Fred Basset is a comic strip about an eponymous male basset hound. The cartoon was created by Scottish cartoonist Alex Graham and first appeared in the Daily Mail on July 8, 1963.^[1] It has since been syndicated around the world.^[1] Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Fred Basset is a greyhound purchased for approximately AU$9000 by Hamish and Andy in September of 2006. ... This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... An eponym is a person (real or fictitious) whose name has become identified with a particular object or activity. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the Scottish as an ethnic group. ... Cartoonist Jack Elrod at work. ... The Daily Mail is a British newspaper and the oldest tabloid, first published in 1896. ... is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Fred appears in the UK newspaper Daily Mail and more recently The Mail On Sunday from 1963 to date.^[2] Alex Graham, the creator and cartoonist based Fred on his own dog Frieda and drew over 9000 comic strips. Alex Graham died on 3 December 1991. Fred's cartoon strips are renamed as Wurzel in Germany, Lorang in Norway, Laban in Sweden and Pitko or Koiraskoira in Finland.^[3] is the 337th day of the year (338th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ...

The comic strip

Fred's owners are a husband and wife who are not given names in the strip.. The husband is a businessman in the City, enjoys socialising his local pubs, The Swan and The Chequers. He is shown often as being short of temper and spends much free time reading the newspaper and playing golf. The wife runs the house and the family, and has a busy life socialising with friends. She is shown several times as being a poor driver with many accidents in the family car. Known relations to the family are "her rich eccentric" Uncle Albert, and her sisters, one in UK and one overseas. A new relation introduced in the mid 1990s was mentioned as "her Aunt Flo".

The names and areas pictured are made from places and people Alex Graham knew, areas are said to resemble Scotland.^{[citation needed]} Family friends' names would be used, as was Tinker's Wood, taken from a house Graham lived in.^{[citation needed]}

Topical references are kept to a minimum, one mention to The Beatles, and the family's continually recovered lounge suite are the few giveaways of its age. There are mentions to New Year in 1970 and 1971 and 1 January 1973 when the UK entered the common market. The Michael Martin era strips have more topical references and mention of modern appliances, such as mobile phones and a microwave oven. The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... Microwave oven A microwave oven, or microwave, is a kitchen appliance employing microwave radiation primarily to cook or heat food. ...

The strips do not generally feature follow-on storylines, a rare storyline with Fred staying at Jock's house or Uncle Albert staying a few days are the only times the story extends beyond the one strip format. A variant on this are basic themed strips for Christmas or their Summer Holiday with no continuation. Again, later Michael Martin strips do follow on for a few days, as with a Birthday Party mentioned in the 1997 book.

The first copyright dates (then for Associated Newspapers) were added to the cartoon strips in 1969.

The nature of Fred

Fred Basset himself seems to have been born in 1959 from comments in the cartoons, and in true cartoon style, appears not to age. Fred's observations can be wry and a certain amount of surrealism enters his life, with one early strip having his owners mention they thought the Fred Basset strip in the day's paper was "quite amusing" (cartoon 553 in book number 4). Later strips mention both Fred, his owners and passers-by being aware of the Fred Basset strip and commenting as such.

Fred sees himself as a patron of the arts,^{[citation needed]} appreciating the finer points in life, and has a certain amount of snobbishness. He is equally at home misbehaving, being selfish, chasing other dogs and being a coward when more aggressive dogs are around. A small black Scottie (Scottish terrier) dog, Jock, is a regular companion,^[1] as well as Yorky (a Yorkshire terrier) in later years. A Doggy-Girlfriend, Fifi the poodle appears too.^[1] An unnamed alsatian dog is his adversary. The Tucker Twins and Amanda are regular young human companions. Fred likes chasing cats but freely admits he would not know what to do with one if he caught it (echoing similar in Warner Bros. Roadrunner television cartoons). The Scottish Terrier (also known as the Aberdeen Terrier), popularly called the Scottie, is a breed of dog best known for its distinctive profile. ... The Yorkshire Terrier, (often called simply the Yorkie), is a breed of small dog in the toy category. ... For the political insult see poodle (insult). ... The German Shepherd Dog (also Alsatian) is a popular breed of dog. ... “WB” redirects here. ... “Road Runner” redirects here. ...

Story repetition

The Alex Graham strips into the 1980s display much repetition of previous strips with hardly any differences.^{[citation needed]} The colour Mail On Sunday strips were mostly earlier ideas redrawn. Certain much-repeated stories, such as Yorky's back flip, the wife crashing the car, Fred being chased by the same dog, the endless Fred's Master vs The Vicar chess games, Fred stealing food and others marked a dip in quality. The last few years by Graham into the 1990s, however, had some new ideas.

Some strips are merely a glimpse of a moment of life from a dog's point of view. As a cartoon strip, they break the rule of sometimes not having a traditional ending, a punchline or even a distinct purpose, making them different from a Garfield or Peanuts strip. This article is about the comic strip. ... For other uses, see Peanut (disambiguation). ...

