Launch of BBC Four

Image: The original BBC Four idents from 2002 were generated 'live' and responded to the continuity announcer's voice.

The new digital television channel BBC Four began on Saturday 2 March 2002. It was launched with the slogan "everybody needs a place to think", offering a diet of arts, culture and documentaries. The new channel replaced BBC Knowledge. Controller Roly Keating explained in the Radio Times that BBC Four would have the time to examine subjects in greater depth than had been possible on BBC Two.

BBC Four's first night was a simulcast with BBC Two, acknowledging the links between the two channels and the need to showcase the potential of the new digital station to the far larger terrestrial audience. The first programme was The Man Who Destroyed Everything, about artist Michael Landy. This was followed by a documentary on Goya, a comedy drama on the Surrealists and music from Baaba Maal. BBC Four also offered a distinctive international emphasis to the news, with a bulletin presented by George Alagiah.

BBC Four overcame initial reservations about the size of its audience to become a recognised home of intelligent programming, and won the award for Non-terrestrial Channel of the Year at the Edinburgh Television Festival. The channel has originated many acclaimed programmes, and made successes of subtitled drama series such as Wallender and The Killing, that would otherwise have struggled to find an audience.