Information about BBC Two

Present and past role

Nowadays, new BBC programmes often appear on BBC Two, especially if those behind them have not proven themselves elsewhere. A successful BBC Two programme has often been moved to BBC One, in the manner of Have I Got News For You. Over its first thirty or so years the channel developed a reputation for screening highly praised and prestigious drama series, amongst these Boys from the Blackstuff (1982) or 1996's epic, critically-acclaimed Our Friends in the North ; its "highbrow" profile compared to rivals is also in part attributable to a long history of demanding, flagship documentaries, most famously Civilisation and The Ascent of Man. During the 1980s and early 1990s, like the early Channel 4, BBC2 also started to establish for itself a reputation as a champion of independent and international cinema.

The channel has sometimes been judged in more recent years increasingly to have moved away from this original role and to have moved closer to the mainstream. The perception of its greater minority interest nevertheless persists in today's multi-channel world, so that a programme moved from BBC Two to BBC One will often attract a much larger audience, even though no other change has been made. Since 2004 there have been some signs of an attempt to return closer to parts of BBC Two's earlier output with the arts strand The Culture Show and intermittent night-time repeats of programming from BBC Four. Its most popular programme at the moment is Top Gear.

During the evenings, the broadcast alternative programmes on BBC Two Northern Ireland, BBC Two Scotland and BBC Two Wales. In addition, BBC Wales broadcasts a special, digital-only channel, BBC 2W, which contains more opt-outs than BBC Two Wales, an analogue-only service. BBC Two Northern Ireland's offering includes local news and weather updates, whilst BBC Scotland broadcasts variations from the main network on BBC Two Scotland, such as Newsnight Scotland, and often Gaelic-language programmes under the banner "BBC Two Alba".

Programming

Main article: List of programmes broadcast by the BBC

Public service, educational and community programming

An important part of BBC2's early mission was not only to provide minority interest entertainment but also to fulfil the public service functions of educational and community broadcasting.

Following a long and important association with the Open University, which has always co-produced programming with the channel, BBC2 has also carried BBC's Schools programmes from 1983 onward from BBC1. In recent years the Open University programming has been broadcast under the wider category of the BBC Learning Zone, in its long-standing slot late at night and during the early hours. However, in 2004 the Open University announced it was to end the late night programmes in favour of more primetime co-productions, modelled on Coast.

As a result of the channel's commitment to community broadcasting and amongst other programming the channel produced the symbolic Open Space series, a strand developed in the early 1970s in which members of the public would be allotted half an hour of television time, and given a level of editorial and technical training in order to produce for themselves a film on an issue most important to them. BBC2's Community Programme Unit kept this aspect of the channel's tradition alive into the 1990s in the form of Video Diaries and later Video Nation, an intended role which, after intermittent reappearances in the form of "Video Shorts", was restarted in 2007 with My Life As A Child.

On-screen identity

Main article: History of BBC television idents

As well as programmes, BBC Two has also proved memorable for its numerous idents—various short films shown in between programme junctions that serve as the channel identity. Since it began in 1964, the figure '2' has almost always featured, using revolving, mechanical models and computer-aided technology, including the world's first computer-generated ident in 1979.

In Easter 1986 the computer-generated '2' was replaced by the word 'TWO' in red, green and blue on a white background. However, a survey carried out by the BBC in 1990 found that this ident gave the channel a 'worthy but dull' image. Then-controller Alan Yentob saw a major change of identity was necessary.

Branding agency Lambie-Nairn were commissioned, and in February 1991, the new custom '2' - and the signature colour, viridian - were unveiled on BBC Two, in idents that would successfully change public perception, and become world famous.^[4] The '2' always appeared in the same shape, in various forms; the earliest idents of 1991 featured solely inanimate '2' figures of different material in each, but also made use of camera angle tricks and properties such as refraction to achieve various effects. In later years it was given character, taking the form of a remote-controlled car, a rubber duck, a Dalek and a toy dog among many others (see BBC Two 1991-2001 idents). The expansive set of idents from 1991 to 2001 - lasting over a decade - are generally regarded as the best idents ever produced for a television channel; they ended in November 2001. The BBC corporate logo was updated within the idents in October 1997, though the idents moved away from the original viridan colour scheme in these latter years.

