1980s

This was the first BBC Video ident, which appeared at the start of BBC Enterprises's (now BBC Worldwide) video releases throughout much of the 1980s. There were at least three different tunes; the final version is included here, a wonderful twiddly 80s synth piece that could only have come out of the BBC!

Opening ident Closing ident

Late 1980s/early 1990s

The BBC1 'golden globe' had already been in use for a few years before BBC Video attempted to copy it for their new ident. Did they pull it off? I'm not so sure.

Opening ident Closing ident

Early 1990s-97

The spinning globe didn't last long before corporatism got the better of BBC Video. This is the same animation that appeared at the end of various promos on television during the 1990s and for some reason always reminds me of John Birt...

Watch a clip

1997-date

The present day 'ribbons' ident introduced with the new BBC logo in 1997. For the first time a widescreen version was produced, which can be seen on widescreen DVD releases.

Watch a clip