BBC2: A Choice of Viewing
Up to 1964 there were only two television channels in
the UK: BBC and ITV, though if you lived on the boundary of
two ITV areas it was possible to receive more than one ITV
service, but the majority of the programmes would
essentially be the same. BBC2, it was hoped, would offer
more than just 'more of the same' and would have an
entirely different 'character' to the other two established
networks. BBC2 would also be different in that it was (and
still is) transmitted using 625 lines on UHF channels which
matched the post-war standard used in continental Europe as
opposed to the existing 405 line pre-war UK system, though
colour was still a few years away and its introduction was
delayed by the move to 625 lines.
From the start, BBC2 faced an uphill struggle.
Because of the different line and frequency standards used
for BBC2, a new television was required along with an
additional aerial in order to receive the new service. The
early sets that could receive BBC2 were known as dual
standard receivers because they had to cater for BBC1 and
ITV on 405 lines VHF as well; it would be a few years
(dependent on the area) for BBC1 and ITV to also be made
available on UHF. A few 405 line VHF sets were capable of
being upgraded to 625 line UHF operation.
BBC2's opening night was a total disaster; it was hit
by a major power failure, though the fireworks which
featured the two kangaroos (the baby one jumping out of its
mother's pouch) still managed to shine on the opening
night. These kangaroo mascots (Hullaballoo and Custard)
were initially used to publicise the new service, with the
basic concept being that BBC2 was the new 'child' of BBC-tv
(which was now to be known as BBC1 - though because BBC2
was only viewable in London and the Midlands to begin with,
the idea was slow to catch on).
The previous day's blackout meant that the first
programme to be transmitted in its entirety was
Play
School the following morning, though the channel then
closed down until the early evening.
Play School
became a very popular series for pre-school children and
was produced right up until 1988 when it was replaced by
Playdays, and elements of Play School are used in
Tikkabilla.
This picture was taken from the 'proper' start of the
first early evening programmes, with the candle being
symbolic of the previous evening's power failure. Also
because not everybody could receive the new service, most
BBC2 programmes had to be repeated later on BBC1 after
their first showing.
Despite all of this, and a slow start not helped by
the channel's early 'Seven Faces' schedule (each day was
dedicated to a particular theme such as education on
Tuesdays) which was unpopular and soon scrapped, BBC2 built
up a loyal audience, courtesy of its quality programming
which was often targeted at a more specialist audience. Top
class documentaries such as
The Ascent of Man helped
give BBC2 (and the BBC in general) an enviable reputation
that still exists to this day. Rightly or wrongly BBC2
initially had a reputation for being a 'highbrow' channel
but this was soon to change.
What also greatly helped BBC2 was that it was the
first channel in the UK to start a colour service in 1967
as the intention was that colour should be available only
on 625-line services, though colour programmes were few and
far between to begin with and colour televisions were
expensive. Having a second channel enabled the BBC to show
(for example) more sporting action than was previously
possible, as well as making room in the schedules on both
channels for more imaginative programming. ITV was jealous.
This freedom gave BBC2 the capability to show
programmes catering for hobbies such as motoring
(
Wheelbase, later replaced by
Top Gear),
gardening (
Gardeners World - see the BBC Gardening
section for more information), science (Horizon) and
politics could be covered in greater depth than ever
before.
By 1980 BBC2 had developed comedy far beyond its
original boundaries which were essentially derived from
Victorian music hall productions.
That Was the Week that
Was (or TW3) had started the satirical trend on BBC1
(or BBC-tv as it was properly known at the time) in the
1960's, but BBC2 was free to develop ideas much further,
being unhindered by the requirement to cater for a
mass-market audience.
Not the Nine O'Clock News
brought together Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones, Rowan
Atkinson and Pamela Stephenson for the first time in this
comedy sketch show with satirical leanings.
Despite the arrival of Channel 4 in 1982 which gave
BBC2 direct competition for the first time, BBC2 continued
to thrive throughout the 1980s by sticking to what it does
best. Popular shows such as
French and Saunders,
Absolutely Fabulous and
Blackadder started on
BBC2 before moving to BBC1, and stars such as Rowan
Atkinson and Victoria Wood started their TV careers on BBC2
shows.
1991 saw the introduction of the famous short
animations all featuring the number '2' that formed the
core of BBC2's (then new) station identity, such as a '2'
symbol being splashed with paint (shown below) or a '2' lit
up with neon tubes. There were a host of special animations
later introduced for special occasions; this is a still
taken from a special ident used over the Christmas period
in 1992.
The BBC's October 1997 corporate makeover resulted in
the new-style BBC corporate logo and typeface (Gill Sans)
being adopted. Both were developed by Martin Lambie-Nairn,
who also developed (among numerous other projects) the
Channel 4 logo. Some more new idents were introduced at the
start of January 2000, and at this time www.bbc.co.uk was
added to them.
BBC2 also has a reputation for being an educational
channel; overnight it now runs what is known as 'The
Learning Zone' which features Open University programmes
and the 'Bite Size' GCSE examination revision aid series.
Note also in the top-left hand corner the use of a
superimposed caption known in BBC-speak as a "DOG"
(digitally originated graphic) which is used often during
the Learning Zone period and frequently (at the time of
writing) on the BBC's digital only channels during
programmes as a form of branding.
The test card used to be a very common sight on
television screens, especially on BBC2 during the daytime
(it wasn't until 1988 that regular daytime programming was
introduced on BBC2) but its use nowadays is restricted to
rarely-performed engineering tests, with BBC News 24 or
Pages from Ceefax (the latter first appearing in 1979)
being used in its place for the early morning gap between
programmes and the Learning Zone. Test Card F (shown here)
has now been superceded by the similar Test Card J and its
widescreen companion Test Card W.
No matter how well liked something is, there comes a
time when there is a requirement for something new to
replace it. Following on from the very popular animations
that characterised the channel was always going to be a
tough job, so new character-orientated themes based on the
'2' symbol were introduced along with the BBC TWO text in a
purple box to match the new corporate standard; not so much
a revolution but evolution. A white '2' symbol on a yellow
backdrop does various things including bouncing around the
screen or gains robotic arms to perform various tasks such
as wiping a pane of glass. The (very rare) use of a clock
was abandoned altogether at this point.
Modern BBC Two is generally still proving to be
popular with audiences despite stiff competition from
numerous other channels; new series such as
The
Apprentice and
The Culture Show have proven to
be popular with viewers, and
Springwatch (a wildlife
series presented by Bill Oddie) has provided the surprise
hit of 2005. However popular US imports such as
Star
Trek and
The Simpsons have now defected to other
channels courtesy of commercial broadcasters who are now
prepared to pay larger amounts of money for them, meaning
that the teatime 6pm slot is now proving to be rather
troublesome (underlined by the failure of Dick and Dom's
Ask the Family 'revival') for the recently appointed
(ex-BBC Four) controller Roly Keating.
