Sooty Heights

Context & Trivia

Sooty Heights is a British children's television series that aired on the CITV block of ITV from September 27, 1999, to December 11, 2000. It is the successor to the series "Sooty & Co." and marked the first time Richard Cadell became Sooty's main human companion, following Matthew Corbett's retirement in 1998. The series maintained the sitcom format of previous Sooty shows and retained some elements such as Sooty's camper van and the characters' bedroom. The series ran for two seasons, with each consisting of 13 episodes, making a total of 26 episodes. Following its conclusion, Liana Bridges left the program, and the show was revamped and renamed simply "Sooty" in 2001. Dave Corbett, Matthew Corbett's brother, served as the musical director for "Sooty Heights."

The main puppet characters are Sooty, a mute yellow bear who is the protagonist and uses a magic wand; Sweep, a dim-witted grey dog with a penchant for bones and sausages who communicates through squeaks; Soo, a calm and collected female panda voiced by Brenda Longman; and Little Cousin Scampi, a cheeky troublemaker who likes mice. Richard Cadell, in addition to being a presenter, is the main puppeteer for Sooty, having inherited the rights to the puppets from Matthew Corbett. Brenda Longman also played Dotty, an eccentric hotel owner who helps the main characters. Puppeteers Brian Sandford, Craig Almond, and Crispin Lowery also participated in manipulating the puppets.