Draft:BBC One (Christmas Idents)
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Background
Every Christmas, BBC One has had idents produced exclusively for the Christmas season, originally simply being used during December 24-26, the length has since extended to the whole month of December, even in early November.
1st Ident (1967)
Visuals: Similar to the standard 1966 ident from the time, but instead of the globe is a small rotating candle. Snowflake tinsel appears on the top and bottom, and the usual BBC1 block logo is replaced with a "CHRISTMAS BBC1" caption in a Victorian-like font.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: None, or a voiceover.
Availability: No video footage has currently resurfaced of this ident.
2nd Ident (1969-1972, 1974-1975)
Visuals: A colourful globe with geographical contours is spinning in the middle of the screen. Instead of the usual reflection, there are holographic snowflakes in the background. A caption appears on the bottom, which changes every year.
Caption(s)
- 1969 - "Christmas in Colour", with the BBC 1 block logo on the bottom. This variant uses circular sequins instead of snowflakes.
- 1970 - "Christmas on BBC1", in a Victorian-like font.
- 1971, 1973-1974 - Same as the 1970 ticker but the font is longer.
- 1972 - Unknown, although according to TV Ark, it's the same as the previous version, likely with a different ticker. A clock from that year has resurfaced though, with a "Christmas Colour" ticker, so it could mean the ident used it as well.
- 1975 - The caption now reads "Christmas/BBC 1", with "Christmas" in a golden Blackletter Gothic font and the twin striped "BBC 1" logo used in promos at the time in purple. in a striped font.
Trivia: The design of the globe in these idents is similar to the later COW globe.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Just an announcer. However, the British national anthem was played at closedown.
Availability: All except the 1974 and 1975 idents have not had any video footage resurfaced yet.
3rd Ident (1973)
Visuals: A group of carol singers rotates about on a turntable. The caption "Christmas on BBC1" appears on the bottom, in a ribbon-styled font.
Technique: Unknown, likely live-action.
Audio: Likely the same as before.
Availability: As with the other pre-1974 idents, no video footage has currently resurfaced of this ident.
4th Ident (1976)
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Visuals: Somewhat similar to the 1975 ident, but this time, instead of a globe is a giant revolving snowflake (not unlike those hanging ones you can buy for your tree) with two sides, behind red holographic snowflakes (different than before). The caption is the same as the 1975 ident, but this time, "BBC 1" is coloured in ice blue.
Variant: A companion clock was also created, which features the mechanical clock below the same caption as the ident.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Same as before.
Availability: Until July 2023, only a single low-quality Super 8 recording existed, but since then, a cleaner version of the ident has been found.
5th Ident (1977)
Visuals: A large Christmas pudding (black sphere with ice on top) rotates in front of a concave mirror with a sprig of holly atop. The background is black with melting ice on top. While the BBC1 caption remains the same, "CHRISTMAS" is now in a ribbon-like font.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Same as before.
Availability: This was not used during closedowns, with BBC1 instead resorting to using a still photograph, whatever it is remains unknown.
6th Ident (1978)
Visuals: A model of Santa's head with two faces revolves slowly on a turntable. It is sitting on top of a large "CHRISTMAS" ticker, written in a bent, red serif font, and the BBC1 striped logo below.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Same as before.
Availability: Once again, this went unused during closedowns and according to the recorder of the footage, it was likely with an unknown photograph once again.
7th Ident (1979)
Visuals: A group of Victorian carol singers stand between two low brick walls, and weirdly rotate about. The byline on the bottom states "CHRISTMAS BBC 1" in a golden serif font.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Same as before, although during the closedowns, the slower rendition of the national anthem is used.
8th Ident (1980)
Visuals: In a snowy hillside is four Victorian skaters whizzing around a snowman. On the bottom is the large "CHRISTMAS" ticker in a similar font to the 1978 ident, and a small BBC1 below that.
Trivia: The mechanical model used in this ident is actually a lot bigger than it seems, the size of a whole coffee table.
Variant: Two variants were produced, one set during the daytime, and one set during nighttime.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Same as before.
9th Ident (1980, Scotland)
Visuals: Almost similar to the standard 1974 ident at the time, but the background is light blue and the globe model is almost invisible with only the continents showing. Some falling snowflakes decorate the background. The standard BBC1 Scotland caption from the time appears below.
Technique: A combination of live-action and cel-animation.
Audio: Same as before.
10th Ident (1980, Wales)
Visuals: A drawing of a village decked out in a snowy landscape with festive trees in the twinkling night sky through a rounded arch decorated with holly on the left and right is seen. The standard BBC Cymru Wales caption from the time appears below.
