Logos[]
1st logo: Eight blocks of matching colors: blue, purple, yellow and green, with a bar one single red one, form the number "4" on a black BG.
Variants[]
There are various versions of this logo. Below are some examples:
- The logo, already formed, spins around, the blocks in turn spinning before setting back into place.
- Hundreds of little blocks fly in from the top right of the screen. The camera pans across as they go off the bottom left and sets in the middle, where the blocks form the logo.
- The blocks spin onto the screen from various places, setting and forming the logo in the center. This variant of the logo usually played in reverse when the channel closed down for the night.
- The logo, already formed, breaks apart into hundreds of blocks that fly off the bottom left screen. They reappear from the top right and set back to reform the logo.
- These logos also had unique variations for certain programs, such as American football (the blocks forming an American football player wearing a helmet) and Football Italia (a football strikes the formed logo, turning it into the colours of the Italian flag).
2nd logo: On a black background, we see three CGI rectangles colored blue, red and yellow stretching and rotating in various directions, eventually forming a simplified "4". It stays still for a few seconds before rotating and stops again.
3rd logo: We see live-action places. Suddenly, they blur, and four circles come towards the screen. They are arranged in various ways.
4th logo: We see a moving background, mostly a bunch of rectangles moving right. Then, one of them make a square with the number "4" inside it.
5th logo: We see an area or a part of the environment. There is a giant "4" which is made up of an object depending on the variant.
Variants[]
There are many variants of this logo.
- Tralfagar Square: We see some pigeons flying onto and walking on a large Channel 4 logo on a plinth. The logo then squeezes itself and retracts, causing some of the pigeons to either fly away or die (not visibly).
- Bowls: We see a group of people playing lawn bowls outside as hedges in the shape of the Channel 4 logo parts fly around. Most of them don't notice, but one elderly lady on a bench turns around to see the sights in front of her. The Channel 4 logo is briefly made out of the shadows of the levitating hedges.
- Rollercoaster: The Channel 4 logo is briefly formed during a first-person rollercoaster ride.
- Diner: The Channel 4 logo is briefly formed during a panning of a diner/motel.
- Alien: A woman and a man donning a cowboy hat are stuck worried in a car as mysterious metal objects fly around them and form the Channel 4 logo twice.
- 3D Week: We pan across a junkyard to see a forklift grabbing some broken cars. A stack of junk and the forklift itself briefly form the Channel 4 logo.
- Homer: We see Homer Simpson put a pack of Duff beer on his hammock, but the force created by him initially lying on it causes the cans to fly up onto the electrical lines. He screams and falls off the hammock, and climbs up a tree to try and retrieve the cans. Because of the cans being aluminum and connected to the electricity, every time he tries to grab them he gets electrocuted. Night falls, and he tries one last time to get the cans. The shock causes one of them to open, and he tries drinking the can and gets electrocuted at the same time. We pan out from the Simpsons' backyard to reveal that Homer has unwittingly caused Springfield to gain a power outage that briefly flashes and forms the Channel 4 logo.
- April Fools Day: On April Fools Day 2011, versions of these would be shown on the day where everything on screen that would make up the 4 logo is non-existent, turning the normal idents into plain old panoramic shots.
6th logo: TBA
Variants[]
A Simpsons variant is aired before episodes of The Simpsons(although not all the time). In this one, the blocks, all colored yellow, keep moving towards different parts of the screen, along with a pair of circular shapes resembling eyes with small black pupils. Although new idents were introduced in late 2017, this version is still used in one way or another, either still being used before an episode, or as a bumper between episodes.
7th logo: As with the previous logos, there are numerous different versions that run in different lengths. All idents feature a large metal construct that vaguely resembles a man, built out of the various parts of the 4 logo.
Variants[]
- One version features the construct running alongside a group of Paralympic cyclists. It's eventually unable to keep up with them and stops by the side of the road, tiredly wheezing out the Fourscore tune, and collapses into pieces.
- Another version features the construct walking up a mountain path that overlooks a distant town. It stands out on one of the peaks, facing the town, and blares the Fourscore, the sound and force of it causing havoc in the town, knocking a cyclist off their bike, causing animals to cry out, making a couple put on protective headsets, and a group of schoolchildren trying to stand against the force of the blast. The construct eventually stops, chuckles, and it cuts back to the kids toppling over in unison.
Music/Sounds[]
1st logo:
- November 1982-November 1992:A bombastic four note fanfare called "Fourscore" composed by David Dundas, who also composed the regional ident music for ITV. Various versions of the jingle were used.
- November 1992-October 1996: A new fanfare was introduced, based on the original one. It would feature various reprises of the same basic tune, usually accompanied by four chimes.This version was brought in to replace the original jingle, as it was costing the channel too much to keep in use - David Dundas was paid £3.50 every time the original jingle was used, amounting in him earning around £1000 a week.
2nd logo: A dramatic fanfare, followed by an announcer spiel.
3rd logo: The noises of live-action end in either a whoosh or a bunch of synth sounds.
4th logo: It depends on the variant shown.
5th logo: Depending on the logo variant shown.
6th logo: The Simpsons variant uses several loud saxophone notes that play in time to the blocks on screen moving.
7th logo: The background music for each ident is a simple string instrument track that borrows thematically from the channel's famous Fourscore tune from the first logo. The construct itself, in some of the idents, blares out the four note jingle, sounding akin to a foghorn.
Scare Factor[]
1st logo: Low to medium. The fanfare can scare a few, but this is a favorite of many.
2nd logo: None to low.
3rd logo: None.
4th logo: Minimal.
5th logo: Minimal to low on the the Homer variant. It may get to some people who haven't seen it before, but it's funny nonetheless. But the normal variants (e.g. City, Tokyo, etc.) are none to minimal.
6th logo: Depending on the variants:
- Microscope: Low to medium. The ominous music and sudden tardigrade can be unsettling.
- Waterfall: Minimal to low. The rocks being thrown at the camera can be scary, but it's a beautiful ident
- Mining: Low to medium. The rocks blowing up can scare some people.
- Shaman: Medium to high. The shaman's freaky bird-like mask, the unsettling music and the close-up of the mask will certainly scare more than a few viewers.
7th logo: None to low. The versions with the construct performing the loud, blaring Fourscore can catch you off guard if you're not expecting it.
Video[]
Channel 4 Ident 1991