| Sooty | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Harry Corbett |
| Information | |
| Species | Bear |
| Gender | Male |
Sooty is a British glove puppet bear and TV character popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. The children's television show which bears his name has continued in various forms since the 1950s and, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the longest-running children's programme in the UK. He was 60 years old on 19 July 2008 and, as this was close to Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday, Sooty sent him a birthday message.[1]
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Sooty was originally devised by Harry Corbett (nephew of fish and chip shop chain owner Harry Ramsden [2]), who bought the puppet as a present for his son, Matthew Corbett, from a stall when he was on holiday in Blackpool in 1948.
Sooty, a small orange bear with black ears, is mute to the audience but can communicate with his operator by apparently whispering in his ear. He first appeared on screen on the BBC in 1952 on the BBC's Talent Night. This particular show came from the TV Theatre at the annual British Radio Show held on this occasion at Belle Vue, Manchester. For ten days there had been nightly heats of hopefuls in the theatre culminating in each of the winners performing live on the Saturday night variety show transmitted nationally. Harry Corbett won his heat and then, by public vote, the overall winner on the live TV show: there was only the BBC1 TV channel available at this time and Harry Corbett became instantly famous nationwide. Sooty and Harry then became regulars on the BBC children's show Saturday Special from 1952-1955.
The original bear was completely orange, and Harry covered his ears and nose with soot so that he would show up better on black and white television - hence the puppet's name. He would later be joined by other puppet characters Sweep (a dog who communicates by a saxophone reed type squeak), Soo (a shy and sweetly spoken panda), Kipper (a cat), Butch (another dog who occasionally plays the part of a villain), Ramsbottom (a snake), 'Enry the Robot , Cousin Scampi (another bear), Miki (another cat - this time, novelly, Brazilian) and Maggie Mouse. Like Sooty, Scampi appears to talk only in a very light whisper which can be heard only when someone puts their ear close to his mouth.
Following Harry Corbett's retirement in 1976, Sooty was operated by Corbett's son Matthew, and enjoyed a new wave of popularity on stage and TV. The Sooty Show continued until 1992, evolving into a sitcom format. Like his father, Matthew took on a paternal role to the puppets, sharing a house with Sooty, Sweep, Soo (and latterly little cousin Scampi) and becoming the butt of many practical jokes. Matthew developed a well-meaning but slightly conceited screen character, whose boasting and pomposity was frequently punctured by the mayhem caused by Sooty and Sweep.
Connie Creighton, who with her husband John had worked with Harry Corbett and Sooty for many years, continued to work on the programme, and co-starred in several episodes as well as touring with the stage show.[3]
In 1993 Sooty, Sweep, Soo, Little Cousin Scampi and Matthew all moved to Manchester for Sooty & Co., with the gang running a shop that "sells almost everything". Brenda Longman, the voice of Soo since the early eighties, co-starred as neighbour Mo.
Matthew Corbett retired in 1998, bequeathing Sooty to then co-star Richard Cadell, who presented the show through another five series, at first under the name Sooty Heights, then under the name, Sooty, both set at a hotel. He was joined in these by two female co-hosts, starting with Liana Bridges from 1999-2000 who worked in Sooty & Co. in the same period he did, and then Vicki Lee Taylor from 2001–2004.
Repeats of Sooty Heights & Sooty were shown on the CITV Channel between 2006 and 2009.
In June 2008 it was announced that Richard Cadell had bought the rights to Sooty, which had been put up for sale by HIT Entertainment in October 2007. Plans for three new TV show formats - a sitcom-style show similar to previous series, featuring the gang working at a handyman agency, a live variety show and a pre-school game show - were underway, plus a reworking of one of Matthew Corbett's stage shows.[4] A brand new Sooty adventure, Sooty's Big Day Out, was released on DVD and was made available via the official Sooty Show website.
A new 26-part series is currently airing on CITV and is set in a holiday camp with Richard Cadell as the caretaker.[5]
Sooty's personality fluctuates between kindness, cheekiness, and downright naughtiness, very often misinterpreting things said or suggested by Harry, Matthew, Richard or Soo (possibly intentionally). He plays the xylophone and keeps a wand with which he performs magic. This is accompanied by the catchphrase "Izzy wizzy, let's get busy!"
His water pistol is also iconic, with Matthew and Richard usually on the receiving end of a soaking, although even royalty have fallen foul of the water.[6] Sooty has also hit both Matthew and Richard with a hammer in some episodes, to which they have always shouted "Don't do that for goodness sake!"
Matthew and Richard carried on Harry's tradition of ending every show with the line "Bye bye everybody, bye bye", and in Matthew's last ever episode, his final scene was a collection of him saying the immortal words over the preceding years.
The Sooty Show was first aired on the BBC in 1955 until 1967 where it was cancelled by the BBC and was changed to Thames Television and aired on ITV from then until the end of the TV series in 1992. In 1957, Sooty was joined by Sweep, and in 1964, Soo was introduced as Sooty's girlfriend. The latest series, simply titled Sooty, began on 5th September 2011 on the CITV Channel.
There were also three spin-off series.
Sooty's Amazing Adventures was an animated cartoon series that aired from 1996-1997. It featured Sooty, Sweep, Soo and Scampi living in an old theatre by the coast. It was produced by award winning animation company Cosgrove Hall Films. The show gave Sweep and Scampi actual voices, but kept Sooty mute.
Learn with Sooty was a straight-to-video series developed to make learning fun and introduce the basic skills that children really need to understand. There were eight videos produced; Start to Read, Have Fun with Numbers, Simple Science, Be Safe, Start to Read 2, A to Z of Animals, Down on the Farm and Have Fun with Numbers 2. In 1995, three of the videos (Start to Read, Have Fun with Numbers and Be Safe) were re-released with new packaging.
Sooty's Magic was also a straight-to-video series that taught basic magic tricks for children to learn and practice themselves, with each release ending with a magic show presented by Sooty and Richard Cadell. The videos were supported by a range of Sooty's Magic toys. Three videos were released between 2000 and 2002; Sooty's Magic Show, Sooty's Magic Club and Sooty's Magic Birthday Party. Due to Hit Entertainment's takeover of Gullane Entertainment at the time, the final video, Sooty's Magic Birthday Party, never received a wide release, with only those who pre-ordered the video receiving their copy.
Sooty also had a successful number of (mainly Christmas) stage shows across the UK.
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.
After Matthew retired, six stage shows toured the country. All starring 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.
From 2005 to 2008, annual shows, featuring the puppet characters and various different presenters, toured around the UK.
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.
In the early to mid 1960s, there were at least five Sooty annuals published by the London Daily Mirror. These features an expanded cast of characters including:
A Sooty annual also appeared in 1991-92.
In 1973 a single and album was 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.[7][8]
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