Basil Brush

Basil Brush has been a popular character on UK children's television for decades. A glove puppet in the shape of a fox, he was voiced and operated by Ivan Owen until his death in 2000. Basil had his own long-running television series, The Basil Brush Show (1968), which appealed to a wide family audience with some topical jokes in among the content. The show ran for a dozen years, until the BBC reputedly refused to move it to a later timeslot, and the show was axed over the dispute. Basil moved over to ITV for an educational children's series, Let's Read with Basil Brush (1982), before returning to the BBC for guest host slots on Crackerjack! (1955). Basil had another series aimed more at children rather than a family audience, The Basil Brush Show (2002), where he was voiced by Michael Winsor. The character was so well-known on British television for a number of years that he would make cameos on other series, including playing part of a puppet government in Special: Goodies Rule OK? (1975).