BBC Two Television

Home to more specialist programming, including comedy, documentaries, dramas and minority interest programmes, as well as imported programmes from other countries. BBC Two is less mainstram than BBC One, catering for a smaller section of the viewing public. The channel was scheduled to begin at 7:30pm on April 20 1964 and show an evening of light entertainment, starting with the comedy show The Alberts and a production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate. However, at around 6:45pm a huge power failure caused the Television Centre to lose all power. BBC One was able to continue broadcasting via its Alexandra Palace transmitter, but all attempts to show the scheduled programmes on the new channel failed, and at 10pm they conceded defeat postponing programming until the following morning.

As the BBC's news centre at Alexandra Palace was unaffected, they did in fact broadcast brief bulletins on BBC Two that evening, beginning with an announcement by the newsreader Gerald Priestland at around 7:25.
At 11am on April 21, power had been restored to the studios and programming began, thus making Playschool the first official programme to be shown on the channel.

Unlike the other channels available at that time (BBC One and ITV) it was only broadcast on the 625 line UHF system, so was not available to viewers with 405 line VHF sets. This created a market for dual standard receivers which could switch between the two systems. BBC One and ITV later joined BBC Two on 625-line UHF but continued to simulcast on 405-line VHF until the early 1980s. BBC Two became the first British channel to broadcast in colour in the summer of 1967, using the PAL system. BBC One and ITV simultaneously introduced PAL colour on UHF in late 1969.

Programming

New BBC shows often appear on BBC Two, especially if those behind the show have not proven themselves elsewhere. A successful BBC Two show may be moved to BBC One, such as happened with Have I Got News For You. The channel also has a reputation for screening challenging and 'prestige' drama productions, such as Boys from the Blackstuff (1982) and 1996's epic, critically-acclaimed Our Friends in the North. BBC Two's programmes always had a "highbrow" image, compared to those on rival channels. This perception persists in today's multichannel world so that a programme that is moved from BBC Two to BBC One will often get a much larger audience, even though no other change has been made.

BBC Two Idents

As well as programmes, BBC Two has also proved memorable for its numerous idents—various short films shown in between programme junctions, promoting the channel identity. Since it began in 1964, the figure '2' has almost always been used, using revolving, mechanical models and computer-aided technology, including the world's first computer-generated ident in 1979. In Easter 1986 the '2' was replaced by the word 'TWO' in red, green and blue on a white background. However, this made the channel appear 'dull' and 'worthy' and was changed back to a figure '2' in 1991. From then the '2' appeared the same shape but in various guises, adopting ideas like a remote-controlled car, a rubber duck and a fluffy dog. These are generally regarded as the best idents ever produced for a television channel and stayed in use for 10 years. In 2001, the figure '2' remained, but it was now always shown white on a yellow background, with various computer technology to aid it.

Regional variations of BBC Two

There are four regional variations of BBC Two:
BBC Two England, BBC Two Scotland, BBC Two Wales and BBC Two Northern Ireland.