BBC One "Circle" idents

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

Title	Air dates	Description
Bikes	7 October 2006 –	A group of three motorcycle stunt riders ride the "wall of death". Filmed at Shepperton Studios and directed by Stuart Douglas, the ident features a lot of fast-paced film work, as well as a slowed down top down shot of the motor cyclists.
Football	7 October 2006 –	Filmed at the Haberdashers Estate in North London and directed by Howard Greenhalgh, a circle of footballers kick their balls in time into the centre, so smaller rings form inside the circle of players. Usually used to introduce sports programming, as well as Weekend News bulletins before the 2009 revamp.
Hippos	7 October 2006 –	Numerous hippos swim around in a circular formation. Produced using a combination of computer animation and live action backgrounds and directed by Charlie Mawer and Mike McGee, this ident was edited for length in May 2009, but the soundtrack remains the same. This ident was mostly used prior to entertainment or daytime programming.
Kites	; ;	A group of kite flying enthusiasts gather together to create a circle effect with their kites. Filmed at Ynyslas beach in Wales and directed by Matthias Hoene, it was both the first and last in this new package of idents to be aired. This ident was withdrawn around July 2008 but was brought back in May 2009 with a more upbeat soundtrack. This ident is often used to introduce the BBC News. Despite the "Circles" package being taken out of rotation on 4 December 2016, this ident was mistakenly used to introduce Reggie Yates: Hidden Australia on 7 September 2017.
Ring-a-Roses	7 October 2006 –	Also known as Petals, a group of children are shown playing with the natural flowers in a meadow before joining hands to form a "ring-a-roses" dance. Filmed in Coton, Northamptonshire and directed by Stuart Douglas. This ident was often used to introduce CBBC and CBeebies before they stopped airing on BBC One in 2012, and until 2016, it was commonly used to coincide drama based programmes.
Moon	;	People in fishing boats come together to form the moon out of separate sections. Filmed at the Kamenjak peninsula in northern Croatia and directed by Howard Greenhalgh, it was often used to introduce the BBC News, particularly late bulletins. This ident is one of three idents that have been withdrawn. It was reintroduced in Northern Ireland on 4 October 2016.
Surfers	9 October 2006 –	Carlos "Coco" Nogales and others ride a huge wave before crashing down after formation of the BBC One logo. Filmed at Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca on the west coast of Mexico and directed by Howard Greenhalgh. First shown in the Northern Ireland region on the first day of the "Circles" package, and later on the network on 9 October 2006. This was the only ident not to be edited in the May 2009 refresh, only difference is that the logo appears earlier.
Windows	9 October 2006 – July 2008	Residents on a housing estate use their windows to reflect sunlight into a ring. Filmed at the Greenwich Millennium Village in South East London and directed by Matthias Hoene. First shown in the Northern Ireland region on the first day of the "Circles" package, and later on the network on 9 October 2006. This ident was withdrawn in 2008 and was often used to introduce daytime programming.
Magic Forest	16 June 2007 –	The natural world and a group of fairies come together to create a circle in the middle of the sunlit woodland. Directed by Matt Losasso. This ident was originally scheduled to air for the first time on Saturday 19 May; its launch was deferred for one month. Before the 2009 refresh, a slightly shortened version of this ident was used to introduce the BBC News.
Mission Control	16 June 2007 –	A group of British scientists successfully launch a pod to land on a distant planet. Out of the pod emerges a curious rover that begins drawing circles on the face of the planet. Whilst the robot spins, a shadow of a circular spaceship glides into the robot's circle, making a perfect fit, and exits at the same speed not stopping and soon comes off camera. Filmed at Shepperton Studios and directed by Matt Losasso.
