BBC UK • BBC Two • April 1986 - February 1991 • Idents/Clocks [1]

Easter Day 1986 and BBC Two went on air with a new look. For the first time in its almost twenty-two year history, the channel dropped the numeric '2' from its ident. Designed by Alan Jeapes, the main purpose of the new look was to reflect the channel's move upmarket.

As with its predecessor, the 'TWO' ident could animate: starting off as a white screen, the letters would appear in turn (left to right), rising out of the white background. It would also occasionally disappear, with the letters sinking into the background, from left to right. However, for the most part, the logo would appear on screen already fully formed.

Above: BBC Two ident [4] - Schools. The standard ident was used for the 'Daytime On Two' Schools strand; however, a countdown clock was also added from c. 1988.

Above: BBC Two ident [5] - Schools. The colour of the countdown clock varied. We suspect that appearance of the countdown may have been altered according to the announcer's preference; the announcers were responsible for a lot of the vision-mixing in junctions.

Above: when the countdown was first introduced, the sequence started at 15, as shown here. However, this was later changed to 10. Since the launch of 'Daytime on Two' in September 1983, the symbol would normally appear ten seconds prior to the start of the subsequent programme.

Above: BBC Two clock [1]. At closedown, the clock would often be faded out to white, before eventually fading to black.