Sooty

The creation of the franchise is traced back to 1948, when Corbett came across an all yellow bear glove puppet during a holiday in Blackpool. Purchasing the item, he made use of it to entertain his children during that time, including his newborn son Peter, naming the puppet Teddy. In time, his use of the puppet to entertain children with a variety of comedic routines and magic tricks earned him a place on the BBC's talent competition, Talent Night, being held at Belle Vue, Manchester in 1952. Corbett proved popular with viewers and became the overall winner, landing him a job as a regular performer on the BBC children's show Saturday Special, where his puppet immediately appealed to children, turning him into an overnight success. When the BBC offered him his own programme – to begin with, consisting of a few episodes at 12 guineas each – he opted to redesign Teddy's appearance to make him stand-out on black and white television screens. The overall change involved the use of black dust (or 'soot') upon the ears and nose, which inspired Corbett to change the puppet's name from Teddy to Sooty. The new look cemented the foundations of the franchise.

The franchise focuses primarily on three different characters, with the most prominent being the titular character himself – Sooty. Corbett's design for the character was that all his puppets were yellow bears who bore the distinct features of black ears and nose. When portrayed in performances on television and stage shows, the character was cheeky and naughty, fond of playing practical jokes, but was also kind-hearted and good. Part of the character's design that Corbett devised, was for Sooty being mute in his appearances and thus communicating with others by 'whispering' in their ear, to which the recipient often repeats what was said for the audience to understand. The character often retains two items that are iconic in his appearance: a magic wand, which he uses for spells conducted to the catchphrase of "Izzy wizzy, let's get busy!" – which Corbett devised – and tapping it to "Shave and a Haircut"; and a water pistol, which symbolises his cheekiness by often being used to soak others around him – including on programmes he is a guest on, such as soaking talk show hosts. On television programmes, the presenter – Sooty's owner and main puppeteer – often acts as narrator for scenes involving the character and other puppets, thus providing a 'voice' for Sooty during their narration to portray the character speaking normally with other puppet characters.

The other two characters in the franchise were created to accompany Sooty in performances, effectively forming the backbone of television and stage shows, and were created by Corbett. The first character, Sweep, was designed to be a dog and friend of Sooty, who would be portrayed as being dim-witted but good-natured and innocent, who would often make mistakes that would cause problems for others, often get his own back on others when tricked, and have an obsession with bones. An aspect of the character's design was his voice – in performances he would speak in a high-pitched squeak that would have some form of sentences, but would often be translated by the main puppeteer for audience to understand more clearly. The concept was created by Corbett's brother Leslie Corbett through the use of a saxophone reed, and became a permanent element of the character upon his debut. The second character, Soo, was designed as a panda bear, who would be portrayed as sweet, shy, and mainly responsible, acting as a motherly character to the other two. In later years, the character tends to sometimes hate being tricked by the others, but does not mind enjoying a laugh when someone else is being tricked. Unlike the other two, Soo was designed to have a voice, in order to provide ease in production of television episodes.

Sweep made his debut in 1957 and has remained a part of the franchise since his first appearance.

After his initial performances with his puppet between 1952 and 1955, Harry Corbett introduced Sooty officially with his own programme, Sooty; the title was changed to The Sooty Show in 1967. The programme, run on BBC 1 between 1955 and 1967 and made as a replacement for Muffin the Mule, focused primarily on a series of comedic sketches involving Sooty conducting simple tasks or ventures, which would sometimes go wrong and result in a mess that they would need to deal with. The show expanded on the routines used in episodes by featuring slapstick humour suitable for young children, magic tricks, and the inclusion of songs and music. The glove puppet gained a sufficient profile from television exposure that his likeness became a feature on charity collection boxes used by the Royal National Institute of Blind People in the late 1950s.[3]

Corbett expanded on the programme further with the inclusion of story-telling, and the creation of additional characters that would co-star with Sooty. The two most prominent additions were made during his tenure with the BBC: Sweep in 1957, handled by his brother Leslie Corbett; and Soo in 1964, voiced by his wife Marjorie and brought in after backlash on the BBC's desire not to include a female character. In 1967, Corbett fell into disagreement with the BBC, in particular with the new controller of BBC 1 that year, Paul Fox, who decided that Corbett be replaced with another person presenting his programme. Faced with the prospect of this or his programme being cancelled, Corbett decided to sign a deal with ITV to bring Sooty to commercial television, having earlier performed with the character in one of the channel's first product advertisement. The move led to him expanding on the characters that featured in the programme, including: Butch, another dog who occasionally plays the part of a villain; Ramsbottom, a snake; and 'Enry the Robot, a robot with light up eyes who keeps breaking down.

