For a decade the sight of a herd of hippos synchronised swimming around their own private blue lagoon, has lit up our television screens at regular intervals between favourite BBC One shows.
But now the nation’s most watched channel has relinquished its famous computer-generated, amphibious mammals in favour of a new show-reel which includes the Ospreys wheelchair rugby team (CLICK HERE TO WATCH).
Known in the industry as ‘idents’ the snappy clips give the channel its brand or identity and the BBC says the new footage – which also includes sea swimmers in Clevedon, an exercise class from Avonmouth and a mountain rescue team filmed in the Brecon Beacons – is based around the theme of “oneness” and features “different groups of people coming together across the UK, united by their shared passions and interests”.
The broadcaster commissioned British photographer Martin Parr to “capture an evolving portrait of modern Britain in all its diversity” for 2017.
The swimming hippos have graced screens since 2006 and, in that time, all of the BBC One ‘idents’ have been based on circles.
As well as the computer-generated hippos, viewers will recall others featuring display dogs, motorbike stunt riders, kites, lawnmowers, penguins and an enchanted forest. In each one, a circle of some type was formed.
But the first new ‘ident’ was screened on New Year’s Day and showed a group of open water swimmers from Somerset and now the Ospreys wheelchair rugby team have joined in on the act, with their clip set to be used regularly in all BBC regions for at least a year.
The BBC said that the new portrait groups have been selected to reflect the diversity of modern Britain and the changing mood of the nation through significant events in the coming year.
Viewers can expect to see about 20 different ‘idents’ – but some have yet to be filmed.
The Ospreys wheelchair rugby team filmed their scene after a practice session in Llantrisant, where the team is based, and their new BBC One channel ‘ident’ was shown for the first time on 11th Jan 2017.
The short video was broadcast across the UK, just before the One Show at 7pm, it will be become a regular feature on the UK’s most watched channel and is the first of the new ‘idents’ to feature a Welsh community group.
Mr Parr said: “To have the chance to makes stills and film these diverse groups of people, but sharing the same interests or roles all over the United Kingdom is a real privilege.”
The director of BBC content Charlotte Moore said it was important the channel ‘idents’ moved with the times.
She said: “What better way to demonstrate this than by commissioning Martin Parr, one of the most celebrated documentary photographers of our time, to create ‘idents’ from a series of portraits that reflect and represent the rich diversity of communities living in the UK today?”
In April, Mr Parr, brought together hundreds of images of the UK taken by international photographers, from the 1930s to the present day for an exhibition at London’s Barbican Art Gallery.
