BBC2 Holding Slides 1991-1992
For the first time, BBC1 and BBC2 shared a common design for programme slides when both channels rebranded on 16 February 1991. The sidebar on the left of each caption featured one of the new BBC2 idents.
BBC2 Christmas Sting1991 Some rather sinister celestial elements - actors in star and globe masks - promote BBC2's festive fare.
BBC2 Christmas Eve continuity24.12.1991
Time for that magical moment on Christmas Eve where the curtains are thrown back and this year's Christmas ident is unveiled! As this was 1991, a menu and music was still the order of the day and in the best BBC tradition, Richard Straker talks us through the day's line-up before playing a short blast of Richard Harvey's "A Christmas Suite". Enjoy the whole sequence here.
With the ident revealed it's time to show off the Christmas slides for the first time. Followed by an excellent announcement from Richard Straker!
BBC2 Stings1992
Traditionally, BBC2 has always been the channel to experiment with new presentation methods. In 1992, instead of seasonally-changing looks BBC2 opted for a series of short stings using the famous 2. To start with, a hairstyle I wouldn't mind(!)
BBC2 Holding Slides 1992-1997
Once BBC2 began adding to its idents, the slide design was altered to remove the ident backgrounds in the left hand sidebar. The sidebar was now plain black, and the main photo (or parts of it) would often spill into it.
BBC2 Christmas Sting1992
No music or consistent theme for Christmas trails in 1992 - just a festive extension of the usual sting format. In one sequence a skier makes 2-shaped footprints in the snow, while in this film the 2 is a chimney brush popping out into the wintry skyline.
Christmas Eve on BBC21992
A panto theme for BBC2's Christmas promos in 1992, and among the festive treats this Christmas Eve are Harry Enfield, The Comic Strip and a certain Hitchcock classic.
BBC2 Christmas Sting1993 The animations which accompanied that excellent ident. Captured as recorded, hence the editing!
BBC2 Christmas Stings 1994
A fantasy ice-age world provided the backdrop for Christmas on BBC2 in 1994. Sting C should have been the ident in my humble opinion! Apologies for the atmosphetic interference on clip B.
Classic Musicals promo1994
If all the usual festive songs aren't your bag, BBC2 offers a selection of classic Broadway musicals this Christmas.BBC2 Christmas Holding Slides 1994
BBC2 Stings - from 1993
BBC2 Interruption to programme08.05.1995 The nation commemorated the 50th anniversary of VE Day in 1995 with a two-minute silence at 8:45pm. Three out of four terrestrial channels offered live coverage of the tribute, with BBC2 the odd man out. At the last minute BBC2 decided to join the coverage but there was one snag - they were mid-way through a documentary about the QE2!
The solution? Come out of the programme with a slide, then cross over to the live coverage. And this is how they did it.
BBC2 Christmas Stings 1995
At the height of their popularity, Wallace and Gromit were chosen as BBC2's Christmas mascots in 1995. A series of stings accompanied the festive ident shown over the holiday.
BBC2 Christmas Holding Slides 1995
BBC2 Christmas Stings1996
"Nothing is quite what it seems" was how BBC2 described its Christmas theme in 1996. A series of bizarre shorts featured a Santa-like wizard with a topiary 2.
BBC2 Breakdown1997 From 1997, stylised breakdown captions were introduced in the event of programme outages. Previously, programme slides had been used during a crash. Here's an early outing for BBC2's slide (based on Optics) before the rebrand.