The earliest BBC idents were shown in 1953, with the launch of the 'Batwing' logo. It had a tiny spinning globe in the centre, and was accompanied by harp music. Before that, all presentation and continuity had been 'in vision' with announcers - the time was shown with a shot of Big Ben. Or, at least, a model of Big Ben!
Many of the clocks' colours were designed to be viewable on black and white televisions - often being blue and yellow to allow for poor contrast. The bright colours were added electronically.
In the seventies all of the mechanical models and caption cards were housed in a large contraption called a NODD - affectionately known as noddy. A black and white camera was trained at the models, and could be remotely controlled to bring up the correct ident.
The BBC Northern Ireland globe often had extra islands in the pacific - because it didn't get cleaned enough! It often broke down, showing a still globe.
The music that accompanied schools countdowns was varied - anything from Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag, reworkings of 70s German pop songs, to medleys from the musical Hair.
And finally - the girl on the testcard is Carole Hersee. Her dad was an engineer, and chose her over her sister because she was blonde.
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