Sooty: The Big Day Out

Context & Trivia

Released direct-to-DVD in 2009, the special brought Sooty back to screens five years after his previous series ended and served as the launchpad for the run that would begin broadcasting in 2011. Richard Cadell, who had acquired the rights to the show in 2008, filmed it at the Brean, Somerset theme park he owned at the time — the same location that would host the first two series of the relaunched show.

The special reunited two long-standing members of the performance crew. Brenda Longman returned as the voice of Soo, a role she has held since 1981 following an audition with Harry Corbett himself. Brian Sandford, Sweep's puppeteer since May 1987, also came back and can be spotted in an on-screen cameo sitting alongside Sweep on the roller coaster. The physical puppets of Sooty, Sweep and Soo are the same props used in earlier series including «Sooty & Co.» and «Sooty Heights»; the flour-covered Sweep is the puppet built specifically for Series 2 and 3 of the new incarnation. Cadell additionally voiced the supporting puppet characters Kipper the Cat, Butch and Ramsbottom — a talking snake with a Yorkshire accent. The DVD was re-released through Poundland stores in 2013.