Basil Brush
| Basil Brush | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | 1963 |
| Created by |
Ivan Owen Peter Firmin |
| Portrayed by | Ivan Owen Michael Winsor |
| Information | |
| Species | Red Fox |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Entertaining Puppet |
Basil Brush is an anthropomorphic fox, best known for his appearances on daytime British children's television. He is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet, but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts and comic strips. The character has featured on children's television from the 1960s to the present day.
A mischievous character and a raconteur, Basil Brush is best known for his catchphrase "Ha Ha Ha! Boom! Boom!", used after something he finds funny, and also for speaking in a "" accent and manner, referring to himself as a "fella". The character claims to dislike puppets, and says his most prized possession is his "", this being the traditional name for a fox's tail.
The original Basil Brush glove puppet was designed by Peter Firmin, in 1963, for an ITV television series, and was voiced and performed by Ivan Owen until his death in October 2000.
Ivan Owen took great care to ensure that he, personally, never received any publicity. Professionally, only Basil had a public persona, with Ivan himself remaining entirely unknown. This helped give the character believability, making Basil appear to be real, since — unlike Harry Corbett and Sooty, for example — the audience never saw the puppeteer.
Ivan modelled Basil's voice on that of the film star Terry-Thomas, giving the puppet a touch of well-cultivated class. This, plus a degree of sophistication in the humour (which often included topical political jokes) helped give Basil a broad appeal. So although Basil began as a children's entertainer, in the 1970s he became a mainstream act, attracting a family audience.
Basil first appeared on television in 1962, in a series called The Three Scampis, an out-of-work circus act. The human was Howard Williams, Ivan Owen animated and voiced Basil and Wally Whyton animated and voiced Spike McPike, a very aggressive Scottish hedgehog also made by Peter Firmin. In the mid-1960s Basil became a supporting act for the magician David Nixon, upstaging Nixon on the latter's BBC1 show Now For Nixon in 1967 and The Nixon Line (1967-68), to such good effect that the fox was offered his own show.
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