Basil Brush pays tribute to Derek Fowlds at star's funeral

Derek Fowlds' TV companion Basil Brush was among those paying tribute to the late star at his funeral.

The actor, who played Mr Derek on the Basil Brush TV show, died aged 82 last month with the funeral being held at St Katharine's Church in Holt, Wiltshire on Monday.

The character tweeted that the vicar had "helped" him get up to the pulpit and also shared the poem he read at the service.

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The poem saw the famous fox lament the loss of his "dear friend" and that it "wouldn't be the same" without him.

Referring to their time spent on the show from 1969 to 1973, he shared: "Just four years we did, it seemed so many more.

"But by jove you made an impact you always leave em wanting more."

Rev Andrew Evans said about 180 mourners had attended the funeral. He told the BBC: "There were quite a lot of locals and his closest buddies, including most of the cast of Heartbeat. Clive Mantle did the eulogy and Richenda Carey did a reading but the star of the show was Basil Brush."

Fowlds died at the Royal United Hospital in Bath on 17 January following a battle with pneumonia that led to heart failure caused by sepsis.

During his long career, he was best known for his role as Bernard Woolley in Yes Minister and as Sgt Oscar Blaketon in long-running series Heartbeart.

At the time of his passing, the actor’s personal assistant Helen Bennett said: “He was the most beloved man to everybody who ever met him, he never had a bad word to say about anybody and he was so well respected, adored by everyone.

“You couldn’t have met a nicer person ever, he was just a wonderful man and I will miss him terribly.”

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