Public safety/information films

[VicDakin]

Just an excuse to look at pics of Basil Brush,my fav kids prog of the 70s,always makes me smile,why is it when anyone grabs his snout i laugh.

Boom Boom! Basil Brush comes to the rescue of potential careless bathers in this COI (Central Office of Information) film, trading bad puns and banter with his erstwhile comic partner Roy North.

Basil was voiced and operated by Ivan Owen, a publicity-shy actor who remained anonymous during the puppets career and never gave interviews or allowed himself to be photographed. It has been reported that he modelled the voice on the comic actor Terry-Thomas

[Make Them Die Slowly]

He certainly got around.

[VicDakin]

I had to check this was'nt printed on april the 1st,but look at the company he keeps just recently,who next Roy Chubby Brown?

Basil Brush is under investigation by the hate crimes unit of Northamptonshire constabulary. A viewer complained when the fictional fox made unfavourable remarks about a Gypsy character on his BBC kids' sitcom, The Basil Brush Show, and representatives of several groups from the Gypsy and Irish Traveller communities have since voiced their disapproval.

The offending episode was made six years ago, but was repeated on the CBBC channel last month and is available on DVD. In it, Basil meets a Gypsy fortune-teller who puts a curse on his friend, Mr Stephen. He also cracks a joke about another travelling mystic having stolen his wallet. Boom boom.

Basil was created by Peter Firmin (of Bagpuss and Clangers fame) in 1968 as a vulpine Terry-Thomas. Clad in tweed cape and cravat, he sneered at modernity and made fun of everyone who wasn't him. And, like all puppets, he got away with things a human never could. Remove the Emu from Rod Hull's arm then replay that clip of him attacking Michael Parkinson and it immediately becomes a matter for the police.

Back in the day, Basil would regularly call his Irish companion, Mr Billy, "shamrock" and "Irish coffee" but these days, as a de-clawed sitcom character, he is guilty of little more than recycling old gags. The Gypsy plotline seems to be an ill-judged one-off. Out of his 1970s context of Alf Garnetts and Bernard Mannings, Basil seems anachronistic, sharing a flat with two children and their boyband-esque uncle. In a society striving for integration, he is one stuffed animal if he thinks he can get away with his old schtick now. Following the letter of the law, the police are probably right to investigate the furry old scamp for stereotyping a recognised ethnic group. But let's hope they stop short of actually bringing him in for questioning.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Not sure about Basil but just look at Bert and Ernie!

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Could this be Basil in disguise?

[VicDakin]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

Not sure about Basil but just look at Bert and Ernie!

You know i always knew they were shifty,its something about the eyes,look at them,just about to torture a rubber duck,the humanity of it

[VicDakin]

Not content with using the Grim Reaper to push home the message they also had Donald Pleasence as narrator.
"I am the spirit of dark and lonely water: ready to trap the unwary, the showoff, the fool..." intones the voiceover, "...and this is the kind of place you'd expect to find me. But no-one expects to find me here", as the scene switches to a group of children playing on the muddy edge of a murky pool. A boy is teetering on the steep, slippery bank attempting to retrieve a football from the pool with a stick. "But that pool is deep. The boy is showing off...the bank is slippery" says the spirit, approaching from behind as the child slips into the water.
"The unwary ones are easier still" observes the spirit, as a boy is seen fishing in a duckpond, leaning out over the water as he holds onto a tree branch. "The branch is weak, rotten; it'll never take his weight." The branch gives way and the boy tumbles into the pond as the spirit appears among the reeds.

Lonely Water (widely known as The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water) is a 1973 British Public Information short film made for the Central Office of Information. The film aimed to warn children of the dangers of careless or foolhardy behaviour in the vicinity of water, and was shown regularly on TV for several years during breaks in children's programming. Lonely Water is widely recalled as one of the most memorable and chilling of PIFs. In a poll carried out by the BBC on the 60th anniversary of the COI in 2006, Lonely Water was chosen as the UK's fourth-favourite PIF of all time and the highest ranked one-off production. Dozens of comments attested to the film's power and lasting impact on 1970s children.

[VicDakin]

Jon Pertwee talking bolloxs,I mean SPLINK...........

Here's how to remember the Green Cross Code. First find a Safe place to stop.

Stand on the Pavement near the kerb.

Look all around for traffic, and listen.

If traffic is coming, then let it pass.

When there is no traffic near, walk straight across the road.

Keep looking and listening for traffic while you cross.

Well now we'll all remember the Green Cross Code, and use it. Splink!

[Splatterdragon73]

Originally Posted by VicDakin

Warning dullest film stills ever

Probably the most boring and condescending PIF ive ever scene,basically telling old folks how to cross the road.

I Stopped, I Looked and I Listened (1975, 15 minutes): a moving trip down memory lane and some road safety advice for the older pedestrian.

Yeah, sorta like the Green Cross Code for wrinklies only minus Dave Prowse!

[Splatterdragon73]

Originally Posted by VicDakin

I had to check this was'nt printed on april the 1st,but look at the company he keeps just recently,who next Roy Chubby Brown?

Basil Brush is under investigation by the hate crimes unit of Northamptonshire constabulary. A viewer complained when the fictional fox made unfavourable remarks about a Gypsy character on his BBC kids' sitcom, The Basil Brush Show, and representatives of several groups from the Gypsy and Irish Traveller communities have since voiced their disapproval.

The offending episode was made six years ago, but was repeated on the CBBC channel last month and is available on DVD. In it, Basil meets a Gypsy fortune-teller who puts a curse on his friend, Mr Stephen. He also cracks a joke about another travelling mystic having stolen his wallet. Boom boom.

Basil was created by Peter Firmin (of Bagpuss and Clangers fame) in 1968 as a vulpine Terry-Thomas. Clad in tweed cape and cravat, he sneered at modernity and made fun of everyone who wasn't him. And, like all puppets, he got away with things a human never could. Remove the Emu from Rod Hull's arm then replay that clip of him attacking Michael Parkinson and it immediately becomes a matter for the police.

Back in the day, Basil would regularly call his Irish companion, Mr Billy, "shamrock" and "Irish coffee" but these days, as a de-clawed sitcom character, he is guilty of little more than recycling old gags. The Gypsy plotline seems to be an ill-judged one-off. Out of his 1970s context of Alf Garnetts and Bernard Mannings, Basil seems anachronistic, sharing a flat with two children and their boyband-esque uncle. In a society striving for integration, he is one stuffed animal if he thinks he can get away with his old schtick now. Following the letter of the law, the police are probably right to investigate the furry old scamp for stereotyping a recognised ethnic group. But let's hope they stop short of actually bringing him in for questioning.

I wouldn't blame anybody for thinking this is some sort of wind-up! Sheer lunacy!!

Let's face it, you probably can't say 'Hi' to somebody these days without being accused of some controversy or another. Damn do-gooders are everywhere and these cretins really should get a life and wake up to the real world.

I wonder who's next on the moral majority hit list? Zippy, George and Bungle? Sooty and Sweep? Keith Harris and Orville or maybe even Bob Carolgees and Spit?