[2] The series is set in a colourful modern penthouse flat, which is jointly owned by Basil and his sidekick, Stephen (Christopher Pizzey).

Living with them are Stephen's niece and nephew, Molly (Georgina Leonidas), and Dave (Michael Hayes).

They are left under the care of Stephen so that Molly & Dave's parents can go on a round the world trip.

Notably, the series takes a laissez-faire attitude towards the show's atmosphere, and the fourth wall is frequently broken; characters often reference the fact that they are on a studio set, and several episodes feature scenes and segments where the show's cameramen and crew become involved in the storyline.

Basil Brush is a red fox, rendered as both a glove puppet and an animated character.

He was also not very clever as he did not seem to know a very simple sum (as established in the episode "Bing Trouble", when Molly told him that 2 + 2 = 4 to which he said "Does it?").

Liam is played by Michael Byers and is a distant cousin of Stephen's, replacing him as Basil's sidekick in the fifth series of the show, appearing from 2006 to 2007.

Several episodes revolve around some of his near-impossible inventions (like a time machine and a shrink ray) and he is also good at chemistry.

He is regularly shown to have a flair for business and has, throughout the course of the series, set up a media empire which was later destroyed by Basil and Stephen in the episode Meeja Mogul, imported stolen goods and even started his own television show.

From Series 5, Molly appears in only a few episodes as a recurring character, with Lucy partially replacing her character-type.

An American who was introduced as 'Madison Square-Gardens', Madison is a fashion student living in the flat upstairs.

Like Mr Stephen, he is shown to have a less than average intelligence, and a running joke through the series is the terrible quality of his food.

In the episode Camping it is revealed that Anil wears a wig, has a glass eye, false teeth and a prosthetic wooden leg.

In the first series finale, he arrived and pretended to be kind and helpful to the local people but secretly he was stealing things and getting Basil into trouble.

In the third series he and Basil had to get along for 24 hours without fighting and arguing but they over-wound the wind-up clock and they fought one minute too early .

He is named after Leonard Rossiter, who famously played the landlord Rupert Rigsby in the sitcom Rising Damp.

She is a terrible cook like her boss but has a beautiful singing voice, as shown to perform songs occasionally throughout the series.

In the series 1 finale, Amanda sides with Mortimer when he takes over the show and turning it into a seedy backdrop.

She dresses up as a club harlot and breaks the fourth wall, claiming she "can't afford to be out of work".

The show was presented by Basil Brush and Barney Harwood and was produced for three series by The Foundation (the same production company that produced The Basil Brush Show) and aired live from 5 January 2008 to 25 September 2010 on BBC Two and CBBC.

Right Entertainment and Universal Pictures Video released several DVD sets in the United Kingdom.

A selection of episodes were released on DVD by ABC Video/Roadshow Entertainment and Universal Pictures Australia.