Lawn Circles	14 July 2007 –	A group of suburban housewives each mow a series of crop circles into their lawns using a variety of mowers from different time periods, which form three large circles when viewed from above. Filmed in a residential garden in Netherne-on-the-Hill, near Reigate and Banstead, Surrey.
Neon	13 October 2007 –	Neon figures come to life, stroll down the centre street and take a ride on a ferris wheel. Shot in Blackpool, the ident was conceived and scripted by James Spence for Red Bee Media and animated by Brand New School, New York City. A shorter version also exists, with the last scene of the wheel, and the BBC soundtrack. The ident was originally used before programmes during Saturday evenings only, however this became a regular ident when it was edited in May 2009.
Generic	–	A red arc spins around the BBC One logo on a red background. The music used is taken from the now-retired Windows ident. Only used to introduce the BBC News 90 second bulletin at 8pm. In Northern Ireland, an extended version of this ident exists since New Year's Day 2015, but the soundtrack was replaced with 'Enjoy 2015' ident music, and used to introduce a variety of programmes. Despite the "Circles" package being taken out of rotation on 4 December 2016, this ident was withdrawn in May 2018 due to the 90 second bulletin being axed by the BBC.
Helicopter	1 January 2008 –	An aerial shot of a helicopter landing on the top of Bishop Rock lighthouse in the Isles of Scilly. Three variations of the ident were launched including slower paced versions and shortened opening films. The soundtrack for this ident was the most sombre when launched, featuring a lone choir singer as its soundtrack, however since May 2009 the soundtrack was changed dramatically to be more upbeat. This ident often precedes BBC News.
Penguins	5 February 2008 –	Originally the Christmas ident for 2007, penguins enter and skate around an ice rink with other skaters. Altered for everyday use, it was aired without Christmas decorations and a new soundtrack based on Imran Hanif's original composition and definitive three note signature counter tune. The 2009 edit saw the music being edited again. It was used frequently, but not exclusively, during the winter period.
Capes	24 August 2008 –	Numerous people in colourful rain coats on bikes ride through a rain storm, as people watch, the sun comes out. The final shot shows all the bikers forming a rainbow-like circle at a roundabout. Filmed on public roads in London and a private car park at Earls Court. Directed by Matt Losasso. This ident was used before all BBC One programmes shown on the BBC iPlayer and was often used to introduce the BBC News. Despite the "Circles" package being taken out of rotation on 4 December 2016, this ident was still used to introduce Panorama on 9 January at 20:30, due to the lack of a suitable ident for the replacement Oneness idents.
Dog Display	29 August 2008 –	A pack of dogs doing circles tricks, including jumping through fire hoops, jumping over fences and weaving in and out of sticks laid out in a circle which then produces the "BBC One" animation. Filmed in the garden of a stately home in Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire and directed by Matt Losasso.
Pedal Power	27 July 2009 – 5 May 2014	Numerous people use pedal power to light up the circle around the BBC One logo, displayed on a red board in the field. Directed by Grant Gee, this ident was launched to coincide with the first programme of Bang Goes the Theory. When the programme was cancelled on 5 May, this ident became out of date and was withdrawn.
World Cup	11 June 2010 –	Also known as Stadium and Banners, spectators at a football match stand up and wave different colour banners in a circle pattern. This ident was introduced for use during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This ident was directed by Matt Losasso, and was used prior to sport programmes.
Television Centre	20 November 2010 –	400 members of the public dance in the circular courtyard of BBC Television Centre. It was launched to introduce Strictly Come Dancing, but has since been used to introduce other programming as well. When Television Centre closed down on 31 March, this ident became out of date and was withdrawn.

