BBC One Christmas 2018

Though I'm sure if they really wanted to they could have filmed the models and played the recording rather than doing it live, so would have been able to keep them on air for longer.

And tie up an expensive VT machine and operator? The only time they did that they tacked the ident into the end of every trail, which led to a few cockups IIRC

Don't know if anyone on here has bought the latest issue of the "TV Choice" special edition "TV Years" magazines. This one is about Christmas TV, I found it to be a lot more in-depth and interesting that I'd initially anticipated.

At the beginning of this issue, there's a rare photo of Pres B with the 1983 BBC1 Christmas ident sitting on a table being filmed.

When you refer to Pres B, would this have been a small studio used for the standard globe or a secondary studio, thus why it could only be used over the three days?

Yes, an actual studio. "Presentation Studio B" to give it its full name. If you remember CBBC in "Studio A" (the one before Studio 9) that was the twin studio, Pres A.

Originally these were intended for in vision continuity (Pres A for BBC1, Pres B for BBC2), but that style of presentation was soon dropped and they became available for general use. Pres A was used for the weather and trail production (this needed a studio back then for the captions on bits of cardboard) and Pres B was the home of Old Grey Whistle Test, Film <year> and Points of View, amongst others.

Some more detail at http://www.tvstudiohistory.co.uk/tv%20centre%20history.htm#pres

In this video, Andi Peters starts in Pres A - you can see how small it is, and that Pres B is next door - then walks to the Broomcupboard



You mention where the normal globe was - that was in the Noddy device which you can see (well, BBC2's version) on the TV Studio History site I linked to.

Could the Christmas models not have taken the place of the globe in the noddy room?

The camera in the Noddy was black and white, with colour added electronically. Using a colour model would have required a big change to how that worked.

Ah I see. Thank you for explaining. So utilising the studio space would have only been allowed for a few days so as not to stop production on others.

Not wanting to go off topic, but am I right in saying that Pres A was still the studio used for CBBC prior to studio 9 in 1997? If so the set design for that made the studio feel a lot bigger. I know that they used the bare studio walls.

Going back, why when idents went to laser disc why did they stick to just 3 days?

It was used for the Birthday slot since 1987? and I believe for Holiday broadcast, Ie Summer, xmas, Easter holls.

Mind you, it looks big enough to have one side CBBC, another for POV/Film XXXX

I appreciate that the Christmas-fest may be more commercial these days, but as a child I did prefer the excitement of the new idents appearing on BBC/ITV on Christmas Eve, and disappearing on New Year's Day.

It made it seem more special; even if the BBC just had a brown plastic sphere with 'dubious icing' on a turntable. By the time of this example, the cotton wool covering up the mechanics had been concealed.

http://i63.tinypic.com/111tf8g.jpg

In fact they disappeared at closedown on Boxing Day during most Christmasses on the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Totally agree. To me, so much about Christmas has always been the anticipation - that wait for all those magical treats that felt like forever.

Nowadays it feels like all the excitement is over and the presents are unwrapped so long before Christmas has even started.