BBC Family Clock

[IdentFan101]

I found this on TV Forum before it closes down on a post by Inspector Sands. It's a clock featuring the BBC Video ribbons ident as the backdrop. I'm not sure if it was used for anything by the BBC in any way.

Or it could be a mock?
https://up.metropol247.co.uk/Inspector%2...ock.png%20

[Josh]

The image appears to have been deleted.

[VMPhil]

It's real (unless the Inspector mocked it up) but was never used. The plan in the 90s for any major death was that BBC One and Two would simulcast, and they would use a 'Family' ident. This was the BBC Video ribbons ident after 1997, and there was one pre-1997 that was seen on the day Diana died.

At some point though they decided that the channels wouldn't join up, so by the time of the Queen Mother's death both channels just used their own continuity and idents.

Evidently a clock was designed too for the 1997 rebrand.

[JAS84]

The image appears to have been deleted.

No, it's there. Maybe the %20 at the end of the url (a space) broke the link?


I asked about where this was from on TVF when Inspector Sands posted it, but he just said "it is what it is". And that's now buried in the And Finally thread which has had dozens of new posts added today before the closure. Thanks VMPhil for providing a real answer.

[Roger Darthwell]

I found this on TV Forum before it closes down on a post by Inspector Sands. It's a clock featuring the BBC Video ribbons ident as the backdrop. I'm not sure if it was used for anything by the BBC in any way.

Or it could be a mock?
https://up.metropol247.co.uk/Inspector%2...ock.png%20

Well this is quite the discovery! It's a pity it was never used, I'd love to see a recreation of this

[deejay]

Yes, I remember this. There was also a scenario which would now be called disaster recovery, where if there was such a situation where for a time the BBC might combine channels until BBC 1 and 2 could resume, this and the family Ident would be used. Neither this clock nor family Ident were ever seen on air (though if you have a BBC Video from the time and mute the soundtrack, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what it would have looked like).

There was also a clock designed for the rhythm and movement idents - it had a blurred still from Capoeira as the background.

[AaronLancs]

Yes, I remember this. There was also a scenario which would now be called disaster recovery, where if there was such a situation where for a time the BBC might combine channels until BBC 1 and 2 could resume, this and the family Ident would be used. Neither this clock nor family Ident were ever seen on air (though if you have a BBC Video from the time and mute the soundtrack, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what it would have looked like).

There was also a clock designed for the rhythm and movement idents - it had a blurred still from Capoeira as the background.

The "Rhythm & Movementt" one would be good to see.

[Seb]

Yes, I remember this. There was also a scenario which would now be called disaster recovery, where if there was such a situation where for a time the BBC might combine channels until BBC 1 and 2 could resume, this and the family Ident would be used. Neither this clock nor family Ident were ever seen on air (though if you have a BBC Video from the time and mute the soundtrack, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what it would have looked like).

There was also a clock designed for the rhythm and movement idents - it had a blurred still from Capoeira as the background.

The "Rhythm & Movementt" one would be good to see.

I'd imagine it would look something like this:

https://images.app.goo.gl/omTHgdoYyGGA8RsF9

[KK!]

That's a weird image with the BBC Ribbons era background, I'm not convinced it's real either, either way it needs a little bit of de-interlacing though!

[VMPhil]

Yes, I remember this. There was also a scenario which would now be called disaster recovery, where if there was such a situation where for a time the BBC might combine channels until BBC 1 and 2 could resume, this and the family Ident would be used. Neither this clock nor family Ident were ever seen on air (though if you have a BBC Video from the time and mute the soundtrack, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what it would have looked like).

There was also a clock designed for the rhythm and movement idents - it had a blurred still from Capoeira as the background.

The "Rhythm & Movementt" one would be good to see.

Luckily it was also posted on TV Forum several years ago (I saved a copy)

[VMPhil]

That's a weird image with the BBC Ribbons era background, I'm not convinced it's real either, either way it needs a little bit of de-interlacing though!

If it's a mock, it's a very good one. It lines up perfectly with a random screengrab of the BBC One clock I've just taken from a YouTube video.

[UTVLifer]

This is such a discovery, I'd never heard or seen anything about either the 1997 BBC ribbons clock or the one designed for BBC One's Rhythm and Movement set, I knew one had been designed but never seen it

[itsrobert]

Quite a discovery indeed. Once we had heard that such a clock existed, I had tried to imagine it, but the real thing is quite beautiful in a way. I'm obviously glad that the circumstance for us to see it on air never arose, but also a little sad that it never got an outing as a piece of presentation.

I can't really say I like the Rhythm and Movement clock, though. It looks a little bit cheap compared to the ones from the 1990s. I don't like the BBC ONE box either - its positioning makes the clock as a whole look unbalanced. I'd rather have the logo centred underneath the clock.

That being said, I do wish that BBC One had persisted with an analogue clock. I know the reasoning at the time was that it wasn't truly accurate due to digital television (or at least I think that's the reason that was given) but personally I don't think that would have mattered. Apart from probably a small percentage who have radio-controlled clocks, in my experience most people's wall clocks and watches are a bit off anyway! I always thought the clock was such an effective way of handing to the news. Certainly better than the standard idents complete with music track.

[Isonstine]

I always thought the digital delay reasoning was an excuse. Wasn’t it because a silent clock was seen an outdated method of presentation?

I don’t agree with that as I happen to think a clock is such a classy way of introducing a news bulletin.

[deejay]

I always thought it was an excuse to get rid of it too based on perceived outdated ness of the concept rather than accuracy. After all, radio still plays the pips (although of course analogue radio is still alive and well).