The iconic hat poll

[maki]

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."

[Hotblack]

I'm still clueless about who Benny with the knitted cap is.

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

[mutepointe]

Thanks.

[Innocent Bystander]

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".

[Hotblack]

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

[Anyanka]

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).

[Nanohedron]

It wasn't Benny's hat...but I do believe he sported a blue(ish) egg cosy.

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

[Innocent Bystander]

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

[Hotblack]

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'.

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.