Christmas Come Early - Again

OK, I know that I sound like one of those people I profess to hate - you know who I mean, those gits who spend their time bemoaning how everything new in pop culture isn't as good as stuff from the past - but I have to say that the BBC's new Christmas idents, unveiled today, have to be the worst, ever.  The prospect of having that bloody sprout turn up on my TV screen every time I tune into BBC1 for the next month or so is deeply depressing.  I used to look forward to seeing what the BBC were going to do with their seasonal idents - I've lived through them all, from the infamous rotating Christmas pudding which replaced the old globe ident one Christmaswhen I was a kid, to the more recent ones featuring the likes of Wallace and Grommit and David Tennant's Doctor.  I found all of them entertaining to one degree or another - not always for the reasons the makers intended, admittedly.  I know it's early days, but so far this sprout one is even worse than the one with the giant snowball they did a few years ago, which I'd alwats thought the most boring of the recent Christmas idents.

The other thing which perturbs me about this new ident is the fact that it has been launched so early.  I remember the good old days (I'm sounding like one of those people again) when the TV channels would wait until about a week before Christmas before debuting their special Yule tide idents and logos. This is the earliest unveiling I can recall - and all for the worst idents, ever.  It's another symptom of 'creeping Christmas', where retailers and the media keep bringing forward the start of the festive season earlier and earlier, year by year.  It's bad enough thhat municipal Christmas lights get switched on in November, but now we have the BBC proclaiming that Christmas is here on the first day of December by inflicting an animated sprout on us.  I know that I bang on about this every year, but by allowing Christmas to keep creeping forward like this, its 'specialness' will rapidly become eroded.  At least those of us who celebrate Winterval have an excuse for starting our festivities now - it is the start of Winter, after all - and trust me, we certainly won't be employing any bloody sprouts to publicise the celebrations..