The Sooty Show

The Sooty Show
The Sooty Show opening sequence, 1981-1984.
Presented by	Harry Corbett (1955-1975) Matthew Corbett (1976-1992)
Starring	Marjorie Corbett (The voice of Soo from 1964-1981) Brenda Longman (The voice of Soo from 1981-1992)
Composer(s)	Alan Braden
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	43 (1955-1992)
No. of episodes	481 (92 missing) (1955-1992)
Production
Location(s)	Teddington Studios
Running time	10-20 minutes
Production company(s)	BBC (1955-1967) Thames Television (1968-1992)
Distributor	BBC (BBC series) Fremantle Media (Thames series)
Release
Original network	BBC ITV
Original release	24 July 1955 (1955-07-24) – 30 November 1992 (1992-11-30)
Chronology
Followed by	Sooty & Co. (1993–1998)

The Sooty Show is a British children's television series that aired on BBC Television from 1955 until 1967 when the BBC eventually cancelled The Sooty Show after Paul Fox, the then-controller of BBC One at the time, cleared out some of the long running shows.

After it was cancelled by the BBC that year, The Sooty Show swiftly moved to ITV shortly after the launch of Thames Television in 1968, where the series remained until Thames lost its ITV franchise in 1992.

It features the glove puppet characters Sooty, Sweep (who first appeared in 1957) and Soo (first appeared in 1964), and follows them in their many mischievous adventures. The show was presented from the 1955 to 1975 by Harry Corbett, and from 1976 to 1992 by his son, Matthew, as he bought the rights for Sooty for £35,000 from his father, and acted as the token human being. In 1981, The Sooty Show changed from a sketch-based format with a studio audience into a more sitcom-based format set in the Sooteries cottage.

In 1992, The Sooty Show concluded its final series, when Thames Television lost its franchise as part of the ITV network. So, in 1993 (nearly a year after the series was concluded), the show was replaced/succeeded by Sooty & Co., also presented by Matthew Corbett and was made by Granada TV in Manchester, North-West of England.

Characters

• Sooty - A mute yellow bear who is the protagonist of the show. He owns a magic wand whose power is invoked using the words "Izzy wizzy, let's get busy!".
• Sweep - A grey dog with a penchant for bones and sausages. Known for communicating using bizarre squeaks (these were achieved by original puppeteer Leslie Corbett inserting a reed from an saxophone in his mouth to create Sweep's distinctive squeaks).
• Soo - A calm and collected female panda with a normal human voice, who acts as the foil for both Sooty and Sweep. Usually wears a red skirt. Originally voiced by Harry's wife Marjorie Corbett from 1964 to 1981 and later voiced by Brenda Longman from 1981 up to the present day.
• Butch - A dark brown dog, similar to Sweep but able to talk. Introduced by Harry Corbett in the early 1970s, but withdrawn by Matthew Corbett in 1980 returning to play the part of a villain.
• Ramsbottom - A brown snake who spoke in a deep Yorkshire accent and had the habit of telling rather convoluted stories and ditties.
• Little Cousin Scampi - Sooty's cousin, also mute like Sooty. Introduced in an episode of the same title in 1990 and became a regular character from 1991.
• Snuffles the Rabbit - Appeared in one episode, was very greedy and consequently annoying throughout the episode but turned out to be well-meaning as it drew to a close.

Episodes

UK VHS & DVD releases

Also, in January 2008, a promotional DVD containing 5 early 80s episodes was distributed by The Times newspaper, for Fremantle Media. The episodes featured were: Bob a Job; Safety First; Sleep Walking; Connie Comes to Tea and Sooty's Christmas Panto.

Other Sooty-based shows

Below is a list of other Sooty-based shows, after The Sooty Show.

Broadcast

Country	Channel
Italy	Rai 2 1983-1996
Hong Kong	TVB Jade
Singapore	MediaCorp
Portugal	RTP RTP2 1989
Finland	MTV2
Peru	TV Peru 1981 - 1984
Philippines	GMA Network
Norway	TV2
Thailand	TIGA
France	TF1 1977-1988
Indonesia	B Channel
United Kingdom	BBC One 1955-1967 ITV 1968-1992
Israel	Israeli Educational Television
New Zealand	TVNZ