| Up until 2000, Christmas idents on BBC1 and BBC2 were traditionally shown for just three days each year - Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Some years, though, they were shown for longer if there were any extra bank holidays.   
Left, middle: BBC1's Christmas presentation in the 1970s often took the form of a festive version of the globe. The first shown here was used on the 1979 BBC VT engineers' Christmas tape, and was thought to be the genuine article from 1974, however it is now unclear whether in fact it was ever used on air at all. The actual ident from 1974 was in fact almost identical to the 1975 version (middle). Right: in 1978 the rotating globe was replaced by perhaps the creepiest Christmas symbol ever - a rotating Santa head...  
These snowflakes were used as Christmas idents for BBC2 in 1979 and BBC1 in 1983. BBC2's snowflake reappeared in 1980, while a different version of BBC1's had also featured in 1982.  
If it wasn't a globe or a snowflake, then BBC1's festive ident was usually a mechanical affair set up on a turntable in one of the BBC presentation studios. Examples include 1984's snowmen (and snowwoman) somehow pulling apart three halves of a cracker, and 1985's spectacularly naff robins, which flapped their wings in a rather alarming manner. In fact this ident was so bad that after Christmas, on his Late Late Breakfast Show, Noel Edmonds shot the birds with a gun!  
Left: in 1986 Children's BBC held a competition to design the BBC1 Christmas ident. Unfortunately the BBC chose three winners and, in a move which must have disappointed all three of them, combined their ideas into a single animation which bore little relation to any of their entries. Right: the Twelve Days of Christmas was the theme for 1988, with the partridge in a pear tree taking pride of place on both the ident and the trailer end screen, the latter which is shown here.
1993-97 1998-2001 2002-04 2005-07 1993 
This was the evening version of BBC1's 1993 ident; during daytime a version with a lighter sky was shown. Not shown here, but BBC2's ident in 1993 featured the '2' sitting at the top of a Christmas tree; a theme that would recur on both channels in years to come...
1994  
The 1994 BBC1 ident, as seen on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day the '1' was unwrapped, with the wrapping paper left lying by the side. Watch a clip  Meanwhile BBC2 went for a rather more esoteric concept this year. 
Above: the festive goodies that BBC1 had on offer in 1994.
1995  
BBC1 went for the '1' at the top of the Christmas tree this year, a concept which BBC2 has recycled several times as well. This year, though, BBC2 were more imaginative, calling in the services of Wallace and Gromit - who were starring in their most recent adventure to date, A Close Shave. Watch a clip
1996  
Another sparkling contribution by BBC2 for this year. BBC1's animations had a circus theme; but can you spot what's missing from this showing of the ident? 
Above: a festive BBC2 programme slide from 1996.
1997  
The stylised '1' had now been killed off; but any hopes of a Christmas version of the new balloon ident were dashed when instead BBC1 came out with a set of idents based around the theme of the Twelve Days of Christmas. This one is 'eight maids a-milking'. The famous '2' had survived the 1997 rebranding, however, and this year found itself stuck inside a snow dome. Watch a clip   
BBC1 couldn't stretch to twelve idents to cover all of the days of Christmas, so there were only four (still, three more than in past years!) These are 'five gold rings' (only two here though!), 'eleven lords a-leaping' and 'a partridge in a pear tree'. Watch a clip Although the balloon did not feature, note the colour scheme - red and orange.   
Left, middle: all five gold rings did put in an appearance on one of the trailer animations and end screens. Right: Vic, Bob and Ulrika managed to infiltrate the snow dome in this alternative version of the BBC2 ident. 1993-97 1998-2001 2002-04 2005-07 | 
