Basil Brush

Basil finds the Doctor. (COMIC: TV Action!)

Basil Brush was a fictional puppet character in at least the 20th century. Ace listed the character's television programme among the favourites of her youth. (PROSE: No Future) Many years later, she would find being called "Miss Dorothy" by Sanaul amusing as it made her sound like one of Basil Brush's assistants. (PROSE: At Childhood's End)

Professor X, fully aware of his status as a fictional character, said that he felt like he was "caught between Basil Brush and Bruce Forsyth." (PROSE: No Future)

When the Eighth Doctor and Izzy Sinclair were brought into a parallel universe in which their reality existed only as fiction on 12 October 1979, Basil was one of the brain-washed minions of Beep the Meep found at the BBC Television Centre. The Doctor, Basil and countless other 1970s TV personalities were saved by the actor Tom Baker, who played the Fourth Doctor. (COMIC: TV Action!)

Behind the scenes

• In an early sketch of the real The Basil Brush Show, Basil encountered a Yeti in the Himalayas. The costume used for the Yeti was one of those featured in The Web of Fear.
• Basil Brush had a new show in 2008 entitled Basil's Swap Shop, which featured ex-Totally Doctor Who host Barney Harwood.
• Several cast members of the real The Basil Brush Show have acted in Doctor Who stories or its spinoffs; Rodney Bewes, Derek Fowlds, Christopher Pizzey and Milton Johns.