Concept and creative process
In 2001 the brand image of BBC Two was altered in tone to reflect the ethos of the channel, which had become much more entertainment-based in its content. Lambie-Nairn’s original BBC 2s, launched over a decade before, now appeared increasingly out of kilter with the evolving schedule and so he was commissioned to address this problem. The answer was to retain the hugely popular 2s but to give them even more personal appeal by turning them into anthropomorphised robotic characters, growing arms and hands to use props, as the scenario required. All of these channel idents were computer-generated, featuring a 3D white ‘2’ in a yellow environment. The BBC logo was given a new style and position, lower third screen right and reversed out in white on a purple rectangle. The name of the channel reverted to the number TWO it had previously had between 1986-1991, now with the BBC blocks stacked on top of it. This logo styling was adopted for all of the other BBC channels within a few years.