Can my friend Derek come home to tea?

It was announced today (Yes, today being October 24th 2006) that 38 years after he first appeared on TV, Basil Brush has been nominated for a children's Bafta.

It seems that (Boom! Boom!) Basil, whilst making a tremendous contribution to society in his early years, has yet to receive the public acclaim that he so richly deserves.

I know what you're thinking, young Basil and I seem to have so much in common.

This reminds me of an incident about 17 years ago, when our son (who was finding his feet at Infant School) came home one afternoon, and asked if he could bring his new friend “Derek", home for tea. On asking his teacher, the following day what Derek was like, she appeared somewhat amused, and explained that Derek was her partner (and was in his 50's), and visited the school to hear the children read. In fact Derek, turned out to be Derek Fowldss aka "Mr Derek" of Basil Brush fame.

Whilst an extremely pleasant man, he never did come home for tea!