BBC blows £1.2m on 80 seconds of hippos, kites and surf scenes

 

Last updated at 11:31am on 26th September 2006 Channel surfing: two of the new 'indents' that will link BBC programmes

 

 

 

The BBC has spent £1.2 million of licence payers' cash on 80 seconds of programming. The money has been spent on a new series of eight 'idents' for BBC1 - the 10-second clips that link TV shows. It is part of a major rebranding of the channel, which means ditching the old links featuring wheelchair dancers, Bollywood performers and tangoing couples.

But the cost is bound to stir up controversy as the broadcaster wields the axe over hundreds of jobs and enforces budget slashing measures.

The £1.2 million bill would pay for nearly two hours of primetime drama featuring a bigname cast and overseas filming.

The corporation may attract further fury because many of the segments, despite featuring extensive use of computer generated images, were shot in foreign locations including a surf scene on Mexico's west coast and a peninsula in northern Croatia.

The new links will also disappoint traditionalists, who have long been campaigning for the return of the old BBC globe motif.

Instead they include synchronised swimming hippos, surfers, people flying kites, a motorcycle 'wall of death' and children playing in a meadow.

A circle symbol runs throughout - to represent a 'disparate group of people or things coming together, the way BBC1 brings people together'.

BBC1 controller Peter Fincham today defended the rebranding exercise, which viewers will see on-screen from 7 October.

He said: "In an increasingly competitive marketplace a channel needs to stand out from the crowd and I believe our new identity is just what's needed for BBC1.

"It's set in the everyday but shows people doing extraordinary things. It's got variety and range - everything from daredevil motorbikes to synchronised hippos. It's warm and it's dynamic." He insisted the circle logo was a "nod" to the BBC's heritage, including the much-loved globe which ran for almost 40 years.

The red colour scheme of the old idents has also been toned down, and the BBC1 logo 'softened'. The music has been changed to feature eight different tunes, ranging from jaunty to plaintive, with a 'thematic link'.

It is not the first time the BBC has sparked controversy with its idents. The last series of six, introduced at a cost of £700,000 in 2002, was attacked for being too politically correct because it featured disabled basketball players and various multicultural scenes.

Others claimed the films were "irritating" and expensive. A BBC spokeswoman today insisted: "The new idents show magical things happening when people come together, but not in an overly cuddly, fuzzy way. They are dynamic and modern with an optimistic feel."

She said the BBC had not abandoned its multicultural and diversity theme because the new links include a blind man and black and Asian actors.

The eight idents were shot in a variety of locations. The first, featuring bikers on a death-defying stunt run was filmed at Shepperton Studios, while the children playing in a meadow were in the garden of Northamptonshire's Coton Manor.

A group of extreme kiteflyers shot their scenes in sand dunes on the Welsh coast at Ynyslas beach in Borth.

An apartment block featuring in another ident is in the new Greenwich Millennium Village, while a group of footballers were brought together in Islington's Haberdasher Estate.

A more sombre scene featuring a group of fishermen apparently piecing the moon together was made on location on Croatia's Kamenjak peninsula, while the surfers were filmed at Puerto Escondido in Mexico - with cameras mounted on jet skis.

The hippos, sadly, were not trained in synchronised swimming - they were a product of special effects, computergenerated by the team behind Walking With Dinosaurs.

They should have kept the hot air balloons:stunned:

That is probably like 1 dollar to them..:lol:

That is probably like 1 dollar to them..:lol:

Yeah...but not to the employees that have fallen prey to budget cuts...

Oh well...tough luck!!

Oh well...tough luck!!

You wouldn't be saying that if it were your job,lol! If they'd wanted hippo footage, I could have found some on the net and sold it to them for a mere $500 000,lol!

I get really low pay,so I have no sympathy with them at all!!!

I get really low pay' date='so I have no sympathy with them at all!!![/quote']

I feel sorry for ppl like cleaning or cafeteria staff. The big WIgs getting cut can bite me!

Yeah Well Said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least it hasnt been spent on another chat/game/reality tv show!!

At least it hasnt been spent on another chat/game/reality tv show!!

YESSSSSSSSS! There IS a silver lining after all!!

^^^^Hahaha thank god for that...does anyone watch Distraction?

 

I think its really stupid how they damage your winnings if you get a question wrong....

You wouldn't be saying that if it were your job' date='lol! If they'd wanted hippo footage, I could have found some on the net and sold it to them for a mere $500 000,lol![/quote']

 

Or they could just have used footage of Michelle McManus instead................ :rolleyes:

Or they could just have used footage of Michelle McManus instead................ :rolleyes:

 

 

I thought she would charge more for the pictures...:confused:

I thought she would charge more for the pictures...:confused:

 

No, because her career has gone down the pan and she's desperate!!!:P