Concept and creative process
In 1964 the BBC began broadcasting the BBC1 ident in a design which became known as the 'Watchstrap' for obvious reasons, as both the animated globe and the animated clock were set on a band of grey and white horizontal stripes on a black background, with the italicised BBC1 logo reversed out of white slanted boxes centred beneath. NODD (Nexus Orthicon Display Device), universally known as NODDY by the BBC, was the mechanical means by which the channel ident was displayed on-air, with the device rotating the globe and a dedicated monochrome camera filming the result in real time. NODDY was activated on cue from the Presentation Studio gallery by the Continuity Announcer.