After Alex Graham

Once the stockpiled 18 months' worth of Alex Graham cartoons had been published, they were continued in Graham's style with artwork by Michael Martin and Graham's daughter, Arran Graham, continuing the family link.^[1] They are new cartoons being published, not merely re-runs of earlier ones.

The Michael Martin drawings started out following the general style and humour of the original Graham Freds, but after around 2000 strips, a more casual style of drawing is apparent. These are sometimes lacking the subtlety of style & the knowing well-drawn expression of Fred, which was the strip's appeal for nearly 40 years. They occasionally have stories which are rather unlikely, such as Fred's Master taking Fred in their car into the Car Wash and leaving the car window open (in the 1994 book). Another anomaly was Fred's Master attempting to take the car to work (also in the 1994 book) whereas he previously always caught the train.

Fred Basset books

Fred Basset features in many books worldwide, in the UK a long-running series of books reprints most of the newspaper strips. These are books number 1 (1963) to book 45 (1993). Later books dated by year, 1994 onwards, include the Michael Martin drawn cartoons, as well as Graham's colour ones until they ran out by the 1996 book.

In 1977, a large hardback book entitled "Fred Basset and the Spaghetti" was published by The Daily Mail. It featured a children's story, not the usual comic strips, written by Alex Graham's son, Neilson, together with illustrations by Alex.

In 1989, a complilation book entitled "Fred Basset Bumper Book No 2" was issued. The title has since caused confusion, as there is no Bumper Book No 1 as such. A book published in 1988, "Fred Basset 25 Years", a similar compilation, is considered it's forerunner.

Colour strips as used in The Mail On Sunday were added from book 36 in 1984. This backlogged the black and white strips, and by book 41 in 1989 they were still using 1984 strips. The next book 42 jumped from book 41 ending with strip 6483 to strip 8159 dated 1990. The missing cartoons remain unpublished since the original newspaper strips.

The distinctive "Fred" handwriting font was supplied by Les Hulme until the early 2000s.

One Fred Basset book appeared in USA in 1969, "Meet Fred Basset" published as a 'Fawcett Gold Medal Book'. Several books appeared in Australia from 1979-1985 and one published in Germany.

Fred in other media

Despite his many years featured in newspapers around the world, his profile is not as high as other cartoon characters.^{[citation needed]} There were few toys and novelty items made, as well as a yearly Calendar. Fred, surprisingly, is one of the few characters not yet to have a full-length film made featuring them, as with Garfield, Felix the Cat etc. This article is about the comic strip. ... The famous Felix pace as seen in Oceantics (1930) Felix the Cat is a cartoon character from the silent-film era. ...

Fred Basset is currently syndicated using the Michael Martin strips and is available by email subscription from gocomics.com and others.

Syn FM (Student Youth Network) radio show Mornings Without Kerrianne also ran a segment each week in which they read out Fred Basset on air, with host Ben Lewis playing Fred, Chris Tremonti narrating and Lauren Smith filling in any other required parts. This article is currently under discussion at Wikipedia:Deletion review, because a recent decision to retain or delete it on Wikipedia has been appealed. ...

Fred Bassett is regularly read out on air by Hamish Blake through all of Australia on the TodayFM Network's Hamish and Andy Show at the end of the Friday afternoon show. Hamish loves it and play it at every opportunity, much to the dismay of his co-host, Andy. They both also own a Greyhound which is called "Fred Basset" and is raced throughout Victoria. Hamish Blake (born 11 December 1981) is an Australian comedian from Melbourne, Australia. ... Hamish and Andy are an Australian comedy duo, consisting of Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Fred Basset television cartoon series

In mid 1976 a short-lived 5 minute television cartoon of Fred Basset was shown on the BBC, made by Bill Melendez Productions, voiced by actor Lionel Jeffries that is available on VHS.^[1] The cartoons are oddly rather downbeat and depressing in tone, rather unlike the cheery strips, perhaps explaining their short television life. The character voices are not well suited, as is typical with television versions of book characters. For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Lionel Charles Jeffries (born June 10, 1926 in Forest Hill, London, England) is a British actor, screenwriter and film director. ... Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed Top view of VHS cassette with front casing removed The Video Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS, is a recording and playing standard. ...

References

• The Fred Files, Orion Books, 2005
• Fred Basset books 1963-2007
• "Fred Basset" VHS Video Castle Vision

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Maria Esposito. Fred Basset is back. C21 Media. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
2. ^ Fred Basset. Toonhound. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
3. ^ Titles of Over 230 Comics in Finnish. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 86th day of the year (87th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 70th day of the year (71st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 70th day of the year (71st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Fred Basset at GoComics -- The current syndicated Fred strips
• Fred Basset at Don Markstein's Toonopedia - A brief overview