Sooty

Context & Trivia

The fifth television incarnation of the character, this 2011 series was the first produced after Richard Cadell acquired the franchise rights in 2008, specifically to keep Sooty from being 'relegated to history'. Cadell had taken over the puppets in 1998 from Matthew Corbett — son of original creator Harry Corbett — and filmed the series at Brean Leisure Park in Somerset, a venue he co-owned until 2014. Several routines draw directly from scripts written by Harry Corbett himself.

Sweep's squeaks carry a notable technical history: they were originally produced using a saxophone reed, a solution devised by Leslie Corbett, Harry's brother. Brenda Longman, the long-standing voice of Soo, returned to the role after her absence in the later seasons of the previous run (2001–2004); her return was one of the deliberate steps Cadell took to bring the series back to its roots. The character of Soo was also consciously updated: rather than her traditional domestic role, she is shown surfing and playing frisbee alongside Sooty and Sweep.

The series was preceded by a pilot episode, 'The Big Day Out', released on 28 August 2009. Scampi, Sooty's cousin and a recurring presence in earlier series, was dropped from the regular cast, though Butch the bulldog and Ramsbottom the snake made special appearances.