BBC2 Christmas Idents: The 1970's & 1980's - The Ident Review

Episode 30
This week on the Ident Review, we continue with the Christmas theme, and take a look at the Christmas idents that represented BBC2, in the 1970's and 1980's!
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[@theedgeofcurrentunderstanding]

New subscriber here. Adam I realise footage is difficult to find but some of my favourite Christmas campaigns have been on ITV. I'm also aware of how much work goes into making these videos of which I am grateful, but a compilation of Christmas indents from ITV is what I'm really looking forward to seeing. Thank you for all your hard work. 🙂

[@Colddirector]

Man, this really seems to paint BBC2 as a channel that really struggled with brand identity before it struck gold with the 2 of the 90s/00s. They fritter from thing to thing, with the occasional hit but mostly misses.

[@davidc8518]

all I get are scam ads that refuse to end. NOTHING ELSE

[@david_g_barron]

The 1978 Christmas Ident was found in the collection of the man introducing his own show, and one of the people he mentioned, was not so fondly remembered in the last stand up show he ever did.

[@Alola_Hanna-Barbera_TMS_Fan]

6:38 is my favorite. I love neon. The yellow leaves you were referring to was Holly. Also, where did you find the version of this amazing ident with the merry merry merry merry merry merry christmas jingle?

[@prd1073]

I just roared "Holly" as I read your comment, ironically central to many depictions of Christmas ...

[@aptheplotagonandpuppetpals6424]

The green leaf things in the bbc 2 Christmas 1981 ident are leaves of holly.

[@martoto77]

For Christmas 1980 it looks like they were adopting the Futura typeface seen in the main BBC 1 ident. I guess they felt that the double line logo wasn’t adaptable enough for Christmas. You have to remember that people saw these on a 14 to 20 inch CRT so detail wasn’t of prime importance. The first three Xmas trees look fine when combined with the counter rotating effect

[@aj22retro]

Never seen these before, thanks for sharing this and good narrating

[@mariahbenetatos]

1987: Was that a tree at the end? A triangle?

[@JASpiring]

It's a tree, the red line above the W was it's trunk.

[@chestnutbloke305]

2:06 You know how the Christmas 1975 ident has a similar design to the Computer-Generated 2 from 1979 to 1986? So maybe that ident was probably BBC Two's way of foreshadowing upcoming idents? Not only that, but the Christmas 1982/83 idents follow the same technique of the BBC One Christmas idents from those years, reusing the old idents but making some minor changes.

[@richardknowlson6319]

Such amazing video. Well done. I love watching stuff like this.

[@AdamMartyn]

Thank you Richard! Can't believe we're approaching 100 Ident Review episodes!

[@richardknowlson6319]

I know. How time flies. Personally, I prefer the 70s, 80s and 90s idents. After that, I felt the magic left a bit. Just my opinion.

[@richardknowlson6319]

Well done to 1981. My birth year

[@thetelegothika5327]

Good collection and thoughts! What I observe is that idents had a sort of simple, scrappy, gaudy charm to them in the 70s and early 80s (same as those cheap foil Christmas decorations do). But when the first corporate approach (co-ordinated colours and trendy styles) in the mid 80s and the first basic computer graphics and editing came in in the late 80s - the home-made charm was lost. However, the concepts and execution of these new corporate-flavoured idents weren't good enough yet to make up for that lost charm. The idents feel lifeless. It wasn't until the early 90's onwards that the combination of strong corporate branding, new tech AND quirky festive environments all came together to create some really memorable and exciting idents. I love the stop-motion ones from the mid 90s!

[@ellieoroarty4246]

please do the ident review on the bbc1 & bbc2 1990s and 2000s Christmas idents!

[@perlasandoval7883]

Snowflakes candles and trees are the best idents for me

[@emilian7052]

Too simple for me

[@Alola_Hanna-Barbera_TMS_Fan]

I absolutely ADORE the candles

[@thomaswiseman9115]

7:00 It's holly

[@farringtonmccready9994]

I really like the 1984 ident

[@1701Wren]

I think some of the early footage especially the trumpeters are off-air recordings rather than a TV recording but it's better than nothing

[@robchuckle401]

Very interesting of the tributes of local history of BBC 2 in the UK Adam Martyn and Merry Christmas 2018 of course and that is really simple and look forward to it and glad you like the narrating? :)

[@jaydenlee4079]

Hello Robchuckle I love your DVDs

[@robchuckle401]

@@jaydenlee4079 thanks for kind suggestion jayden and how nice if you of my merchs that we gave to that! :)

[@stephenwildsmith8594]

I think the BBC 2 ident for Christmas 1978 is actually superior to many other BBC 2 Christmas idents of that Christmas on a turntable format. The BBC 1 counterpart of 1978 looked like a panic rush job in comparison and a touch gruesome too! BBC TV was almost entirely blacked out at Christmas 1978 with industrial action. It only just managed to be salvaged on 23 December.

[@joemurphy2177]

Channel 4 seemed to have a big influence on BBC 2 in the late eighties.

[@richardknowlson6319]

Obviously, the leaves are Holly in the 1981 one. Holly is the plant/flower sign of Christmas, along with mistletoe of course.Surely everyone knows that.

[@KRPTV]

I always thought the 1989 one should have been used as a regular ident because as you say there is hardly anything in that ident that's related to Christmas, but it is a lot less boring than the regular two ident that was used at the time.

[@roysaxon2619]

I wonder if the BBC used Christmas idents from 1953 to 1967? Impossible now to see what they looked like for sure. And when did BBC2 itself first appear?

[@AlfieStudiosYT]

1964

[@gencilleshi4661]

CHRISTMAS 1976 AVAILABLE ON TV ARK

[@ethandtheangryenglishguy8253]

What about the 2019 ITV logo?

[@AllenJeremy]

The 1988 BBC2 Christmas Ident was weird.

[@MrBluemurderian]

Same

[@steve.wassall06]

Do a BBC HD ident review pls

[@Redrally]

I have to agree with someone else - BBC2 had such an identity crisis in the 80s...

[@garali1973]

The 1988 I don't like because it's a bit uncomfortable the way the woman looks on top of the saxophone music gives it a very not so Christmassy feel like something out of a 80s X-rated film I am imagining that she's gonna well you know

[@brucedanton3669]

The BBC2 written TWO from 1986 to 1991 is really alas the worst of the lot; as we know at least all the rest show a figure 2 ident. Thank you!!

[@skwidge69]

6:55

[@skwidge69]

10:10

[@martoto77]

I have to say the repeated “lazy and uninspired” criticism comes across as lazy. Lol.

[@DarkPCTV]

Ughhhhh....... The late 80s idents are IMHO rubbish