Editing Flower Pot Men (section)

== Confusion with other characters ==
Retired headteacher Hilda Brabban created an unrelated set of characters also named Bill and Ben. These have been confused with the ''Flower Pot Men'', including in the initial versions of two obituaries of Brabban, published in ''[[The Independent]]'' and BBC's in-house magazine ''[[Ariel (newspaper)|Ariel]]'' respectively. The confusion also affected the BBC panel show ''[[QI]]'', where host [[Stephen Fry]] in the 2004 episode ''[[List of QI episodes#Series B (2004)|Bills]]'' mistakenly claimed Brabban had named the ''Flower Pot Men'' characters after her younger brothers.<ref name="SDE8">{{cite episode|title=[[List of QI episodes (D series)|Descendants]]|series=QI|airdate=10 November 2006|season=D|number=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/qi/episodes/2/10/|title=QI Series B, Episode 10 - Bills|website=[[British Comedy Guide]] }}</ref> All three sources later corrected their statements. Brabban sold three stories about a Bill and Ben to the BBC in the 1950s; but other than their names, they bore no resemblance to the ''Flower Pot Men''.<ref name="Obitclarif">{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hilda-brabban-obituary-clarification-118062.html|title = Hilda Brabban obituary - a clarification|website = [[Independent.co.uk]]|date = 5 February 2003}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/bill-and-ben-flower-pot-men-1952|title = The Original Flower Pot Men|date = 26 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/flobbadob-storm-flowerpot-over-who-sowed-seeds-bill-and-ben-117520.html|title = Flobbadob! Storm in a flowerpot over who sowed the seeds for Bill and Ben|first=James|last=Morrison|website = [[Independent.co.uk]]|date = 20 October 2002}}</ref> Brabban's stories were broadcast on the radio programme ''Listen with Mother'' in 1951; the Bill and Ben of the ''Flower Pot Men'' were first seen on the television programme ''Watch with Mother'' in 1952. Both programmes were produced by Freda Lingstrom. During her later life Brabban suffered a [[stroke]] and later maintained she did invent the characters used in the BBC series; this prompted lawyers, acting on behalf of the estate of the show's creator, Freda Lingstrom, to threaten Brabban with litigation if she appeared on television to propagate this claim.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/nostalgia-flobberdobberdobberdobber-what-fight-over-bill-and-ben-600758|title = Nostalgia: Flobberdobberdobberdobber... What a fight over Bill and Ben| date=13 May 2017 }}</ref>