BBC One circle-themed idents replaced by new campaign

After a decade of swimming in circles, it's goodbye to TV's most famous hippos - as BBC One has launched a new set of idents to appear just before TV shows.

The broadcaster commissioned British photographer Martin Parr to "capture an evolving portrait of modern Britain in all its diversity" for 2017.

The first new ident was screened on New Year's Day and showed a group of open water swimmers from Somerset.

Other new images include an exercise class and wheelchair rugby players.

The computer-generated swimming hippos have graced our screens for a decade

For the past decade, all of the BBC One idents have been based on circles.

As well as the computer-generated hippos, viewers will recall others featuring display dogs, motorbike stunt riders, kites, lawnmowers, penguins and an enchanted forest. In each one, a circle of some type was formed.

The BBC said that the new portraits would be based around the theme of "oneness" and would feature "different groups of people coming together across the UK, united by their shared passions and interests".

The groups have been selected to reflect the diversity of modern Britain and the changing mood of the nation through significant events in the coming year.

An exercise class from Bristol will feature among the 20 new idents created by Martin Parr

Len Hurley is one of the swimmers featured in the idents. He was filmed swimming in Clevedon in November and says he swims in the sea "most days."

He told Radio 5 live "we've had a history of winter swimming, open water swimming, in Clevedon since the 30s...and there's been a group of us...doing it for quite a long time, right through the winter."

Viewers can expect to see about 20 different idents - but some have yet to be filmed.

The Ospreys wheelchair rugby team will also feature in the idents

Mr Parr said: "To have the chance to makes stills and film these diverse groups of people, but sharing the same interests or roles all over the United Kingdom is a real privilege."

The director of BBC content Charlotte Moore said that it was important the channel idents moved with the times.

She said: "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?"

In April, Mr Parr, brought together hundreds of images of the UK taken by international photographers, from the 1930s to the present day for an exhibition at London's Barbican Art Gallery.

BBC One's red kites will be replaced by the new images which are based around "oneness"