BBC One Moves Away From Circles, Towards 'Oneness'

01.30.2017

Whether it's hippos swimming in a loop, the top of a lighthouse, or children holding hands while playing "ring around the roses," British viewers have gotten very used to seeing circles on their screens. For a decade, anyone tuning into BBC One - the British broadcaster's original and still most popular channel - will have seen its iconic loops, hoops and rings in between shows.

But inevitably the time has come for a change, and something of a re-brand. On New Year's Eve the ident was finally retired, to be replaced by something completely new. The brief: to update BBC One with the times and, says Charlotte Moore, director of BBC Content, to ensure that the channel is fit to "evolve creatively."

Cue a major challenge to the BBC's in-house agency, BBC Creative, to come up with something bold and new to bring the BBC up with modern times. For BBC Creative, it was one of the first big tests since its inception in February 2016, after the corporation's outsourced contract with Red Bee Media had run its course and the decision was made to bring the work back in house.

Under the leadership of director Justin Bairamian, the team set about finding the right creative vision - one which captured the diversity of modern Britain in an original way and promoted a sense of shared identity and of people coming together as one. It was out of this spirit that theme was found and a title for the new ident was born: "Oneness." The next and crucial step was getting the right creative mind on board.

Enter Martin Parr. Described by Berlin photo collection curator Thomas Weski as a "chronicler of our age," Parr's reputation for creativity preceded him. With a zeal for unusual, bold and even the "grotesque" images, the British photographer arrived with decades of experience creating some of the most striking images of our era. Based on extensive travels around the world, one of the recurring strands of Parr's work has been around communications and human interactions, mainly in the medium of stills photography.

So when the BBC called Parr, a member of photographic agency , it was to offer new type of challenge: to bring his creative energy to a major project aimed at a mainstream audience, through a series of still and films. At the time of launch Parr described the opportunity to work with the BBC as "the best one yet."

"To have the chance to makes stills and film these diverse groups of people, but sharing the same interests or roles all over the United Kingdom is a real privilege," he said.

Working with former Red Bee creative duo Charlotte Humphreys and Ellie Putt, now back in house at BBC Creative, Parr and the team set about finding the perfect subject matters to portray life in Britain in 2017 and display what brings people together.

It was that meeting of the minds that Moore says was perfect for the vision of the project, and its main aim: to celebrate "everyday Britain in all its glory."

She says: "BBC One is a channel with its finger on the pulse of a fast-changing modern Britain. What better way to demonstrate this than by commissioning Martin Parr, one of the most celebrated documentary photographers of our time, to create idents from a series of portraits that reflect and represent the rich diversity of communities living in the UK today."

Debuting on January 1, the first series of videos featured groups of people coming together, united by their joint passions. There were sea swimmers from Somerset, members of a exercise class and wheelchair rugby players from Wales. The collaboration is set to run for at least a year, with more groups of real people -- all selected by Parr -- to be introduced as the months go on.

After a decade of circles and loops the BBC is keen to break the cycle and move on from the past. The powers that be will be keen to see what Parr comes up with for the next set of idents, as will the viewers. From the man noted for a love of sharp and astute satire of British culture, it's fairly safe to say is that it won't be anything humdrum.