Gordon the Gopher was a puppet gopher that appeared on Children's BBC presenting programmes together with Phillip Schofield between 1985 and 1987, during the afternoon in-vision continuity, called The Broom Cupboard. In 1987 Gordon and Phillip moved to presenting Going Live! with Sarah Greene. Gordon was operated by several people in The Broom Cupboard, but the person who did it longest was BBC TV executive Paul Smith who also operated Gordon for the whole run of Going Live!. He was famously attacked by a puppy that was brought onto the show. They were replaced in The Broom Cupboard by Edd the Duck and Andy Crane. Gordon reappeared a few times: in 1990, he appeared in a children's programme called Scrooge – A Christmas Sarah; and on 26 February 2006, he appeared very briefly at the end of Channel 4's The 100 Greatest Funny Moments. After the cancellation of his show, Gordon has been given a tragic (fictitious) life. In an interview on Channel 4's Zippy and George's Puppet Legends (2005), Phillip Schofield revealed that Gordon is now an alcoholic. In an interview with Heat magazine (27 May – 2 June 2006 issue), Phillip revealed that Gordon had died in a ramraiding accident. In December 2006, however, Gordon returned to the screen in the Going Live! segment of BBC special It Started With... Swap Shop. Gordon was parodied by comedian Brian Conley as "Larry the Loafer", puppet sidekick of sarcastic children's TV presenter Nick Frisbee. The skit is one of Conley's most remembered characters, along with the catchphrase "It's a puppet!"
