   #copyright

Basil Brush

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Television

   Basil Brush is a reddish-brown fox glove puppet character who has
   appeared in British children's (and later adult) television programmes
   from the 1960s to the present day. He was originally voiced by Ivan
   Owen, who died in 2000. He is noted for his catch phrase, "Boom!
   Boom!", and his ' posh' accent. His most prized possession is his tail,
   which he insists is called a " brush".

   Basil's persona (and gap-toothed look) was based on actor Terry-Thomas.

   This character was created in 1963 by Peter Firmin for The Three
   Scampies children's show but his main popularity was achieved due to
   The Basil Brush Show, which premiered in 1968

The Basil Brush Show

   Throughout the show's 12-year run Basil was always accompanied by a
   straight man, initially Rodney Bewes — aka Mr Rodney — better known as
   one half of The Likely Lads.

   Bewes was replaced by Mr Derek — Derek Fowlds of Yes Minister fame and
   the TV show Heartbeat — who was the stooge for Basil's quips between
   1969 and 1973. The subsequent presenters were Mr Roy (Roy North, 1973-
   1977), Mr Howard (Howard Williams), 1977- 1979), and Mr Billy (Billy
   Boyle, 1979- 1980).

   Basil was in three more shows in the 1980s: the educational programme
   Let's Read... With Basil Brush ( ITV, 1982- 1983), Crackerjack (BBC),
   and Basil's Joke Machine ( ITV, 1986).

   Basil recorded two albums (both with the same title), Boom! Boom! It's
   Basil Brush in 1970 and 1977. His adventures also appeared on the pages
   of TV Comic during the peak of his popularity.

Basil Brush Show Comeback (2002)

   In 2002, Basil made a comeback in a new children's BBC sitcom, again
   named The Basil Brush Show, in which his new comic foil, Mr Stephen,
   was played by Christopher Pizzey. Georgina Leonidas and Michael Hayes
   also appear on the show. Basil Brush is now shown to have a family,
   which includes his destructive, hyperactive but cute nephew Bingo, and
   his rather nasty Cousin Mortimer. Other friends have been introduced as
   well, such as moneymaking business child Dave and sensible Molly.
   No-one is directly credited as being Basil's puppeteer on this show,
   although it is possibly Michael Winsor, who is credited as either
   Basil's "fitness instructor" or his "personal assistant."

Other appearances

   Basil appeared with Frank Skinner and David Baddiel for several
   episodes of the BBC TV series Fantasy Football League in 1994.

   He also briefly appeared as a presenter for several Friday episodes of
   the popular British children's tv programme Blue Peter in 2003 in which
   he had his own joke segment.

   Basil played Dobby the house-elf in the French & Saunders sketch "Harry
   Potter And The Secret Chamberpot Of Azerbaijan" for Comic Relief Red
   Nose Day 2003.

   Basil appeared on French & Saunders in 2004.

   On 10 December 2005, Basil appeared on The Weakest Link and won the
   show, receiving £10,900 for his chosen charity, the Blue Peter 2005
   charity appeal, "Treasure Trail" (in aid of Childline). This makes him
   the first (and at the time of writing, only) puppet to win The Weakest
   link ( Roland Rat had previously appeared as a puppet contestant, but
   did not win). Basil returned to Weakest Link as one of the contestants
   on the show's 1000th UK edition, recorded on 1 November 2006. It was
   shown on BBC Two on 18 December 2006. Although he made it to the final
   round, this time he failed to win. However, the winner still decided to
   share half of her winnings with Basil's chosen charity.

   Basil Brush was mentioned briefly in the Black Books episode "Blood",
   wherein Manny ( Bill Bailey) purchases a "large-print biography of
   Basil Brush", which he describes as "quite good."

   The current puppet is clearly different in a number of respects from
   the original 1960s vintage.

New Series (2006)

   The new series first aired in September 2006 on the CBBC Channel, and a
   week later on CBBC on BBC One. Stephen has so far only appeared in one
   scene (in the first episode while in a chip van). There are also 3 new
   characters (Liam, Lucy and Roxie).

   Interspersed with the main programme, there are now various cartoon
   shorts in which Basil and/or another character is seen making jokes.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Brush"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
