BBC1 Rush Hour2002
A short bumper which appeared from Good Friday, but what did it mean? By popular request - the spectacular promo featuring an athletic Frenchman, David Belle, jumping across the rooftops to get home to watch BBC1. The film came in various lengths and was produced by the advertising agency, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. They were also behind the unpopular follow-up "Cliffhanger" in 2003.THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN MOTHER
The passing of the Queen Mother on Easter Saturday 2002 threw BBC1's schedules out the window. "Auntie's Bloomers" was interrupted to bring the first news, everything except the major drama "Man And Boy" was dropped to make way for tribute programming. Between programmes, announcer Dan Austin filled us in on the changes. However, just one day into BBC1's contemporary new look, questions were asked as to the appropriateness of BBC1's contemporary graphics.
Not how we anticipated the new menu would debut - a rundown of the revised Saturday schedule. The National Lottery draw went ahead but was not broadcast out of respect for the Queen Mother. So, following another menu, the draw results are announced during the link.
BBC1 CHRISTMAS STINGS 2002A selection of bumpers for the first non-globe Christmas, all based on the year's main Christmas ident.
BBC1 Cliffhanger27.05.2003
Following the success of the Rush Hour campaign, BBC marketeers lined up a spectacular new promotion in May 2003, "Cliffhanger". Taking the idea of period drama, the 90-second film shows a young mother falling off a cliff top after being swept aside by bandits on horseback. As she falls to her death, a modern couple look on idly.
The idea was to promote BBC1 as engaging, showing how viewers can feel part of the action when watching dramas. However, the campaign backfired badly. Hundreds complained the promo was in bad taste and many children were distressed by it. So after just one night, Cliffhanger was pulled. Bad luck if you missed the promo, for BBC bosses decided against its return in any form.
BBC1 Christmas Stings 2003
BBC1 did not give us a Christmas ident in 2003, much to the bitter disappointment of pres fans. However we did get some new promotional bumpers based around "The One" slogan and a stylised snowflake. Some say it resembles the original Breakfast Time logo! Here's one of the promotions (with BBC Scotland branding) shown in the lead-up to Christmas, the two stand-alone stings, often shown pre-programme. Other variants had the word "Christmas".
BBC1 Christmas Boxing Day Line-Up2003
It could almost be a menu caption - but it wasn't! Just imaginitive use of the snowflake symbol in a BBC1 line-up. Voiced live by Peter Offer.
BBC1 Bumper The One For Drama2004 Hey just a minute - have we just entered a timewarp? Some might have thought so when this traditional-style bumper appeared around Easter. But it's certainly a very welcome addition to BBC1's on-air look and the latest in "The One" campaign. To date there's just one variant - for drama programmes. Whether the new promo will extend to other genres remains to be seen - here's hoping!
BBC1 REFRESH: MAY 2004
When Lambie-Nairn took over responsibility for the branding on BBC1 and BBC2, a consistent look was introduced for trails, menus etc, using the same fonts/styles throughout. But there are signs each channel is adopting it's own individual character...
Saturday 01 May saw a refresh for BBC1. The idents and the BBC1 logo itself remained but everything else changed - programme slides, trailer endboards, menus etc. all adopted a bright red look with animating endboards. And there was a new station font - Franklin Gothic Demi made way for the brassier Helvetica Neue Thin Extended. The most striking element of the refresh are animated "shutters" which close each trail, giving a clearer distinction between promotions. The new look aims to give BBC1 a younger feel and launched in the early evening.
BBC1 Trail Come And Have A Go...01.05.2004 A slightly different example with Nicky Campbell appealing for contestants for "Come And Have A Go If You Think You're Smart Enough".
Animated Slidesfrom 2004
Yes they're still here, although still rarely seen. The picture replaces the top shutter, while the bottom one animates in upwards. A Royal wedding seems to be one of few things to make a BBC1 slide appear these days!
BBC1 Christmas Stings2004 Christmas is back on BBC1 this year and with it four new bumpers based on the Bouncy Puddings ident.
BBC1 Christmas2004
Some of the exciting films on offer this Yuletide, including Shrek, 102 Dalmatians and - best of all - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. And a sparkling feel to the usual slide, animated for the holidays.
BBC1 Revised Schedule03.04.2005 Major changes to BBC1's schedule followed the death of Pope John Paul over the weekend of 02-03 April 2005. Here's Peter Offer with a revised Sunday menu which incorporates further coverage from the Vatican.
BBC1 The One To Watch Pointers2005
In May BBC2 launched its "Galaxy" junction pointers, but BBC1 had nothing similar. Until Autumn 2005, when BBC1 launched it's "The One To Watch" pointers. Each promo began with BBC1's slogan "The One" opening in shutter form to present a short snatch from an upcoming programme. At the end, the shutters come down again, this time translucent, to reveal the title and broadcast time. The new pointers are voiced live by the announcers; a Christmas version was also produced.
BBC1 Little Britain Trails2005
Little Britain rose from the depths of digital on BBC3 to become a massive hit - the show was now so popular the third series would be shown on BBC1. BBC1 pulled out all the stops to promote the new series, even replacing the familiar red shutters with more patriotic ones in trails for the show.
BBC1 Christmas Stings2005
Three new stings to accompany the Christmas Tree ident in 2005. Although very charming and colourful, you dreaded seeing them because the accompanying slogan - "The One For Christmas" - was spoken in a whisper, with a particularly hard "C" on Christmas. Each sting came in two versions - with or without the voice, and were on air from 17 December - 03 January inclusive.
