Martin Parr creates BBC One idents as a “portrait of modern Britain in all its diversity”

Photographer Martin Parr has created a series of idents for BBC One, showing short films of British hobbyists, such as dancers in a Zumba class and open water swimmers. The BBC says the portraits are based around the theme of “oneness” and feature “different groups of people coming together across the UK, united by their shared passions and interests”.

So far the BBC has released three idents, also including a wheelchair rugby team, with the first released on New Year’s Day. Some “have yet to be filmed” the BBC reports. They replace the decade-old, circle-themed idents which featured cyclists, kite flyers and CG hippos, and caused controversy for their £1.2m cost.

Martin Parr, known for his canny photographs depicting modern British culture, says: “To have the chance to film these diverse groups of people, but sharing the same interests or roles all over the United Kingdom, is a real privilege.”

Charlotte Moore, director of BBC content, says she wants BBC One to “continue to evolve creatively and so it’s important that the channel idents continue to move with the times”.

“What better way to demonstrate this than by commissioning Martin Parr, one of the most celebrated documentary photographers of our time, to create idents from a series of portraits that reflect and represent the rich diversity of communities living in the UK today? Renowned for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, I hope that the series of images Parr captures across the year will document everyday Britain in all its glory and serve as a fascinating and lasting record of 2017."

Read our interview with Martin as he reflects on his highs and lows of 2016 in Review of the Year.