Here's an iconic knit hat, a very cunning one!

"A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything."

That's Benny from Crossroads (a cheap and tacky british daytime soap set in a west midlands motel of the same name from the 70s). Benny was a bit simple and IIRC was rather fond of Miss Diane

Thanks.

Crossroads was notorious for the shakey scenery and missed cues. Victoria Wood wrote a spoof Soap Opera called "Acorn Antiques" which did a serious hatchet job on Crossroads, although it was never named.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Antiques Julie Walters was "Mrs Overall".

And loads of Acorn Antiques to check out on YouTube if you wish to while away a few hours

It wasn't Benny's hat though - I never watched Crossroads, but I do believe he sported a blue(ish) egg cosy.

Innocent Bystander & Ben got it right; 'twas Compo from the extremely long-standing comedy series 'Last of the Summer Wine'.

Maki - thank you for reminding me of Jayne's hat, one of my favourite scenes from Firefly (which means nothing, as it consisted entirely of favourite scenes).

I had to look up "egg cosy". Best I can guess is Benny had to have a very tiny head.

Nearly. It's a reference to his bald spot.

It must be a hang over from my childhood. I never watched Crossroads either but a woolly hat like that came to be called a Benny hat by everyone I knew and I still think of it as such, despite the interminable years of Compo, Clegg and Foggy riding around the Dales in bathtubs.