The Best TV Ident Ever? | Hux Media Archive

[@siienoa]

Absolutely love the 2 ident where it falls into the dust, and it's like a cyan blue dust underneath.

[@97channel]

The 1980's are where my thoughts instantly head to for the best TV idents ever. I find that the problem with post 2000 idents are that they are too visually noisy. Sometimes very clever and impressive, but ultimately lose impact. Playing to the rules of only one ident per network, I think my top 5 would be... 5 - FTN idents from around 2003. Now, here's a bit of a rogue one somehow sneeking its way into the list to kick things off. There were a few variations, but I'll just have to say pick one for yourselves because I can't remember enough about the specifics of any one of them. They were all similar though, the screen divided roughly equally into three horizontal bold colour stripes, yellow top and bottom, red middle, FTN logo centre. The computer animated sequences of playing around with the logo looked 15 to 20 years outdated at the time, but the design was just so bold, uncomplicated, and consistent throughout the entire logo, trailer, and menu package that it stood out so much from the emerging tidal wave of multi-channels. It was one of the only half-decent choices for entertainment late at night, when Freeview was still new. A great bit of silliness in Most Haunted, the fantastically funny All Aussie Adventures, repeats of decades old ITV gameshows. Just the ticket. And the branding gave it all a bit of a cult status, among those of us who backed Freeview from the off. 4 - BBC One's 90's Globe. This is a bit of a funny one, in that I don't feel huge amounts of affection for it. Nostalgia, yes. But it didn't really reach out and grab me, back in the day. But I have to include it, because it's never-the-less a beautiful piece of work, with quiet majesty which somehow seemed entirely appropriate for everything from Noel's House Party to major events such as the breaking news of the accident which killed princess Diana. That's one particular memory which sealed the historic value of this ident forever. I do also think highly of the previous BBC One globes. 3 - Thames' Reflection. I would also consider many other of the classic ITV region idents as fairly equal, particularly LWT's classic river ident. But, only one ident per network allowed. The name of the channel centre stage, iconography of the unmistakable London Skyline as an ambient backdrop. Says everything you need to know. And because Thames stuck with it for so long, an emblem for their quality and a golden age of TV 2 - BBC Two's Silk, from the 1991 set. I must first say that I have agonized over choosing which of this set to place in my top 5, playing by the rules of only one ident per channel. Silk, Paint splash, Neon, Powder, and Blade are really on an equal footing. The others all in very close contention. As a package, surely the finest ever. I pick Silk because it just stands out slightly for the atmosphere it created when placed before a late night movie and such, or to closedown for the night. 1 - Channel 4's Round And Back, from 1982. No distracting background, the number 4 bold and illuminating in its multi-colours, the concept and animation actually represent the nature of the channel's commissioning, the music is superb. An iconic logo which still plays in my mind on an almost daily basis as a default screensaver. Honarable mentions of a couple of underrated idents - Firstly, The TWO ident from 1986 BBC Two. A lovely design, maybe let down by lack of motion or any kind of variety, but its simplicity is what I like about it. And secondly, the 2016 Channel 4 set of logoless idents. Elsewhere around here, there may exist residual comments I made at the time criticising them. But I've kind of changed my opinion somewhat since then. There was a certain amount of genius to the concept, which I didn't fully understand or appreciate at the time. They were extremely well produced, too. I now wish that they'd stuck with them, and developed the abstract emerging story of the blocks. Because the blockman which followed got boring very quickly, despite the novelty of Fourscore returning. This comment ended up being way longer than I intended. I'll keep it unedited though. Hopefully someone will enjoy reading it, even if only in part.

[@titanictotired]

Thank you for this amazing detailed comment! I love anything discussion related on my channel so please feel free to discuss!

[@moreedcola6837]

Can’t believe my favourite BBC One and Channel 4 idents made 3rd and 2nd!

[@chrisnichols1957]

I agree the BBC 2 idents were works of art. I think my favourite set is 2002 Channel 5 before it rebranded, rather boringly, to 'five'. The 2002 ones before the rebrand were short-lived but so neat and simple with a great jingle. I also liked Channel 5 1997 - especially the colourful lift ident.

[@ntmdisco]

ATV, Anglia,Thames and LWT were some of the best

[@andyhartley]

ATV Zoom 2 (1969-1981) or TSW's "Three Bras" (1982) are both ident classics - and both from before I was born, so hardly nostalgia.

[@mytimetravellingdog]

If no channel can appear twice you've just ruled out like 90% of the best idents ever cause they were all on bbc 2.

[@titanictotired]

Certainly

[@robertcomer2767]

The ident logos are an absolute disgrace these days. They don't even pull an audience in. Even the ones on Sky that were phenomenal in the early 1990's would today put you to sleep