Technique: While the ident is mostly just a still drawing, the twinkling stars are either done through cels or through real-life Christmas lights.
Audio: Just an announcer. During closedown is the Carol "The Adeste Fideles" by The Choir of St John’s Cambridge.
11th Ident (1981)
Visuals: On a black background is five globes in the form of five coloured baubles (orange, blue, purple, pink and green) with white landmasses. The bottom features the green and red striped outline and a "Christmas BBC1" caption in the middle in red/yellow/green.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Either an announcer or the national anthem at closedown.
12th Ident (1982)
Visuals: A giant white snowflake shines and animates with a "BBC1" caption in the centre.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Same as before.
13th Ident (1982, Scotland)
Visuals: A festive decorative cylinder with Christmas pictures on it rotates slowly with the mirror on the back casting the images. BBC1 Scotland in the usual striped font in red appears below.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Same as before.
14th Ident (1983)
Visuals: A similar concept to the previous year. A giant holographic snowflake shines in rainbow-colours with the striped "BBC1" logo caption in the centre.
Variant: The ident was also accompanied by a snowflake clock.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Same as before.
15th Ident (1983, Scotland)
Visuals: A glass table of sorts rotates with tinsel on the bottom and top as it's reflected through the mirrors. BBC Scotland is seen below in the usual striped font.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Same as before.
16th Ident (1984)
Visuals: Two Snowmen and a Snowwoman armed with Christmas crackers welcome the festive season as they rotate on a turntable. On top is the word "BBC1" written in a casual font on a red/blue stain.
Variants:
- Four variants were produced - daytime, evening, nighttime, and midnight idents.
- On its last transmission, a full moon was shown in the background. Eventually, the entire ident dims away and only the night sky can be seen.
Technique: Live-action for the idents, cel-animation for the trails.
Audio: Same as before.
17th Ident (1984, Scotland)
Visuals: Three square-shaped prisms in red with green stripes rotate on a table as they're reflected in the mirror. BBC Scotland appears in neon red below.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Same as before.
18th Ident (1984, Wales)
Visuals: On the screen is BBC Wales written in a bold red font similar to the 1974-81 version. Instead of the globe, a kaleidoscope in the shape of a snowflake animates above while Christmas lights on the left and right of the screen twinkle.
Variant: An adapted clock was also used, which was simply the standard clock but with images of the same snowflakes below.
Technique: Live-Action. This was the last time BBC Wales used a mechanical Christmas ident.
Audio: Same as before.
19th Ident (1985)
Visuals: In a snowy landscape made out of cotton is the new "BBC1" golden typeface with a robin sitting on it fluttering its wings, with another robin rotating around the logo.
Trivia: The robins were infamously detonated by Noel Edmonds on his programme, The Late Late Breakfast Show, on 4 January 1986.
Variants:
- Two versions were made: one for daytime and one for nighttime.
- The ident was accompanied by hand-animated promotional trails featuring the robins.
Technique: While the idents were Live-action models (the last ident of its type used by the main BBC1 network), the promotional trails are cel-animated.
Audio: Same as before.
20th Ident (1985 (Scotland)
Visuals: The same as the standard COW globe logo, but instead of the glove is a slowly rotating gift box in the shape of the globe. The box is covered in streamers and wrapping paper.
Variant: For the Hogmanay celebrations, the normal ident is used but with some decoration to the left and right of the COW, featuring holly, bells and berries.
Technique: The Christmas ident is live-action, while the Hogmanay ident is CGI, like with the standard COW globe ident.
Audio: Same as before.
21st Ident (1985, Wales)
Visuals: Some church windows depicting the Nativity are seen, as snow falls on the outside. The standard BBC1 Wales logo appears below.
Technique: Cel-animation.
Audio: Same as before.
22nd Ident (1986)
Visuals: A snowy scene depicting a smiling Christmas tree in a forest with holly dancing around it is seen, with a yellow BBC1 covered in snow in the middle of it.
Trivia: The ident was designed by a viewer following a CBBC contest.
Technique: Cel-animation.
Audio: Same as before.
23rd Ident (1986, Scotland)
Visuals: The same as the standard COW Globe ident, but with small stars around it, making it look like a night sky.
Variant: Another variant, featuring a large BBC1 Scotland graphic done in neon, with lights around it, also exists. This is a still caption of a sting used for local promos.
Technique: Same as the BBC1 ident from the time.
Audio: Same as before.
24th Ident (1986, Wales)
Visuals: There is a circular Christmas wreath featuring a scene with a snow-covered church. The usual BBC1 Wales typeface appears below.