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.

Other

Daffodils – 1 March 2007 – 2012, 2013–2016 – A special Saint David's Day ident used on BBC One Wales only. This ident used the "Moon" ident music from 2007 to 2009; from 2010 onwards this was replaced by the edited "Roses" ident music.
BBC Won Wales 2008 – February 2008 – Ident seen on BBC One Wales to celebrate Wales' win over England in the 2008 Six Nations Championship. This ident uses the "Bike" ident music and reads "BBC Won" instead of "BBC One".
Robert Burns – 25 January 2009 – Shown to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, this ident features two mice circling on an untidy heap of manuscripts, in reference to a poem by Burns, To a Mouse. Seen on BBC One Scotland only.
Ashes to Ashes – April to July 2009 & 2010 – Used to promote the second and third series of Ashes to Ashes, it featured the characters of the programme seated in an Audi Quattro set in 1982. It premiered on 11 April 2009 and was directed by Tim Pope and conceived by James Spence and Joe Lee.
Glitterballs – November to December 2009 – Ident promoting and shown directly before Strictly Come Dancing. In this ident, the circle is centred around a glitter ball and uses a variation of the show's theme music as the ident's background music. First shown on 7 November and not seen after 12 December 2009. A new version, with gold glitterballs instead of the original silver, debuted on 23 September 2016 with the same music.
EastEnders – February to September 2010 – Also known as Albert Square. This ident promoting EastEnders' 25th anniversary, it features the regular cast members looking in amazement as the Albert Square turns into Albert Circle. Written and Directed by James Spence, it was first aired on Monday 15 February on the 25th Anniversary week, and continued to air at the start of most of the programmes to celebrate the 25th Anniversary year. This ident was last aired on 10 September following set changes as part of a story arc, namely the fire at the Queen Vic pub. The ident was reintroduced in September 2015 to be shown before every episode of EastEnders, albeit a shorter version, as many of the characters featured in the original no longer appear in the show.
House of Fun – Ident promoting the new Saturday night schedule consisting of Over the Rainbow, Doctor Who and Total Wipeout. Features cartoon versions of Graham Norton, Charlotte Church, the Eleventh Doctor and Richard Hammond representing each programme respectively. Created by Aardman Animations, it was used on Saturday Nights from 24 April to 19 June 2010.
Planet Dinosaur – Ident promoting the new dinosaur documentary series Planet Dinosaur. The ident uses an edited clip from the programme; a Camptosaurus is seen eating plants whilst the camera moves to reveal an Allosaurus, whose zoomed in eye is where the logo forms. It was used between 14 September 2011 and 19 October 2011, which was the series' run.
Wild Week – An ident used on the Wild Week season on BBC One Northern Ireland. The ident focuses on a duck and uses the Forest ident music.
Frozen Planet – An ident used to introduce and promote the Frozen Planet documentary series. A group of penguins are seen. The logo forms around the sun. It was used between 26 October 2011 and 28 December 2011, which was the series' run.
Planet Earth Live – An ident used to introduce and promote Planet Earth Live. Similar to Frozen Planet, the earth is seen, before the camera zooms in, to reveal a desert with birds and elephants.
St David's Day 2012 – Shadows of people walking towards the sunset are shown. Only seen 1 March 2012 on BBC One Wales. The soundtrack is the original unedited music from Forest.
Love 2013 – The BBC One logo gives way to a rippling background upon which is written 'LOVE 2013'. A variation was also made for spring entitled Love Spring.
Africa – The BBC One logo appears on top of an African night sky, and separately on a flock of flamingoes.
BBC Won Wales 2013 – An aerial view camera zooms in onto the Millennium Stadium. A rugby ball can be seen flying out of the stadium, leaving behind it a trail of smoke. The camera pans around 180 degrees and after a firework explodes, "BBC Won Wales" appears. March 2013.
BBC Onesie – A bunch of people dressed up in onesies walk up some curved stairs. "BBC Onesie" appears. Used to link in Comic Relief 2013 back from BBC Two after the 10 'O Clock news.
The Voice UK – Special ident to introduce the second series of the talent competition, The Voice UK, in 2013. The four coaches are seen in their revolving chairs before the camera rests on the view of the stage from behind the microphone.
Love 2014 – Similar to the Love 2013 ident, but with a different soundtrack. The BBC One logo gives way to a rippling background with the words 'LOVE 2014' written inside a heart shape. First used at 00:30 on New Year's Day 2014.
Torchwood: Children of Earth – It begins with many different idents, but while it zooms back, it eventually lost its signal, which was replaced with things from Torchwood series in glitches.
Commonwealth Games 2014 – Panoramic views of some of the venues of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow are seen before the camera rests on the roof of the SSE Hydro where the BBC One logo forms. The music from the "Capes" ident is used. Introduced the channel's coverage of the Games from 23 July to 3 August. Scotland continues to use this ident until 4 December 2016.
Life Story – This special ident is used from 23 October to 27 November 2014 features the male pufferfish creates an amazing display of circles to attract females where the BBC One logo forms. It was used to promote the coverage of the epic six-part Nature documentary, Life Story narrated by David Attenborough.
Enjoy 2015 – Various items and themes related to the month of January, such as high street store sales and a fireplace are shown before the BBC One logo appears on a plain red background, with a mug of cocoa in the "O" of the logo. Another ident showing the two people riding at the ice skaters and the gloves showing the two are shown before the BBC One logo appears on a plain red background, with birds eating a suet ball that forms the "O" of the logo. First seen at 00:30 on New Year's Day 2015 and was last used airing into BBC News on 1 February 2015.
Rio 2016 – In this ident, an anteater is swinging a wooden hammer in the Amazon rainforest. This ident was used for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. First seen on 5 August 2016 and it was last seen on 21 August 2016.
Planet Earth II – These three idents are introduced to promote the six-part nature documentary Planet Earth II, in the first ident, mountains are staying still and it changes the sky from daytime to night-time during the Time-lapse, in the second ident, two Nubian ibexes are walking steadily across the steep of rocky mountains, female ibex is supported by a young male ibex to follow the tracks as the camera zooms slowly to see some Nubian ibexes walking the rocks, and the final one, a band of flamingoes strides quickly towards the single flamingo in the water, albeit with an audio is the same as "Glitterballs", but more joyous than the other two idents. First aired on 6 November 2016 and it was last aired on 4 December 2016.

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" 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.