Basil Brush has been a familiar figure on British children's television for many years. The fox-shaped glove puppet was performed and voiced by Ivan Owen until his death in 2000. He starred in his own long-running series, The Basil Brush Show, which debuted in 1968 and attracted a broad family audience by mixing children’s entertainment with occasional topical humor. The program continued for twelve years before reportedly being cancelled after the BBC declined to reschedule it to a later time slot. Basil later appeared on ITV in the educational children’s program Let's Read with Basil Brush, and subsequently returned to the BBC as a guest host on Crackerjack!. A new version of The Basil Brush Show premiered in 2002, this time aimed more directly at children than at family audiences, with Basil voiced by Michael Winsor. Owing to his long-standing popularity on British television, Basil also made cameo appearances in other programs, including as part of a puppet government in The Goodies episode “Special: Goodies Rule OK?” (1975).