Variants:
- Three variants were made, Daytime, Nighttime and a completely dark version.
- The clock was also imposed onto the footage at closedown.
Technique: Cel-animation.
Audio: Same as before. Once again, Christmas Carols replaced the Welsh national anthem.
25th Ident (1987)
Visuals: There is a graphic reading BBC Christmas 1 made up of various Christmas motifs such as various presents, a candle, holly and ribbons. The short animation was designed to tie into the end of promotions.
Variant: Promotional styles featured a panning view into a child's nursery, before a bag falls, pouring out streamers and ribbons. This streamer animation would be played at the end of the promotion to link into the ident. It was designed by Bernard Newnham.
Technique: Cel-animation.
Audio: Same as before.
26th Ident (1987, Scotland)
Visuals: An animated sequence tree is seen in the middle of a blue background in a circle. Then the text "CHRISTMAS ON" and "BBC1 SCOTLAND" appear in a circle around the tree in the circle, then the rest of the blue background turns different colours, giving the ident a "stained class" appearance.
Variant: For Hogmanay, the same ident was used, albeit with "CHRISTMAS" replaced with "HOGMANAY".
Technique: Cel-animation.
Audio: A strange sounding flute tune plays.
27th Ident (1987, Wales)
Visuals: There is a church window with a snowy view depicting an outside Christmas Tree, done in a watercolour animation style, with either "Christmas Eve", "Christmas Day" or "Boxing Day" below the window. The usual BBC1 Wales caption appears below.
Technique: Cel-animation.
Audio: Same as before.
28th Ident (1987, Northern Ireland)
Visuals: There is a rotating cake depicting a snowy scene, featuring some trees and a house. The text "BBC1 Northern Ireland" ("Northern Ireland" stacked next to "BBC1") appears stamped to the bottom two times, with the other one having 2 pieces of holly stamped on the left and right.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Same as before.
29th Ident (1988)
Visuals: A partridge flies onto a mountain of pears and sits on them, with the BBC1 logo superimposed on top.
Variants:
- Two versions were made: one for daytime and one for nighttime.
- At the end of each day the partridge would fly away again.
Technique: Cel-animation.
Audio: Same as before.
29th Ident (1988, Scotland)
Visuals: A spinning music box opens revealing a spinning tree inside and a BBC1 typeface. On the front side "Scotland" is seen in a cursive font.
Variant: For Hogmanay, the tree is replaced with a bell.
Technique: Stop-motion animation.
Audio: Same as before.
30th Ident (1988, Wales)
Visuals: Instead of the COW globe is a snow globe featuring a Christmas tree and a snowman reading a newspaper. BBC1 Wales appears below as usual.
Technique: Cel-animation.
Audio: Same as before.
Availability: According to one person on a YouTube upload of this ident, a BBC2 variant of this ident also exists, but it has yet to resurface.
31st Ident (1989)
Visuals: The globe is a spinning top, spinning at the bottom of a Christmas tree with a ribbon featuring the BBC1 logo on it.
Variant: Linked in with end promotions, which would link in by means of a toy train passing in front of the screen.
Technique: Stop-motion animation by Clearwater Features.
Audio: Same as before.
32nd Ident (1989, Scotland)
Visuals: A Christmas tree is seen spinning with a shining star on top. "BBC1 Scotland" appears through a flipping effect.
Variants:
- A still version is also used with the tree covered in snow.
- For Hogsmanay, the tree is replaced with a candle, all covered in pinecones and holly, while the "BBC1 Scotland" text rotates from a 90 degree angle on the left.
Technique: Live-action, likely the last mechanical ident to ever be featured on national television.
Audio: Same as before.
33rd Ident (1989, Wales)
Visuals: A spinning top spins and spins for 20 seconds while pictures of Rudolphs, Santas, and penguins appear on the top. Then afterwards, the top zooms in and the BBC1 Wales/Cymru logo (in the same typeface as the normal idents) appears on the bottom.
Variant: BBC Two used the exact same ident that year as well, but with a daytime background and a different logo.
Technique: CGI.
Audio: A music box tune, followed by the announcer.
34th Ident (1990)
Visuals: The globe appears superimposed on a face on the cover of a pop-up book about magic. The introduction sequence and promotions all featured the book opening and a wizard dancing around casting magic upon a variety of objects, mostly timepieces, such as a large clock face and hourglass.
Trivia: This was the last Christmas ident not to use a BBC logo.
Variants:
- In Scotland, Wales and Northern Island, the "Christmas" part on the bottom is replaced with the respective region.
