The Basil Brush Show

The Basil Brush Show
Genre	Comedy
Written by	Ged Allen Danny Robins
Directed by	David McKay
Starring	Cast
Voices of	Don Austen Basil Soper Michael Winsor Wink Taylor
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	78 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	24 minutes
Production company(s)	RDF Media
Broadcast
Original channel	CBBC (2002-2007) BBC One (2007)
Picture format	16:9
Original run	4 October 2002 – 21 December 2007
Chronology
Preceded by	The Basil Brush Show
Followed by	Basil's Swap Shop
External links
Website
Production website

The Basil Brush Show was a 2002 remake^{[citation needed]} of the 1960s comedy show starring Basil Brush, a glove puppet fox. It ran for six series between 2002 and 2007.

Overview

The programme is a remake^{[citation needed]} of the old series and is set in the present. Stephen, a new comic foil for Basil played by Christopher Pizzey, was introduced for the first four seasons. Georgina Leonidas, Michael Hayes, Laura Evans, and Ajay Chhabra also appeared on the show. The character Lucy (Madeline Castrey) was introduced later in the show as Anil's niece. No cast member is directly credited as playing Basil, although Michael Windsor is credited as Basil's fitness instructor or his personal assistant. After the fourth season, Stephen was replaced by Liam, played by Michael Byers

Basil and Stephen live in an apartment owned by Stephen. Stephen is an unemployed actor, and the cast often make jokes about this. Other characters include Dave, a young entrepreneur, and Anil, who owns a café. A recurring feature of the series involves Basil and the cast breaking the fourth wall.

Characters

Main article: List of Basil Brush Show characters

Episodes

See also: List of the Basil Brush show episodes

Series		Episodes	Originally aired	Season Premiere	Season Finale
	1	13	2002	4 October 2002	27 December 2002
	2	13	2003–2004	21 November 2003	13 February 2004
	3	13	2004	3 September 2004	23 December 2004
	4	13	2005	2 September 2005	21 December 2005
	5	13	2006	15 September 2006	7 December 2006
	6	13	2007	7 September 2007	21 December 2007

Locations

• Stephen's Flat (2002–2007): This is the place where the gang live and spend most of their time. It is made up of a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and three bedrooms. The bathroom is seen on many occasions, and Basil and Stephen's bedroom is seen at the end of every episode from Series 1-4. Molly's room is only seen in one episode in Series One, and Dave's room is only seen in an episode from Series 4. Liam moves into the flat for Series 5 and 6.

• Anil's Café (2002–2007): The gang spend most of their time here, although it apparently serves bad food (the reason for this is given by Basil, when asked by Anil once, as "it's the only other set we've got", to which Anil responds "good point"). This is the place where the group meet Amanda (1.1), India (Series 2), and Lucy (5.1). We also see Anil's Kitchen in one episode from Series 2. It is later refurbished in Series 3. In Series 6, it is seen again.

• Ella's Flat (2003): Only featured twice in the 2003 series. The first appearance in "Ella" after Stephen and Basil end up falling through an air vent and a second time in "Molly in Love", when Molly visits and tells Ella about her crush. It is seen as mostly light brown and beige in colour.

• Madison's Flat (2004–2007): This is the place where Madison lives. It is exceptionally smaller than both Ella's and Stephen's flat.

Spin-offs and Video and DVD Releases

Basil's Swap Shop/Basil's Game Show

This show began in 2008. Basil's Swap Shop airs on Saturday mornings from 9:00am on CBBC on BBC Two. Game Show is a cut-down version of Swap Shop featuring the game show and other entertainment segments.

DVD Releases

In 1994, a series called "Basil Brush's Cartoon Story Book" was released, featuring Basil in his country home, (A hollow oak tree), with his two goldfish Archie and Eric he would tell tales from his story book that would appear as animations, four volumes were released, and later re-released in many variations until the early 2000s.

Five DVDs have been released containing random episodes and special features, the first to be released was called "BOOM BOOM! The Best of the Original Basil Brush Show", as the title suggests this DVD contains sketches and scenes from the old series and a photo gallery and downloadable Basil Brush laughs are featured as bonus material.

When the series re-launched in 2002, "Basil Brush: Unleashed" was released on Video and DVD, both versions contained the episodes: The Date, Mouse and Fake's Progress. Both releases also included out-takes, specially recorded jokes and a sneak preview of Basil's debut single.

The next DVD was "Basil Brush: Sport Spectacular", containing 3 sport themed episodes, Sports Spectacular, Revenge of the Mummy and Basil's Millions, the special features on this DVD were: Outtakes, Photo Pin-board, Basil's penalty kick game and an exclusive interview with Basil.

Next was "Basil Brush: Crazy Christmas", featuring the Christmas-themed episodes: Santa Brush, There's No Business Like Snow Business, Basil's Angels 2: Fox on the Run, Basil Hood, The Da Basil Code and Christmas Dinners, no special features were included on this DVD.

The latest DVD release (as of 19 October 2010), was "Basil Brush: Extravaganza!" containing 6 episodes and no special features.

See also

• List of BBC children's television programmes

External links

• The Basil Brush Show at BBC Programmes
• The Basil Brush Show (2002) at the Internet Movie Database
• The Basil Brush Show at TV.com
• The Basil Brush Show at BBC Online Comedy Guide