George Martin (comedian) of the day. He wrote for the first TV series of Irish comedian Dave Allen; "Tonight with Dave Allen", as well as material for artistes such as Rolf Harris, Jimmy Tarbuck, Paul Daniels, Harry Worth and Tommy Cooper. He became the main writer and ideas man, as well as script and production associate, for renowned magician David Nixon. When the then unknown legendary fox puppet, Basil Brush, appeared as a weekly guest on "The Nixon Line", Martin helped develop the character and subsequently was the sole writer of every Basil Brush show for many years, (throughout the 1960s and 70s).
Basil Brush then finish on a song, based upon that week's serial story, whilst the closing credits rolled. A dispute in 1980 led to the show's cancellation. Ivan Owen aspired to a mid-evening timeslot, which the BBC were unwilling to agree. In 1982 the puppet reappeared on television in "Let's Read With Basil Brush", an infant schools programme on ITV produced by Granada Television. Basil eventually returned to the BBC, as co-host of the long-running children's television series "Crackerjack", broadcast at 4:55pm on Fridays, during the 1983–84 season. Basil Brush also performed in the theatre, regularly appearing live in Pantomime at Christmas;