Alongside his television work, Corbett also created travelling shows with Sooty and various works for charity, but the switch to ITV created a tighter schedule that increased his workload. As a result, Corbett's work affected his health badly, culminating in him having a heart attack in December 1975. Knowing he would need to retire, Corbett opted to hand over control of his puppets and the franchise to his son Peter, who was now performing in children's television under the stage name of Matthew Corbett, with his own programme. Despite retiring, Corbett's role in children's television earned him an OBE for his services in January 1976, with his character Sooty being given a special one alongside him during his ceremony, while he continued to provide assistance on The Sooty Show as a guest star, making his final appearance in 1984 – five years before his death in 1989.

Following his father's retirement, Matthew Corbett took sole responsibility for the puppets on The Sooty Show, although he was forced to forgo his own programme as a direct result. Matthew maintained the programme's format until 1981 before making changes. These included discontinuing the use of an audience and comedic sketches, dropping a number of puppet characters – leaving only Sooty, Sweep and Soo as the main stars – and setting the show to a sitcom format set within a suburban home, in which Matthew and the puppets faced a misadventure in each episode. Elements such slapstick comedy, comedic messes, practical jokes, music and guests remained a part of the programme under the new format. Alongside the transformation of The Sooty Show, Matthew branched out into stage shows featuring Sooty, bringing him closer to his audiences.

Production on the new format of the television programme was aided by Connie Creighton, who had worked alongside Matthew's father and was given a co-star role on several episodes,[4] while following his mother's retirement from her role, the voice of Soo was cast to Brenda Longman; Sweep's handler was also replaced, with Brian Sanford replacing Matthew's brother. Episodes of the programme mostly were aimed at comedic value, but elements of education were included in some stories; a spin-off educational series generated for pre-school audiences, titled Learn With Sooty, was later released between 1989 and 1991. Although Matthew had dropped several characters from the show's old format, some returned in a guest capacity, while a new one was introduced in 1990 called Little Cousin Scampi – a character that Matthew devised as being part of Sooty's family, and who communicated in the same manner as Sooty.

The Sooty Show came to its conclusion in 1992, whereupon Matthew created a sequel for ITV that launched in 1993 under the title of Sooty & Co.. The new programme operated under the same format as its predecessor, but with episodes set mainly within a bric-a-brac shop in Manchester. While Creighton remained a part of the programme for a number of series, Longman was given a physical role as co-star in several episodes, alongside her role as Soo's voice actor, with the programme featuring several stories that ventured out into new locations. Matthew continued to conduct further stage shows, and also entered himself and Sooty as guests on other programmes. In 1996, Matthew sold the rights to the Sooty brand to the Global Rights Development Fund (a subsidiary of the Bank of Yokohama) for £1.4 million, creating Sooty International Limited whose intentions would be to bring Sooty to "true international stardom",[5][6] but leaving Matthew to be the frontman for the franchise. In 1997, Matthew devised an animated spin-off, titled Sooty's Amazing Adventures, which ran between 1997–98 and featured a different style of adventures to the live-action show, including voices for Scampi and Sweep, and a different voice actor for Soo. The spin-off lasted two series, before Matthew concluded it in preparation for his retirement in December 1998, following the finale of Sooty & Co.

Soo (left) made her debut in 1964 and has remained a part of the franchise since her first appearance.

Following his retirement, Matthew Corbett bequeathed his puppets to Richard Cadell, a fan of Sooty and a skilled magician, who focused on producing a new Sooty programme for ITV titled Sooty Heights, which launched in 1999. Like its predecessor, the new programme stuck to the same format, but with episodes set within a beachside hotel that the characters ran, with Cadell joined by Liana Bridges – a co-star whom he worked with on a number of episodes in the final series of Sooty & Co. By the end of 1999, The Britt Allcroft Company had purchased a 50% stake in the franchise from Sooty International Limited,[7][8] and created a joint-venture company called Bridgefilms (Also known as Sooty Limited), which would also handle distribution rights to existing Britt Allcroft property Magic Adventures of Mumfie. The Britt Allcroft Company was rebranded as Gullane Entertainment in 2000.

While Cadell continued to operate stage shows and produce a second spin-off series, titled Sooty's Magic, for the direct-to-video market, Sooty Heights was changed by Gullane Entertainment in 2001. As well as being renamed as Sooty, it also saw Bridges being replaced with Vicki Lee Taylor, the presentation style of the programme being changed, including the stage sets, and the addition of two new puppet characters to the cast: the return of Butch; and the introduction of a new character called Miki – a Brazilian cat.

