From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Bear as portrayed by Leigh Francis in an episode of Bo' Selecta!.

The Bear is a fictional character who originated from the adult sitcom Bo' Selecta!. The Bear then went on to have his own show called A Bear's Tail which came from the Christmas pilot. Since the end of A Bear's Tail the Bear has featured in Bo in the USA. The Bear is played by Leigh Francis (a.k.a. Avid Merrion).

The Bear is a rather rude teddy bear who often flirts with women who guest star on the show. In an episode of Bo' Selecta! it was revealed he used to have a problem which caused him to shout out swear words at anyone, he has however broke the habit by thinking of women to take his mind off of it. After fantasising about women his tail will pop out. He gets it to "go away" by saying Christine Hamilton, however when she guest starred in an episode he had to say it in his mind.

The Bear often speaks of his parents who left him behind and went to Alaska. They did appear in an episode of A Bear's Tail and wanted him back. They soon saw how well he was getting on in his new home and let him stay. The only other relative is his uncle who is a dancing bear, the Bear stated he was chained up by his nose and once he tried to escape and ripped half his nose off and had to have it stitched up.

The Bear's only seen friend is a squirrel called Steven who always has something rude to say. It is never clear what he says because he squeaks but the Bear usually translates it and explains what a rude thing he has said. The Bear usually throws insults at Steven such as "knobjocky" and tells him to "fuck off".

For the first series of Bo' Selecta! the Bear had a talk show in his tree-house on Hampstead Heath which featured women who he would ask rude questions to. The format changed slightly for series two which featured him still hosting a talk show but with one difference; a bedtime story. Bedtime stories feature the Bear spotting something rude the guests are doing to the guest's surprise. This usually gives him an erection.

As of series three of Bo' Selecta the Bear had his own part on Avid Merrion's talk show. He would speak to guests as usual in the same dirty manner except it featured him on am actual talk show set.

The DVD cover of A Bear's Tail.

In his own spin-off series the Bear was adopted by the family the Hennersons, after they ran him over in their car at Christmas. The mother of the family was played by Patsy Kensit who adored the Bear. The dad though, who was played by Sean Pertwee, hated the Bear after he thought the Bear was stealing his wife. There was also a stroppy teenage daughter who would argue with the Bear.

The series only lasted for one year as Leigh Francis decided to bring back Bo' Selecta, but in America.

Leigh Francis brought Bo' Selecta back as Bo' in the USA in which it featured the whole series in America instead of Britain. The Bear (and many other celebrities) are staying at the Merrion Hotel. The Bear is currently friends with Verne Troyer who played Mini-Me in Austin Powers. Verne wants to revamp the Bear's show because he thought A Bear's Tail was rubbish along with many other characters.