Gold (TV Channel) - Identity

Identity

For the first few years, idents on UK Gold featured an animated golden retriever mascot named "Goldie" posing with the UK Gold logo. Goldie was never name-checked as such on air, possibly owing to the death of the Blue Peter dog Goldie some weeks before launch, although the late-night music video slot "Dog House" was originally listed as "Goldie's Video Bites" in initial pre-launch listings. The Goldie idents were kept until 1993, when they were replaced with a form-up of the first logo against a blue background. A re-branding in 1994 saw UK Gold adopt idents based on the forging of gold bars, with the station's logo appearing to have been stamped into gold. Variations on this theme were used until 1997, when the channel received a revamp as part of the formation of the UKTV network.

The new network's corporate identity saw all its channels logos simplified to a boxed "UK" followed by the name (e.g. "Gold") in the Gill Sans font, which had also been adopted by the BBC. The new network-wide ident theme would involve the splitting of the screen for different purposes. UK Gold's new idents depicted objects such as apples or leaves falling through the top half of the screen, with only the gold coloured ones reaching the bottom half of the screen. These idents were briefly adopted for UK Gold 2 when it launched in 1998.

In 1999, the theme changed again, this time with idents featuring fireworks making shapes in the air. The fireworks theme was carried on in a new set of idents, alongside another network-wide re-branding of the logo in 2001, adopting a bolder font and merging UK into a single composite character. A range of live-action idents showing everyday activities from unusual perspectives appeared in 2002. The 2003 to 2007 idents showed channel hopping viewers with their TV set "off stage" being brought to a halt by the appearance of a golden light accompanied by the channel's ident jingle. This new identity also featured a series of shifting yellow, orange and red blocks which suggested a gold bar at the centre of the screen.

On 4 April 2007, UKTV Gold unveiled a new on-air identity centred around a branded golden space hopper, playing to contemporary trends toward 1970s nostalgia, and emphasising the station's re-run content. 12 new live action idents featured the branded space hopper, either with people on them bouncing around normally serious scenes, or let loose to bounce around the natural environment, aired from 5 April 2007 to 7 October 2008.

On 7 October 2008, following the rebranding, Gold’s current presentation debuted, featuring cartoon objects making a giant chain, in Heath Robinson fashion, which triggers an event to herald the next programme. The Gold logo features in the centre, with the channel slogan usually appearing alongside in the sequence. Programmes are announced by sole channel continuity announcer David Flynn, who has had the position since June 2009.