BBC Three’s “irreverent” new idents

BBC Three has marked its return as a broadcast channel with a new series of idents and characters, designed by in-house team BBC Creative and brand consultancy Superunion.

The idents and characters have also been developed in collaboration with Ghost and BlinkInk director Robert Strange.



After six years as a digital channel, BBC3 returned this week as a linear channel. The channel, which has a target audience of 16-34, is responsible for shows like Normal People and Fleabag.

It returns with reality shows including Eating with My Ex and a new iteration of hit RuPaul-fronted series, RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK Versus The World.

“Unapologetically unique personalities”

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The characters, named Captain, Spider and Pointer, are animated human hands, each with distinct personalities. Superunion executive creative director Stuart Radford says that they are “unapologetically unique personalities”.

Captain is the swaggering leader, “never short of confidence”. Meanwhile, Spider is “friendly, cute and quick on their feet” while Pointer is the “strong, silent type”, according to the BBC. In various shades of bright pink and purple, the characters exist in a fluorescent green world.



As Radford adds, “for a brand like BBC Three, something irreverent and unconventional was required,” adding that it needed to engage a “young discerning audience”.

Two forms of idents have been crafted: two-second openers and closers which frame the programme trails. Together, the characters walk and dance around, and will also react to the pop culture events as well as issues affecting young people.

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Longer-form continuity idents allow the audience to get to know the characters better, according to the BBC. “The audience will see them explore, misbehave and have a good time in their own green world,” the network adds.

BBC Creative creative director Susan Ayton calls the characters “as eclectic, funny and entertaining as the channel they represent”. “It’s a delight to hang out with all three of them and I can’t wait to see what they get up to in the future,” she adds.

What do you think of BBC Three’s new idents? Let us know in the comments below.