the wall!

* Learning Zone: Various educational items (such as the equation E=mc2) float by either as real objects or shadows.

* Rembrandt Week: The "2" is part of the eye in a self-portrait of Rembrandt. It starts as a pencil sketch, and as the camera pulls back, there is the artist's hand adding detail to the painting in a series of mixes, until the finished portrait is revealed.

* One Day in the Sixties: The "2" is covered by a lot of stuff from the 60s.

* One World: The globe is a flat disk which starts the sequence side-on, rotating 90 degrees along its vertical axis, until it faces camera. As this happens, coloured powder "blows" on to the disk, finally forming the image on the left. The sequence is obviously the reverse of how it was shot - the powder was blown off the disk as it rotated away from the camera. This ident was devised in time for the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.

* Wet And Windy: The "2" is effectively the moon, reflected in the window, which bangs open and shut in the wind and rain.

* Billboard: In time-lapse, a man on a ladder pastes the advertising billboard with sheets of paper, finally revealing the complete picture - a large "2".

* Edinburgh Nights: Two red curtains open up, then an aqua-coloured "2" welcomes to the stage and steps in to the spotlight. This ident was used for programmes during the 1992 Edinburgh Festival.

* War And Peace: A "2" made of barbed-wire forms around a single poppy.

* Halloween Night 1: A variant of the Paint ident. The 2 is splashed by red blood and a chainsaw cuts the chunk of the "2" off, in a homage to ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre''.

* Halloween Night 2: The "2" gets electrocuted by a pair of jump leads, in a homage to ''Frankenstein''.

* Halloween Night 3: The "2" is covered in veil. A pair of scissors cut the "2" and blood comes off of it, in a homage to ''Psycho''.

* A Night of Love: A red "2" rises out of the water, with its reflection making the shape of a heart. This ident was only used on Valentine's Day in 1993.

* Birth Night: The "2" is in form of a baby inside the body. All this is on the doctors' body electronic system.

* Crime and Punishment: The "2" is in form of a light with the shadows of the jail cells in it. This takes place inside the prisoner room.

* After Margaret: The "2" is fixed on the door of 10 Downing Street.

* Animated 2: A "2" in the form of a piano falls from above (with piano keys playing) and crashes through the floor, leaving a "2" shaped hole in its place, the piano lands on a surface and "ANIMATED" letter being partially formed, with pieces of wood falling from above to complete the word. This ident was introduced in 1993 to be shown before animated and cartoon programs, but was likely withdrawn in 1997.

* 30th Anniversary: A "2" falls and splashes into a cake designated with a "30" decor, in the style of Powder. Surprisingly, it also has the exact same soundtrack as Powder.

* Goal TV: The "2" traces in piece by piece on a green billboard viewed from sideways, then in a continuous loop has those pieces flipping in succession. Used for the 1994 national bank holiday.

* New Moon: The "2" is in form of a satellite tower in a shadow. This takes place in the moon. This ident was broadcast in honour of the 25th anniversary of Neil Armstrong landing on the Moon.

* Shakespeare: A potato "2" suddenly appears from a black cauldron after 5 seconds of magical myth. This ident was used for a month of seasonal ''Bard on the Box'' programs.

* Berlin Wall: The Berlin Wall has a "2" cut into it. The "2" gets hoisted away by a crane to show a 2-shaped hole, revealing more of the dark-blue sky background.

* Centenary: A film canister "2" is dropped down from a great height onto a bed of unravelled film reels. This ident was used to celebrate the 100th anniversary of cinema and film, but was also used by BBC Two Northern Ireland to celebrate the 25th anniversary of [[BBC Film|BBC Films]] in 2015.

* Mars Weekend: The ident starts in close-up on the "2" Martian surface, then zooms out to reveal the full scene, with the flying saucer blipping in and out of view. There were two versions - one with the flying saucer, and one without. This was the final new ident before the channel's revamp in October 1997.

* Tug Of War: A rope with a "2" in the middle is constantly being tugged at both ends in front of a stone wall. The sounds of the rope being stretched are heard. This was an exclusive to BBC Wales.

* Red Dwarf Night: A 5-part set of idents, which tells the love story of a toy "2" and a Skutter from the titular show. This includes them going to the movies, having a wild night out (only noted by them ripped in half at the end), getting married, and the "2" giving birth to mini '2's and Skutters. These idents were broadcast on 15 February 1998, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of ''Red Dwarf''.

* Evolution: A "2" is tinted in clear water, with the water rippling in front of it. A monkey appears in the front, who transforms into a Neanderthal and a human, then lays off. The water continues to ripple afterwards.

* Millennium: A sandglass is seen on a blue backdrop. As the camera zooms ever closer, the flowing sand reveals to be a myriad of "2"s.

* Monty Python Night: Three idents were made to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''.

** A mouse climbs down a pair of ladders in a "2" shaped case. As soon as it gets out however, it gets squashed by a wooden hammer (the BBC Two DOG also slides off by the impact), and the scene pans out to show the man with the hammer, who then prepares to squash a cat, but is prevented by the camera crew.

** An aluminium "2" hangs on a hook, but is quickly hoisted up off-screen to make way for a "Comedy of the Millennium" voting screen.

** A "2" cut-out slowly fills up with beer, but as soon as it's full, is ripped off by hand, followed by the same hand bringing in a red balloon with "BBC ONE" scribbled on it (an obvious jab at the BBC One "Globe Balloon" idents), which drains at the end.

* Simpsons Night: A yellow "2" zooms past the clouds and towards the camera, in a homage to ''The Simpsons'' title card. Instead of zooming past the screen however, the "2" cracks the screen and pulls back.

* Comedy Night: A blue gradient backdrop is shown with several "2"s swaying in the distance. In front is a rather uncanny CG bust of Ann Robinson (host of ''The Weakest Link'' at the time) presenting the night's programmes and quipping a few jokes along the way.

 

'''Christmas Idents:'''

* Christmas 1991: A reference to Georges Méliès' ''A Trip to the Moon'', over a night-time cloudy sky, there is a cloud in the centre with a star inside. It sprinkles star dust on the BBC logo until the star and the cloud suddenly transforms into a wrapped-up "2" in a quick explosion. A rocket then flies over the "2". A short version of the ident has the star absent and only features sound effects.

* Christmas 2000: Two small white 2's skate on top of, and fall off, a huge ice-covered 2 against a blue background.

'''Availability:'''

* The original versions were seen on the channel until the 1997 revamp. After the revamp, they would still be used until 2001.

* In 2014, most of the main idents were brought back into regular broadcast; first on BBC Two Northern Ireland during retro-themed afternoon programming, then during BBC Two's 50th anniversary celebrations. Afterwards, the idents remained in broadcast until 26 September 2018.

'''Legacy:''' These idents are famous for their creative concepts, and thus have garnered worldwide recognition, to the point where BBC Two brought them back for a few years in the 2010s.