BBC One

I really hate just one ident being used on Saturday nights on BBC1. As I've said before it's not always suitable especially leading into Casualty. And Space is a much better ident for introducing Doctor Who.

Yep I agree. I've never liked the same ident playing all night anyway, but with the longer nights and different types of programmes, it doesn't look right.

I disagree - don't you think it's nice to have a contrasting ident before programmes? I personally think that using Space before each Doctor Who is rather clichéd. While I don't think Neon is a particularly great ident for Doctor Who and wouldn't try something like Kites either, Lawnmower would work rather well IMO, particularly as it's so spooky.

Ever since the BBC launched a number of different idents rather than just one 'symbol' (with the original batch of 2s in 1991), there has always been guidance within the presentation department to avoid using 'obvious' or clichéd idents ahead of certain programmes. I believe the directors have far less say now on what idents they use. It's clear that someone somewhere has decreed that Saturday night is Neon night ... probably someone in Marketing who commissioned a snazzy and vaguely camp ident for the launch of Dance Fever or something and it's sort of stuck.

Well maybe not Space into every Doctor Who but it sets the mood for the show better than Neon does. Neon was introduced last autumn when Strictly Come Dancing and Robin Hood were on. And it didn't always suit Robin Hood either. Casualty deals with some heavy subjects but you see happy bouncy Neon before the show starts. Neon suits comedy, light entertainment, sitcom and light programming.

Really? Even as an 'ident fan', I still forget the clip around three seconds later.

For example, when Ruth 'died' in Casualty, I didn't sit there thinking 'well Neon wasn't really appropriate for that!'.

Well that way of putting things makes the whole idea of a presentation forum really rather redundant.

I don't see how.

Yes, it's all about the branding - when somebody thinks of BBC One, they may perhaps think of the idents - but then they've forgotten which particular one was used before the programme during it. It doesn't mean they've forgotten they exist.

I reckon to a fair number of people, say "BBC One" and they'll think of the hot air baloon or depending on their age, a globe. Although there were lots of different baloon sequences, one single 'identity' really worked for BBC One IMO, whether that was the baloon or a globe (and yes, I know the baloon was a globe too, albeit a much subtler one!)

A brand formed of a single identity works and is, I would have thought, a key part of branding of anything. Think of Forumer's favourite idents and although some of them have lots of different variations, they're all based on one identity - Central's 'cake' or coloured ball, the Yorkshire Chevron, the '2's, even BBC Four's current set, all based on four images which look on the face of it just to be one image, is clearly one key identity.

Dare I suggest that loosely branding BBC One by means of a bunch of dancers or by a circle (which seems to be getting looser as more idents are produced) is not working anywhere near as well.

The quarter screen end credit squeeze has reached its death according to POV tonight. Thank God!

Excellent news.

Finally we'll be able to read the credits properly.

Will it interesting to see if it will still stay in some form (ie. go to a half-screen format - so credits on the right and an info board on the left).

The credit squeeze is going but will the guidelines go as well? As Charlie Brooker rightly pointed out current guidelines means that we don't get the Dad's Army/Are You Being Served kind of ending, or the jokey scene played over the end credits like we used to.

Points of View segment here:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uxIpu0GRQ7I