The subsequent presentation style which was introduced on 19 November 2001 kept the same figure '2' - though it was now always shown white on a yellow background, and completely computer generated. Occasionally, to promote certain programmes on the channel the ident moved away from the standard style. For example, in a trail for the second series of The Catherine Tate Show, the character of Lauren Cooper was shown arguing with a '2' in the guise of a dog. This canine identity for the '2' was part of the BBC's Pedigree Comedy branding for comedy programmes in the Thursday night slot, and featured in 3 ident versions for use ahead of the programmes.

Withdrawn idents from years past have also made a return to BBC Two for special events. The "Garden" ident (in which a '2' grows out of flowers) returned for the 2001 Chelsea Flower Show after having been retired in 1997, and remained in occasional use until the November 2001 rebrand. For the 2006 Winter Olympics, the Christmas 2000 ident was used again (renamed "Frosty"), and remained in use until the February 2007 refresh. For the 2006 Chelsea Flower Show, "Predator" (where a '2' butterfly is eaten by a Venus fly-trap shaped '2') was used again (as "Venus Fly Trap"), and also remained in occasional use until the February 2007 rebrand. In each case, the branding was updated to match the then-current style.

The latest style of presentation was introduced on 18 February 2007, designed by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO and produced by Red Bee Media.^[5] The figure 2 - which has been altered from Lambie-Nairn's original '2' design for the first time in 16 years - became a 'window on the world'. The first ident broadcast from this set was "Cappuccino Scoop". Additionally, the plum coloured box previously used for the BBC Two logo was changed to a deep aqua colour, along with a font change from Gill Sans to Avenir across the channel.

On 18 March 2007, the ident "Tagging Football" was used to introduce Match of the Day 2. This ident is shot from the viewpoint of a man carrying a pink template with a 2 shaped cut-out hole, through which everything is seen; it is held up close to the camera. The man runs across a pitch, and hastily sprays the side of a football with a crude, bright pink '2' using the template and a can of spray paint. The camerawork is jittery, though likely intended to convey the frantic pace. Despite being different in style from the other current sequences, it is one of the idents issued as part of the initial set from AMV & Red Bee, and there are other versions of the same concept yet to air. [2]

BBC Two and BBC Four

Since the launch of the digital-only BBC Four, the BBC has been accused in particular of shifting its more highbrow output to the new channel, which a sizeable minority (25.2% in the third quarter of 2006[3]) of viewers still cannot receive. The perceived strategy has been to allow BBC Two to show more popular programmes and to secure higher ratings. Many commentators have judged there to be a strong resemblance between the new Four and the earlier, more ambitious, BBC Twohttp://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgrinder/2007/09/bbc_funding_debate_why_bbc2_bb.html. Output from BBC Four (documentaries rather than foreign films) is repeated on BBC Two in a 'BBC Four on Two' branded area, although this is often in a late night broadcast slot after Newsnight.

BBC Two in popular culture

• Goldie Lookin' Chain's 'Guns Don't Kill People' has a line stating:

"Guns don't kill people, rappers do

I seen it on a documentary on BBC Two"

• The Streets mentions BBC Two in 'The Irony of it All', along with Channel 4 and MTV.
• BBC Two is also mentioned in lyrics to the ending credits theme of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, titled "BBC".
• Franz Ferdinand (band) has a line in the song 'Matinée' which goes:

"So I'm on BBC Two now, telling Terry Wogan how I made it and What I made is unclear now, but his deference is and his laughter is"

See also

• BBC Two 1991-2001 idents

References

External links

•  • [ e] BBC Television

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