The BBC One "Circle" idents were a set of on-screen channel identities used on BBC One from 7 October 2006 to 4 December 2016. They also featured on the BBC Studios channel, BBC America. The idents contained images of circles being formed by nature, or people and their actions. This was the longest set of idents that was used by BBC One, as they lasted for 10 years.

Launch

The Circles ident package was announced on 26 September 2006 as the replacement for the "Rhythm & Movement" idents that had been in use since Easter 2002. When BBC One channel controller changed to Peter Fincham, he hinted in August 2005 that the dancers would be changed soon. He announced at the Edinburgh International Television Festival that "It may well be that the time is coming to look at a new way of doing it. No date or direct decision has been made but it's under review". The new idents would come into force alongside a revised schedule for the channel. The idents themselves were designed and produced for the BBC by Red Bee Media and marking the end of Lambie-Nairn's time at the BBC after fifteen years. Imran Hanif composed the original music for all idents, having been selected from a shortlist of 12 composers and bands.

Components of look

All the idents revolved around a circular theme and all featured a scene which is revealed to end in a circle formation. The circle symbol was decided upon as a "symbol of unity", but it was also a "nod" towards the channel's heritage and in particular, the classic globe icon used in various styles for much of its history. The idents would involve people, plants or animals moving, or whose interaction causes a circular shape, which is revealed at the end of the ident. The circle would then be emphasised by white lines and a red eclipse animating around it and revealing the BBC One logo at the end. The new BBC One logo featured a large lower case "one" in the centre of the circle, with a smaller BBC logo to the upper left of the "one". The channel uses this logo on its idents and promotions, however uses a box logo, similar to the last look, for promotions where the BBC One logo appears alongside other channels. This boxed logo features the BBC logo above the lower case "one" in a red box. The box closely relates to the logos of BBC Two and BBC Four. As with the previous look, no clock ident was used, a trend repeated across nearly all other channels in the UK, however the "Generic", "Helicopter", "Capes" and "Kites" idents may also be used for introduction into the news, following criticisms in the previous look that the dancers didn't have an ident suitable for this purpose. Promotion style featured the BBC One logo appear at the bottom of the screen, similar to the 1997 look, before switching to the centre of a shaded red end-board, with the logo appearing in the centre. Static slides, now very much a rarely seen occurrence, featured the image as a cut out eclipse in the right hand side of the screen. In July 2008, the "Kites", "Moon", and "Windows" idents were dropped, but the "Kites" ident was reinstated on 2 May 2009. On 2 May 2009, all the idents were made shorter with new adaptations of the original Imran Hanif music, with the exception of "Generic", "Hippos" and "Surfers". The May 2009 idents were composed by David Arnold.

Idents

Special idents

In addition to the usual set of idents used throughout the year, numerous other idents have been added for special occasions, both nationally and in the nations and regions. Some of these are included below.

Christmas

Other

In addition to the idents above, some modifications were made to existing idents to promote other programmes. A chameleon, which caught and ate a fairy, was added to the Forest ident to promote Life in Cold Blood in February 2008; and to promote the BBC One Wales series Rolf Harris on Welsh Art, the Forest ident was again modified to have a paint like appearance. In addition to this, red noses were added to some of the hippos in the Hippos ident for Comic Relief programmes in 2007 and 2009, and an animated Pudsey Bear was added to the Ring-a-Roses ident for the BBC Children In Need appeal for 2010. A modified version of Mission Control was made for the Doctor Who episode The Bells of Saint John with the end of the ident appearing as if it had been hacked into by the Great Intelligence, and the TARDIS was also seen used floating underwater in the Hippos ident. In preparation for the 50th Anniversary special of Doctor Who, The Day of the Doctor, various idents throughout November have featured a rewind effect, with the Eleventh Doctor intruding and informing the viewer that "the clock is ticking". A similar modification was made in August 2014, to promote, and which featured, the first episode to involve the Twelfth Doctor.

BBC America

All of the idents were also used on BBC America, the BBC's outlet in the United States. The BBC America versions of the idents featured the words "One World" (a slogan of BBC America that debuted in the spring of 2007) in the same font and position as the "One" in the BBC One logo before animating itself into the then-current stacked BBC America logo. These idents were cut down compared to the original British versions, however they retained their original soundtrack when the British versions were changed in May 2009. In May 2008, the "One World" slogan has been removed from all idents. This branding launched on 28 April 2008, and would remain until 2011.

Replacement

After a little over 10 years in use, the "Circle" idents ceased at the end of 2016, with their final appearance on 4 December 2016, although some were used in January 2017. The presentation was replaced by the 'Oneness' idents, created by Martin Parr, essentially continuing on from the theme of the Christmas idents from 2016; as such, the Christmas idents that year could have been seen as a preview to the full new look that was revealed in the night on New Year's Day 2017.