- For Hogsmanay 1990, a special version of the COW was used: it's much bigger and a green party hat is on the top of it. The usual "BBC1 Scotland" text unusually appears on the top right, rather than the middle due to the size of the COW.
- During closedowns in Wales, stars are chyroned onto the footage.
Technique: Stop-motion animation.
Audio:
Audio Variants:
- During the Christmas Day closedown in Wales, a caroling track called "Ding Dong Merrily On High" from the CPM Music Library was used.
- During the national Boxing Day closedown, the national anthem fails to play due to a technical fault, leaving the entire ident silent, although at one point the regular ident track briefly plays for a second.
35th Ident (1991)
Visuals: Similar to the normal ident but the figure ‘1’ is inside a rotating, icy coloured moon, with Father Christmas in his sleigh flying around it. When it introduced the film Batman (1989), the bat symbol was superimposed on top. The ident was accompanied by a simple four-note fanfare.
Trivia:
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36th Ident (1992)
Visuals: A shining figure ‘1’ is at the bottom of a Christmas tree surrounded by various bouncing and moving toys. A photograph of HM The Queen was used at closedown because BBC deemed the ident "too jolly" to be used against the National Anthem.
Trivia:
Variants:
Technique: Stop-motion animation for the ident itself. Still photograph for closedown.
Audio:
37th Ident (1993)
Visuals: An icy figure ‘1’ is in a snowy landscape, with two polar bears and Father Christmas in his sleigh flying above it, which the bears watch. Two versions were made, one in day-time and one in night-time.
Trivia:
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38th Ident (1994)
Visuals: The figure ‘1’ is a Christmas present with a snowman on either side tipping their hats. This ident was unusual in that it had three different variations. In the run up to and on Christmas Eve it was neatly wrapped, on Christmas Day it was unwrapped by the snowmen to reveal a shining gold numeral and on Boxing Day and onwards the wrapping remains had been removed to display the gold numeral ‘1’. The Christmas Day version was occasionally used on and after Boxing Day. Due to it also being deemed "too jolly" to be used against the National Anthem (as with the 1992 ident), the normal idents were used for closedown.
Trivia:
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39th Ident (Christmas Ornaments) (1995)
Visuals: The figure ‘1’ is on top of a Christmas tree in place of a star, with starry glitter surrounding it and a toy plane flying around it. In addition, a variation was made without the plane, which was used at closedown.
Trivia:
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40th Ident (Circus) (1996)
Visuals: A brown circular box is opened by two toys to reveal a gold figure ‘1’ inside on a bluish-purple sparkling cushion. A version without the toy figures and the rim of the box shines via sparkling effect, which was used for closedown and introduction into serious programming.
Variants: In a dimly lit room, 2 candles and some overhanging lights illuminate the BBC Scotland logo, which is an abstract representation of Scotland using 3 different parallelograms, one shorter than the other (This debuted with their news programme, Reporting Scotland, and is still used to this day in a modified form), and has them dressed in traditional Scottish garb; the top and bottom ones are male, and the middle is female.
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41st Ident (The 12 Days of Christmas) (1997)
Visuals: Most of these have a glowing yellow sphere on a red background.
- 10 Lords A Leaping: Several lords appear bouncing on yellow space hoppers.
- 8 Maids A Milking: A maid is seen balancing, with a bucket full of milk on her head.
- 5 Gold Rings: An arm is spinning two golden rings.
- A Partridge in a Pear Tree: A paper partridge is flying around the yellow sphere.
Trivia:
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42nd Ident (Bauble) (1998)
Visuals: On a white background with falling snow, a red bauble is seen on the centre of the screen. Sometimes, a reindeer or a couple of penguins are moving around. This, alongside the BBC Two ident, were the first two BBC Christmas idents to be produced in widescreen.
Trivia:
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43rd Ident (Santa Claus) (1999)
Visuals: On a night landscape of some pine trees, some auroras are seen in the sky, which takes the form of Santa Claus shaking a golden bell, with the BBC One globe on the side. This was the first Christmas ident in this ident package to feature the balloon globe.
Trivia:
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44th Ident (Hot Air Balloon) (2000)
Visuals: There is a view of Santa Claus dropping a present with a parachute. Then the complete scene of Santa Claus dropping presents all over the city, on the BBC One globe, is seen.
Trivia:
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45th Ident (2001)
Visuals: In a warm living room setting, featuring a Christmas Tree to the right is three toys (a Dinosaur, the Trotters Van, and a robot dog) interacting with each other as they fly about on helium balloons. The BBC One logo fades at the bottom below.
