[Rob!]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

Was he though? He did a double take, I always took that as Dr Finn making him jump. There was nothing else to suggest Basil didn't want him.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but I thought the inclination was that it was because he was black. It would certainly fit Basil’s character. Black characters were rarely cast in sitcoms in those days without there being some sort of connotation behind it.