Why were the '2's brought back?

I note that in recent discussion within the BBC Two thread in celebration of BBC Two's fiftieth anniversary, the BBC have decided to reinstate some classic BBC Two idents from the 1991-2001 period of idents. Many pres anoraks and enthusiasts believe this era to be the golden age of BBC Two continuity.

However, this begs the question as to why? Surely if BBC Two wanted to celebrate the channel's birthday they would have produced some special idents, much like they did for the 40th and 30th anniversaries? It also baffles me as to the haphazard way all of this has been done. Certain idents being brought back - such as Paint Pot without Paint, will just confuse the viewer as to what it is supposed to signify. Other idents such as Copper Cutout having the old logo which when run with the newer logos, just looks lazy. Most of the idents aren't even being run, which just shows carelessness all round.

Whilst I appreciate the BBC bringing back some of their classic idents, it is a sad state of affairs when even one of the flagship BBC channels can inadvertently mess up their, arguably, most successful ident package of all time. Surely it should have been done properly, so why did they even bother?

Its very simple, the BBC has no money for new idents, and the current package is hated so um, yes, there have brought back the old idents to brighten up the channel, which is has.



People NEED to stop banging on about this point. The general viewer of BBC2 will not have clue, about the connection between paint and paint pot.

Again it all depends which idents can work in HD-ish, hence the reason NI can use alot more idents.

Do these not count?

please get over yourself.

I think we should consider ourselves lucky enough to see these idents on TV again, there will obviously be some changes to how they originally went out and what idents they actually can use.

Some people on here have expressed their dislike for them, but outside of the TVF bubble, you know this is the case?

It's disappointing only for the geekiest of the geeks (me and those who reside within these walls) who were in on the in-est of in-jokes, not at all for "the viewer" who will have absolutely no idea what you're on about.




No, that was used during the Afternoon Classics strand which has finished, it is not being used now.


That statement makes no sense.

I recall seeing Paint during 90s night. You sure it's not in the roster?

They did a 16:9 slanted BBC boxes version for the 90s night (and Neon too) but it isn't in the "50 Years" set.


*Except for Northern Ireland.

I have to agree with you because when I first saw Paint-Pot many moons ago, I didn't actually know it was a "sequel" of Paint. I just saw it as a normal ident.

But Paint is quite simply better than Paint Pot, in my opinion. I'd have never picked the latter over the former. Someone's going to respond that Paint Pot is newer and perhaps less dated but the five years difference is nothing considering how much time has passed since and Paint Pot deliberately looks almost exactly like paint anyway.

I don't think there's as a single bad BBC Two ident from the 1991-2001 era. I like some more than others but like pretty much all of them anyway. That said, I feel they've missed an opportunity with the selection. I'm surprised there's supposed to be about nine of them because I keep seeing Swan, Dog and Car. All the ones in use are the 'novelty/humorous' ones, whilst the original era always had some 'serious/arty' ones as well. That balance isn't there with this 'back to the future' era we find ourselves in. Of course, even though the implementation could've been better, I'm still pinching myself that they're back at all and it's wonderful. Also, if they are to run to at least Christmas, I think there's a very good chance that one or two additions will be added at some point in the Autumn.

As for the OP's question: the 50th Birthday celebrations is the official reason but I think they're testing the water for a future rebrand. They know the 1991-2001 era is the most popular with people who pay particular attention to these sorts of things and no doubt they want to see if it stands the test of time with the wider audience. If feedback comes back as positive, my bet is that they'll consider making new '2's, possibly with some of the classics running alongside.

I agree but it was posted that a conscious decision was taken to only include idents where the '2' model is active, immediately excluding the more abstract earlier ones (and some of the later ones too). Initially, at least.