the mid-1990s was mentioned as "her Aunt Flo". There are no children in Fred's immediate family, although Amanda and the Tucker Twins appear regularly. The names and areas pictured are made from places and people Alex Graham knew, areas are said to resemble Scotland. Family friends' names would be used, as was Tinker's Wood, taken from a house Graham lived in. Topical references in the strips are kept to a minimum. One mention of The Beatles and the family's continually recovered lounge sofa suite are among the few giveaways of their age. There are mentions of New Year during 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, and feature some popular culture references such as 'Am I bovvered?' in the 2008 annual. The early strips do not generally feature follow-on storylines. Storylines with Fred staying at Jock's house or Uncle Albert staying a few days are among the only times the a story extended beyond the single strip format. A variant of this are sequences of strips over several days having a common theme such as for Christmas or summer holidays, but without narrative continuation. Again, some later Michael Martin strips do follow on for a few days, as with a birthday party mentioned in the 1997 book or stories such as a summer holiday or buying a new car. The first copyright dates (then for Associated Newspapers) were added to the cartoon strips during 1969. The nature of Fred Fred Basset himself seems to have been born during 1959 from comments in the earliest cartoons, and in true cartoon style, seems not to age. Fred's observations can be wry and a certain amount of surrealism is evident, with one early strip having his owners mention they thought the Fred Basset strip in the day's newspaper was "quite amusing" (cartoon 553 in book number 4). Later strips mention both Fred, his owners and passers-by being surreally aware of the newspaper Fred Basset strip and commenting as such, unaware that their own Fred is the character mentioned. Fred has a certain amount of snobbishness and appreciates the finer qualities of life, as shown clearly in the Alex Graham era strips, with attitudes of the time. He is equally at home misbehaving, being selfish,