The idents The story behind the '2's The famous '2' was first unleashed on the viewing public on Saturday 16th February 1991 at 2.45pm; Paint being the very first one of the '2' idents to be shown. After the shock of the new BBC1 globe that morning, BBC2's new idents were no less startling. Over the following decade many more 2's were introduced, including a great number for special occasions and theme nights, and even more for short animations between trailers. Below we have almost all of the idents that have were in regular use between 1991 and 1997; missing are Paper Cut-out, which was the first to be taken out of use, and Crystal Ball, in use very briefly in 1993 (so brief, in fact, that I don't ever remember seeing it!) Some of these idents are now available as video clips; plus you can hover the pointer over each image for more information about the ident.
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
Most of these idents continued in use beyond 1997, along with several new additions. Click here for more
 
BBC2 slides followed the same basic design as BBC1's from 1991. Originally the sidebar featured sections of the idents, such as Blade, Shadow and Silk (left); but from in late 1992 it was changed to plain black (right). 
The standard trailer layout used from 1991-97. As with BBC1, the '2' remained in the corner throughout the trail, although only from 1992.      
A small sample of the countless 'bumpers', or 'animations', used between trailers. These were tended to be wackier than the idents. The idents The story behind the '2's | 
