[SteveRW]

I think there are concepts they could do with the Lens though.  Was absolutely right to deviate from the main ident concept during the Oneness era but now they've something half decent perhaps they should work with it more.

I don't know if anyone has watched GREAT CHRISTMAS but they have Christmas scenes with like a glass effect GREAT appearing towards the end of the scene. This would be a good example of what a well executed Lens ident could be for Christmas. Take four festive scenes and just intersperse tthem together to form an ident that doesn't need replacing every year, just added to. 

Incidentally, are they ever going to add to the current set of Lens idents? As far as I know, there haven't been any new ones since the Pool/Cafe ones 18 months ago.

[Brekkie]

An ident I'd never seen before but just shows the sort of non-programme specific type of ident that would work well.

theident.gallery 

The Ident Gallery
Extra : Miscellaneous BBC : Learning Zone ident (Snowman)
  Source: theident.gallery

[Spencer]

An ident I'd never seen before but just shows the sort of non-programme specific type of ident that would work well.

theident.gallery 

Is that a specific Christmas ident for The Learning Zone, or just a winter variation?

[Brekkie]

Winter I assume as I'd imagine it was off air over the Christmas period.

[ViridianFan]

The 2001 set is lovely and a simple concept executed well. Something a bit lower key and understated would be a welcome change. It doesn't always have to be a big expensive animation chopped up into sections for idents.

For the lens idents, they could have a living room scene at different times of the day, like present opening, watching TV together and party games in the evening with the focal point of each scene being the tree.

With the cost of living situation, it would seem out of touch if they did a big OTT Christmas package, so going the more simpler understated look would likely be welcomed.

I loved those 2001 Christmas idents. It’s funny when ever I think of Christmas i instantly have 4 idents which spring into my mind:

[*]1997 - 12 days of Christmas was so simple but also amusing (the lords a leaping) it felt Christmassy 
[*]2000 - with the balloon over the city scape with the presents floating down. The music is dramatic but magical. That one always makes me teary eyed (who knows why)
[*]2001 - i just loved it. The little dog and dinosaur always made me smile and again the music 
[*]The music in the dancer era. I think it was the jolleiness about it. 


With the exception of the 1997 idents (although you could argue that the balloon colours were there), they were fitted with the channel’s look at the time so it was more BBC1 at Christmas whilst now it’s more BBC1 Christmas. It’s like when I decorate my house I add decorations to my house I don’t totally redecorate my house. 

I do like the idea of 2 weeks before and then Christmas effects on the Christmas trails for the Christmas programs and normal for the others. It’s always been slightly irritating when they’re trailing new shows in January with the Christmas trail pattern, just use the normal one. 

The other thing I’ve always found odd is how New Year’s Day there is nothing. I’ve always thought New Years Eve and New Years Day and 2nd January because Scotland should have a special set of new year idents which come out every year just to mark the new year. They wouldn’t even have to fit with the ident package and they wouldn’t have to be fancy or expensive, the simpler the better but each year they came out so it almost became a tradition.

[Former Member 24]

I haven't been on here for ages, but this thread always brings out the broken record/"old man yells at cloud" feeling in me.

As stated by others, having idents tailored to a specific programme isn't really the best way of doing it. Now I'm a bit biased towards the 2009 package because I did love peak Doctor Who with David Tennant (although admittedly he was absolutely everywhere at Christmas that year), but unless they're only hints towards specific programmes, like 2001's three idents centred around Toy Story, The Lost World and Only Fools and Horses, or the ones from 2014 centred around Doctor Who, The Great British Bake Off and Strictly Come Dancing, they don't work that well.

Unfortunately, that trend has only continued recently with Zog and the Flying Doctors in 2020, Shaun the Sheep in 2021 and The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse in 2022. They're at least better than the previous trend of the John Lewis-alike trailers which just end up having a small snippet as the idents from 2017 to 2019, but only marginally so.

Even with the Circles, their idents tended to deteriorate, 2014's notwithstanding. My favourites from that era were 2006's snowball and 2010's Christmas lights. After that, they just ended up being all over the place. 2011's "Consider Yourself" was awful, and then they completely went the other way in 2012's red curtain. And Sprout Boy in 2015? No.

At least the dancers/Rhythm and Movement Christmas idents were similar to the main idents but Christmassy enough for variation. Looking back, I hated the fact that they reused 2002's ident in 2003 due to value for money, and 2004's ident didn't really bear resemblance to the Blue Peter winner's idea. 2005's slightly creepy Oompa Loompa theme was probably the best.

For the best idents, you'd be hard pressed to beat things like the 1977 Christmas pudding, the 1989 globe spinning top and the 1993 North Pole ice sculpture with day and night variations. I actually don't mind pre-corporate or post-corporate idents, some years just worked better than others, but there are some that probably make viewers feel more nostalgic than others. A special mention should also go to Sky Movies and Sky Movies Disney a few years back who did wonderful variation on their 360-degree idents which still look amazing now.

My absolute favourites though from recent years are the 1999 and 2000 idents. Both include the balloon, both feel magical and both aren't specific to any single show. I think 1999's one was withdrawn a bit too early, although the 2000 Today celebrations and the special Lambie-Nairn idents for the millennium made up for that. I think 2000 was the first proper time that the idents debuted significantly earlier than Christmas Eve, specifically Friday 22nd December. From then onwards, they tended to debut on the last Friday before Christmas Day, so the 18th at the earliest, and they stuck up to and including New Year's Day, going back to normal on 2nd January, which is, in my opinion, how it should be; not too early. Having them debut earlier and earlier makes more out of the build-up to the big day than the day itself, especially when it's eked into November. Yes, I know, commercialism and all the rest of it, but I can't stand it. We're at the stage where Halloween and Christmas items appear next to each other in supermarket aisles and Easter eggs appear before New Year's Day. It's just another tick box in the never-ending merry-go-round of holidays. Like I say, it sounds Scrooge-like, I know, but am I alone in this? I hope not.

And to those who say about being careful during the cost of living crisis, that's not a good excuse. We've had variations on it for years from the credit crunch to austerity, and even in the 1970s they managed to put out a new ident each year. Budget cuts and savings can't be used as an excuse every year. The same goes for BBC2 reusing theirs in recent years, it's just laziness, and that's especially sad when the Curve idents have been some of the most creative idents for years. There's more they could do with it, they just don't.

But yes, all old man yelling at cloud stuff I'm sure, especially when Christmas idents just aren't a huge part of the landscape any more.

[Nini]

I didn't know I was being prescient earlier but here we are.

[Former Member 24]

I didn't know I was being prescient earlier but here we are.

You weren’t. I didn’t say I wanted the turntables back, assuming you’re referring to my post. What I would like is a good interpretation of the Lens for Christmas that doesn’t rely on a single programme.

[Nini]

Glad to hear that, I didn't want my parody to become reality!

[fanoftv]

My absolute favourites though from recent years are the 1999 and 2000 idents. Both include the balloon, both feel magical and both aren't specific to any single show.
…
And to those who say about being careful during the cost of living crisis, that's not a good excuse. We've had variations on it for years from the credit crunch to austerity…

I echo a lot of your points Former Member 24. The later airing of the idents meant that the Christmas period felt special, though following retail trends people seem to put emphasis on the run up to the day and festivities following it. I imagine that they will state that they begin earlier to get their money’s worth because idents are more sophisticated and therefore cost more than simpler concepts. 

I did chuckle though when you said recent and mentioned 1999 & 2000, it’s akin to somebody in 1999 suggesting that something from 1975 was recent… even if in our minds it doesn’t seem that long ago at all!