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 who lived upstairs, Irish sidekick Liam (played by Michael Byers), and Anil, a crazy café owner and inept cook. Several celebrities made cameo appearances on the show. These included Eamonn Holmes and Ainsley Harriott. The original shows were recorded before a studio audience, comprising mainly children, but the new programme used a post-production laughter track instead of an audience. Interspersed with the main programme, there are now various animated shorts in which Basil and/or another character is seen making jokes. The more recent puppet looks different from the original 1960s/1970s puppet in a number of aspects and, apart from being