Trivia: Each of the toys represents a program or film on BBC One's Christmas Day schedule that year. The dinosaur represents the terrestrial premiere of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The Trotters Van obviously represents Only Fools and Horses, namely the episode "If They Could See Us Now", the first to be produced since 1996, and the robot dog represents the terrestrial premiere of Toy Story.
Variants: Three versions of the ident were made, each with the toys animating differently. The dog walks around, the Trotters Van "pops" along, and the dinosaur makes a roaring-like sound.
Technique: CGI animation by Aardman Animations.
Audio: A mystical tune.
46th Ident (Snowflakes) (2002-2003)
Visuals: In a snowy landscape surrounded by frosty trees, a crescent moon, and a red sky, several children dressed up in snowflake costumes flutter down onto the ground and begin to run around in circles. The camera then pans upwards. The usual BBC One square logo appears on the left as usual.
Trivia: The ident package was reused again in 2003, with the BBC deeming them as "p
Variants:
- A variant with the footage slowed down was used for the news and serious programming.
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Audio:
47th Ident (Christmas Puddings) (2004)
Visuals: Children dressed in red are bouncing on Space Hoppers that look like Christmas puddings, under white snow structures.
Trivia: This was designed by a young viewer of the children's programme Blue Peter, as part of a competition.
Variants:
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48th Ident (Christmas Tree) (2005)
Visuals: Several children, again dressed in red, are walking round a giant Christmas tree, carrying brightly coloured balls.
Trivia: The ident is heavily inspired by the illustrations of Dr. Seuss.
Variants:
Technique: Live-action. Produced by Smoke and Mirrors.
Audio: A version of the BBC One jingle.
49th Ident (Snowfall) (2006-2007)
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50th Ident (Penguins) (2007)
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Trivia: This ident package proved to be popular enough that it was edited as a standard BBC One ident in February 2008, with the removal of the tree and other Christmas-related objects.
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51st Ident (Wallace and Gromit's Runaway Sled) (2008)
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52nd Ident (The Doctor and the Reindeer) (2009)
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53rd Ident (Christmas Lights) (2010)
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54th (Consider Yourself One Of Us)
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55th Ident (It's Showtime) (2012)
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56th Ident (Have a Wonderful Christmas) (2013)
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57th Ident (Be With The Ones You Love) (2014)
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58th Ident (Sproutboy) (2015)
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56th Ident (Oneness) (2016)
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57th Ident (The Supporting Act) (2017)
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58th Ident (Wonderland) (2018)
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59th Ident (#XmasLife) (2019)
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60th Ident (The Gruffalo's Child and Zog and the Flying Doctors) (2020, 2023)
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- For their 2023 return, the idents instead utilized the current 2021 appearance of the BBC One logo.
Technique: CGI by Magic Light Pictures.
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61st Ident (Shaun the Sheep's Flight Before Christmas) (2021)
Visuals: A set of idents themed around the Aardman Animations franchise Shaun the Sheep, promoting its new Christmas special.[13] It consisted of three scenes panning around a Christmas tree being assembled by the sheep; the daytime version showing the tree being pulled up, but falling on one sheep's head due to the appearance of the farmer. Another is set during the evening, with the tree being dressed and pumped by Timmy on a bicycle. The last version is set at night, with the lights being turned on and the sheep bleating "Jingle Bells". Each ident also features a variation without the characters used to introduce news and other serious programmes. Likely under the presumption that they would launch as scheduled, the idents contain elements of the other "Lens" idents, such as a rotating scene and multiple variations in the same location at different times of the day (although they do not use the lens device itself). The idents were used from the evening of 4 December 2021, through BBC One's New Year's Eve special on 31 December 2021, after which the repackaged Oneness idents were reinstated.
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62nd Ident (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse) (2022)
Visuals: A set of idents based on the special of the same name, there were three variants made:
- Daytime -
- Evening -
- Nighttime
The daytime version showed the boy and the mole eating a Christmas pudding. Another is set at night, with the boy and the mole sitting on the tree while the fox and the horse come to them. The last version is set during the evening, with the titular characters walking on the river.
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63rd Ident (2023)
Visuals: Another set of idents based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's books.
- Tabby McTat -
- Stick Man -
- The Gruffalo's Child - and family snoozing under a Christmas tree (promoting the forthcoming Tabby McTat animated adaptation), Stick Man and his family receiving Christmas presents from Santa, and The Gruffalo and his child playing around in the snow.
Trivia:
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Technique: CGI by Magic Light Pictures, as before.
Audio:
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