BBC Two is being completely rebranded for the first time in more than 25 years as the channel looks to reinvent itself in the face of threats from streaming services such as Netflix.

The channel’s controller, Patrick Holland, also confirmed BBC Two was working with the Black Mirror creator, Charlie Brooker, to develop new programmes, and revealed Eva Green, Eve Hewson, and Marton Csokas would star in a big-budget adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s Booker prize-winning novel The Luminaries.

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Holland said traditional television channels still had enormous influence and he could offer a “curated channel in an age where you’ve got all of this choice”. But with the average age of a BBC Two viewer now in their 60s, the channel was facing up to the need to reach a younger audience, he said.

The BBC is facing growing pressure from streaming services that are able to outspend it, with the director general, Tony Hall, saying the corporation needed more cash to maintain the current quality of programmes.

BBC Two has already refocused its budget towards its primetime output but Holland said his channel’s ability to broadcast to millions of people on any given evening meant it could still set the tone of the national debate. “Netflix cannot do that, Amazon cannot do that. An ongoing schedule gives you an ongoing dialogue with the audience. I wouldn’t swap that for anything.”

As part of the revamp, BBC Two will on Thursday drop its on-screen identity based around physical representations of the number two, which it has used in various forms since the early 90s. This will be replaced by a series of colourful visualisations based on a simple curve, which the controller said represented the channel’s “constant evolution, constant eclecticism, constant sense of quality”. It is also easier to rework and cheaper to create than the old branding.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Branding based around physical representations of the number two will go. Photograph: BBC

Holland said Brooker, whose Black Mirror series recently won an Emmy, was working on new projects. “He’s still working for us. There are things cooking. They haven’t finished cooking yet. They’re still in development,” he said.

Other programmes heading to the channel include Riz Ahmed’s Englistan, which will tell the story of three generations of a British Pakistani family; the “quite pricey” drama MotherFatherSon starring Richard Gere; and a new documentary series charting the rise of Syria’s ruling Assad family.

The controller said he was no longer interested in commissioning celebrity-fronted documentaries, which have clogged up schedules for years. “That sense of being told things by presenters in a traditional way is something we’ve moved on from. When you’re immersed in the story and able to make some connections yourself, it’s more grownup television and more emotionally engaging.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest BBC Two says the new branding is easier to rework and cheaper to create. Photograph: BBC

He also said contestants on University Challenge needed to be aware of the risk of social media abuse before going on the BBC Two quiz show. “The most important aspect of duty of care is talking through all the things that could happen and then it’s their choice whether they want to consent.”

As part of the rebrand Holland is looking to work with Esme Wren, the editor of Newsnight, to “reinvigorate” the current affairs programme and make sure it fits better with the rest of the BBC Two schedule, such as by theming discussions around documentaries.

“My role on BBC Two is to try and make the channel as engaged with the modern world, to make it engaged in the big questions of our time, but to do it in a way that brings extraordinary storytelling to the fore,” he said.