Draft:BBC Nine O'Clock News

Credits

Captures by
TVARK

1st Intro (1970-1972)

Visuals:

Technique:

Audio:

2nd Intro (1972-March 7, 1976)

Visuals: Superimposed over the beginning of the news bulletin is the numeral "9" in orange and in a blocky font. Next to it is the stacked text "O'CLOCK NEWS", in the same font and colour.

Technique: Live-action and chromakey.

Audio:

3rd Intro (March 8, 1976-1981)

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  1976 version

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  1979 version

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  1981 version

Visuals: On an orange background, there are two dark orange circles and a brown map of the world. The circles merge into one, then the stacked text "BBC NINE O'CLOCK NEWS", with "NEWS" larger than the rest of the text, appears. This ends with a circle transition to the beginning of the news bulletin.

Variants:

• Starting in 1979, it just shows the first frame of the intro tinted in blue. "BBC NINE O'CLOCK NEWS", in a sans-serif font this time, zooms in. The text then disappears before transitioning as normal.
  • Up until sometime in early 1981, "NEWS" is slightly larger and each letter is spaced out.

Technique: The 1976 variant uses cel animation, whereas the 1979 variant uses chyron.

Audio: Same as the previous intro.

4th Intro (1981-September 1, 1985)

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Visuals: On a black background with a red stripe in the centre of the screen, white lines come in from either the left or right side to form a segmented numeral "9". A flashing white rectangle appears below the stripe, and then "types" in "BBC 9 O'CLOCK NEWS". A clock-wipe effect occurs on the number as the stripe wipes away to reveal a live-action scene.

Variant: The thickness of the stripes may vary.

Technique: 2D computer animation overlaid onto live-action footage.

Audio:

5th Intro (September 2, 1985-October 30, 1988)

Visuals:

Technique: CGI.

Audio:

6th Intro (October 31, 1988-April 12, 1993)

Visuals: On a mostly black background with occasional hints of pale blue and red, a turquoise antenna forms. Four lightning bolts appear and disappear around the antenna in different forms. Then, a circle outline brings in four more lightning bolts, coloured turquoise, and rings appear from the centre of the antenna. "BBC NINE O'CLOCK NEWS" fades in below the antenna as the background fades to black. As one more hint of pale red occurs on the background, the sequence fades to the start of the news bulletin.

Technique: 2D computer animation by Robinson/Lambie-Nairn.

Audio: A highly bombastic fanfare with thunderbolts heard throughout, composed by George Fenton.

Legacy: The design of the symbol was criticised for resembling a swastika, resulting in future intros no longer being outsourced.

7th Intro (April 13, 1993-May 9, 1999)

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  1993 version

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  1997 version

Visuals:

Variant: Starting in 1997, the intro was updated to use the 1997 BBC logo in white, and "NEWS" is in Gill Sans.

Technique:

Audio:

References

BBC Nine O'Clock News

BBC News at Ten ►