In July 2002, Gullane Entertainment accepted a deal to be acquired by fellow children's company HIT Entertainment, the owners of franchises such as Bob the Builder and Barney. Following the purchase, the then-current TV series went under severe budget cuts, which included new puppet designs for the characters and effectively saw several puppeteers, including Longman, leaving the programme. The poor state of the programme effectively led to ITV cancelling the then-current series in 2004. HIT continued to struggle with the franchise from this point forward, and after the company was unable to offer ITV a new programme from the franchise in 2006, HIT announced in October 2007 that they had put the Sooty Limited/Bridgefilms subsidiary up for sale.[9]

In June 2008, Cadell bought the rights with the intention of saving the franchise and ensuring its future.[10] Alongside conducting new stage shows, he also began work on producing a new programme, which eventually launched on CITV in 2011 under the title of Sooty. Although the format remained the same, the setting focused on misadventures within a holiday park that they helped to run, while scripts were focused on younger audiences. Filming of the series took place at Brean Leisure Park, which Cadell co-owned with his brother, until it was put up for sale in 2014.[11] Additional series were still made, but focused on other locations, with the programme moving to ITVBe. Cadell continued to keep Sooty in the public eye, making guest appearances with him, and at times the other characters, on other programmes. In 2017, Sooty was officially inducted into The Magic Circle based upon the magic tricks he conducted with his handlers.[12]

After the expiry of the license at Brean, Cadells Limited announced in February 2022 to sign a new deal with Crealy Theme Park & Resort to open a Sooty-focused theme park area in May 2022.[13]

During Matthew Corbett's reign, seven stage shows were performed repetitively. For the first half of the tours, Matthew and Connie Creighton would present, and during the second half, while Matthew was busy writing and filming the TV shows, Connie and Spencer K. Gibbens would present.

• Sooty's Creepy Castle (1984/1985 – 1991/1992)
• Sooty's Picnic (1985/1986 – 1992/1993)
• Sooty's World Cruise (1986/1987 – 1993/1994)
• Sooty's Wild West Show (1987/1988 – 1994/1995)
• Sooty in Space (1988/1989 – 1995/1996)
• Sooty's Circus (1989/1990 – 1996/1997)
• The House That Sooty Built (1990/1991 – 1997/1998)

After Matthew retired, six stage shows toured the country. All starred Richard Cadell; three of them also featured Richard's Sooty Heights co-star, Liana Bridges, with the fourth starring Amanda Howard in Liana's place.

• Sooty's Magical Mystery Tour (1998/1999)
• Sooty's Treasure Hunt (1999/2000)
• Sooty's Magic Farm (2000/2001)
• The Magic and Mayhem Tour (2001/2002)
• The Izzy Wizzy Tour (2002/2003)
• The Comedy and Chaos Tour (2003/2004)

From 2005 to 2008, annual shows, featuring the puppet characters and various different presenters, toured around the UK.

• The Wet and Wild Show (2005)
• The Izzy Wizzy Holiday Show (2006)
• Sooty's Magic Castle (2007)
• Sooty's Magic Wand Factory (2008)

From 2009, stage shows again featured Richard Cadell. The first, Sooty in Space, was a reworking of one of Matthew Corbett's scripts, and toured the country throughout the year.

• Sooty in Space (2009)
• The Sooty Christmas Show (2011) – Garrick Theatre, London, and 2016–7 at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.
• The Sooty Show (2012) – Butlins at Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness[14]
• Sooty in Space (2012) – Duchess Theatre, London
• The Sooty Show (2014/15)
• Wizard of Oz (2016) – Easter tour
• The Sooty Show (2017)
• Sooty’s Magic Show (2019 – 2022)

For most years from 1957 to 1998, there was a Sooty Annual; no annual was published in 1987, 1988, or 1990.[19] The early annuals were published by the London Daily Mirror. Later annuals were published by Purnell and Sons.

The annuals feature an expanded cast of characters including:

• Sooty, who is shown as white not yellow and wears red trousers.
• Sweep, also white not grey, who walks on all fours like a normal dog, but can stand as a biped to play the bugle and so on.
• Cokey the Clown, another close friend of Sooty's.
• Mr Fusspot, Mayor of TV Town where the action takes place.
• PC Nab, one of the police of TV Town.
• Calico Joe, a fully clothed cat who smokes, always stands erect as a biped, and is a con man.

In 1956, Philips Records released a 78 r.p.m. record P.B.528. It contains (side 1) "Sooty" (by Corbett) performed by Marie Benson and also featuring Harry Corbett and Sooty with instrumental accompaniment, and (side 2) "Mr Dumpling" (by Heathcote) performed by Marie Benson with instrumental accompaniment.

In 1961 an album "Sooty Entertains" was released. It contains Sooty's Concert, Sooty The Chef, Danger - Animals At Work, Sooty's Theatre, Double-Cross Quiz, The Music Lesson, Sooty's Music Festival & Sooty's Photographic Studio. All were also released as four singles. Two more singles were released with titles Sooty's Party Part One & Part Two, and Bedtime With Sooty and Sooty At The Organ. In 1965 an E.P. was released "Sooty & His T.V. Friends" featuring Sooty's Signature Tune, Soo, Sweep & Harry. In 1973 a single and album were released. The single was "Super Sonic Sooty Spug" with "My Friend and I" on the B-side. The album was Around the World with Sooty...Harry Corbett and Sweep. This comprised eight songs with a linking story. The songs included both the A and B-sides of the single. These were released on the Music for Pleasure label.[20][21]