Basil Brush 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 "Nixon at Nine-Five" in 1967 and "The Nixon Line" (1967–68), to such good effect that the fox was offered his own show. Basil thus acquired his own television series on the BBC, "The Basil Brush Show", which ran for 12 years from 1968 until 1980, in which he was supported by various famous stooges: first, in 1968, by the actor Rodney Bewes, known on the show as "Mr Rodney"; next, from
The Gifts of the Magician The Gifts of the Magician The Gifts of the Magician is a Finnish fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in "The Crimson Fairy Book" (1903), listing his source as "Finnische Mahrchen". A widower forbade his only son to shoot at some birds. One day, he did so, and chased after a bird he wounded until he became lost in the forest. When night fell, he saw a magician being chased by wolves. He shot the largest wolf, which put all the rest to flight. The magician gave him shelter during the night. In the morning, he could not be woken.