Who Was The Voice Of Basil Brush

Imagine, if you will, a fox. Not just any fox, but one with the ego of a rock star, the timing of a seasoned comedian, and a laugh that sounds like a malfunctioning woodchipper. That, my friends, is Basil Brush, the tweed-wearing, catchphrase-slinging puppet who terrorized—I mean, entertained—British children for decades. But behind the furry facade and the relentless cry of "Boom! Boom!" lurked a mystery. Who on earth was the actual human voice behind this tiny tyranny?

The answer is a man named Ivan Owen, and his story is more surprising than a badger in a tuxedo. Owen wasn't a trained performer from a drama school. He was a graphic designer—a quiet, bespectacled bloke who probably knew his way around a pantone swatch better than a puppet stage. In 1962, he built a rusty, mangy-looking fox puppet out of spare materials for a children's TV show. That puppet? Basil’s rougher, pre-glam cousin. Owen, desperate for a voice, just opened his mouth and... out came The Voice.

Here’s the first big shocker: that iconic laugh—the one that goes "Ha Ha Ha! Boom! Boom!"—was entirely accidental. Ivan Owen was not doing a comedy laugh. He was actually smoking a cigarette during a rehearsal break. He inhaled, coughed, and let out this raspy, phlegmy, time-bomb of a chuckle. The producer screamed, "That's it! That's the laugh!" And just like that, a nicotine-induced hack became a national treasure. So every time you hear Basil cackle, you’re hearing a smoker’s cough from 1964. Truly, the 1960s were a wild time.

The Unlikely Double Act

Ivan Owen didn’t just voice Basil; he basically was Basil for thirty years. He performed the puppet live, hiding behind a curtain, often in agony. Because here’s a secret no child knew: Owen suffered from terrible back problems. To operate the puppet’s mouth and eyes, he had to hold his arm at a brutal, unnatural angle for hours. He once described it as "like being invited to a party where someone repeatedly hits you in the spine with a cricket bat." And he did it all for the love of the joke.

He also had the delicate task of playing straight man to his own creation. The show’s dynamic was simple: Basil would insult everyone, make a pun so bad it hurt, and then bellow "Boom! Boom!" while pretending to bonk his human co-star on the head. Ivan Owen, the quiet designer, created a character who was the exact opposite of himself. Basil was loud, boastful, and a bit of a menace. Owen was polite, gentle, and once said his biggest regret was not having a proper beard.

The Voice That Refused to Die

After Ivan Owen passed away in 2000, the nation panicked. Who could possibly replicate that croaky, smoky, uniquely irritating vocal fry? The answer arrived in 2002, and it broke the internet (well, the dial-up equivalent). The new voice of Basil Brush? David Jason. Yes, that David Jason—the beloved actor from Only Fools and Horses and Danger Mouse. Imagine Del Boy Trotter suddenly possessing a fox’s soul. It was a bizarre, brilliant choice. Jason brought the same cheeky cockney charm, but with less coughing.

But wait—there’s a twist even stranger than a fox in a flat cap. For the American version of the show, which aired briefly in the 1970s, Basil was voiced by a man named Larry Harmon. Harmon was already famous for playing Bozo the Clown. So for a few years, the voice of that rude British fox was actually America's most beloved children's clown. Try un-imagining Bozo saying "Boom! Boom!" It's impossible. You're welcome.

The Legacy of the Rascal

So, what’s the takeaway from this grand, odd tale? The voice of Basil Brush is not a single person, but a chain of weird, wonderful accidents. It started with a graphic designer’s smoker’s cough, was carried on by a sitcom legend, and briefly borrowed by a clown. And through it all, the character never lost his core: that of a pompous, lovable, tiny dictator who thinks he's funnier than you are.

Next time you hear that "Boom! Boom!" wail from a forgotten corner of YouTube, tip your hat. You’re hearing the ghost of Ivan Owen, the quiet man with the bad back, the genius who turned a cough into a catchphrase. And if you listen closely, you might just hear David Jason laughing all the way to the bank—or Bozo the Clown weeping into a red wig. Either way, it remains the most ridiculous, glorious voice in children’s television history.