BBC Four 2002-2005
BBC Four launched as a replacement for BBC Knowledge on Digital on the 2nd March 2002. It was a nearly a year before BBC Choice finally became BBC Three to fill the gap in the numbering - a gap that would be reintroduced in 2016 when BBC Three ceased as a broadcast channel. Whereas BBC Knowledge was devoted to education, BBC Four is designed to cater for the 'culture and the arts' (ie - music and painting, and all that stuff!). For the launch night, the BBC fed out BBC Four live on BBC Two, so that non-digital viewers could get a taste of the channel.
BBC Knowledge (Menu) - 2001
BBC Four - Launch Night (2/3/2002)
BBC Two Handover to BBC Four
Just before 7.00pm on Saturday 2nd March, the BBC Two character appeared on screen to hand us over to BBC Two, allowing analogue viewers a taste of the new channel. A nice little use of the Two ident by the BBC, and something that was very easy with the consistent bottom right box style logos of the time.
BBC Four Ident - Squares
A few minutes later, and the first BBC Four ident appeared. All the BBC Four idents broadcast on BBC Two were altered slightly to include the announcer mentioning 'broadcasting on BBC Two tonight'. The idents themselves were a novel and fairly unique idea at the time, taking full advantage of modern computer technology. Each was created live in response to the sound from both the background instruments, and the announcers voice - like a Winamp plugin on steroids.
