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Thursday, 20 December 2007, 16:04 GMT

Basil Brush brings back Swap Shop

Barney Harwood and Basil Brush Children's favourite Basil Brush is returning to TV as the co-host of an updated version of classic Saturday morning children's show Swap Shop.

CBBC presenter Barney Harwood has been signed up to present Basil's Swap Shop alongside the puppet fox for a 13-week run on BBC Two.

Each week celebrity guests will appear on the show to trade their goods.

Noel Edmonds and Keith Chegwin presented the original BBC One show, which started in 1976.

'National treasure'

John Craven and Maggie Philbin were also part of the team on the flagship Saturday morning show, which had the full title Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.

One of the UK's first Saturday morning children's magazine programmes, it ran for six years before being replaced with Saturday Superstore in 1982.

Swap Shop Its gimmick was to ask children to phone in with details of toys and collectibles they would like to swap.

A nostalgic look back at the programme, It Started With Swap Shop, was watched by 3.99 million people on BBC Two last December.

The new version was commissioned by the BBC from Entertainment Rights, which owns the rights to Basil Brush - who made his television debut in 1963.

Producers are planning to introduce a mix of interactive and comedy-based sketches, music and games to the programme.

"This show takes Basil into a dynamic new multiplatform environment and he will bring Swap Shop to a whole new generation of children," said Mike Heap, head of Entertainment Rights.

"The digital element will enhance the viewing experience and children will be able to participate in the show first hand through the multi-platform interactive format the series will adopt," he added.




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Basil Brush set to go worldwide (19 Mar 04 |  Entertainment )
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Basil's brush with jokes boom (29 Oct 03 |  Manchester )
Basil Brush aims for pop charts (18 Mar 03 |  Entertainment )

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