The Sooty Show [DVD]

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In the early to mid 1960s, there were at least five Sooty annuals published by the London Daily Mirror. These feature an expanded cast of characters including: Matthew usually on the end of a soaking, although even royalty have fallen foul of the water. Matthew carried on Harry's tradition of ending every show with the line "Bye bye everybody, bye bye", and in Matthew's final ever episode, his final scene was a collection of him saying the immortal words from the preceding years. Brenda Longman (1981–1992) – The second voice of Soo starting from the second series of the format change, following Marjorie's retirement from the role, who also made frequent guest appearances as various characters within the show's sitcom format. Longman remained with the programme until its conclusion and continued to work with Matthew and his successor Richard Cadell on subsequent sequels of The Sooty Show and other Sooty productions in the same role. Ramsbottom – A brown male snake who spoke in a deep Yorkshire accent and had the habit of telling convoluted stories and ditties. The character was created by Harry Corbett but retired by his son Matthew. He was originally voiced by Bill Garrett, the company model and prop maker who used his own strong Yorkshire accent and made the original puppet. Harry Corbett (1955–1975) – The show's first presenter and the creator of Sooty. Corbett ran the programme mostly within a sketch-based format throughout his era, later creating the characters of Sweep and Soo to accompany the show. His most notable contribution to the show, aside from the puppet characters, was the catchphrase he used to conclude an episode's run, which would continue to be used by his successors – "Bye bye, everybody. Bye bye." Harry returned to the programme as a guest star during his son Matthew's era, and was knighted with an OBE for his contributions with the programme and characters following his retirement.

Little Cousin Scampi – A mute white bear and Sooty's cousin. The character was created by Matthew Corbett and introduced in Series 15 episode of the same name in 1990 and was designed to be a mischievous bear who liked pranks, making inventions, and caring for mice. The character became a regular member of the puppet characters from 1991, and beyond the programme's conclusion in 1992. On Tuesday April 9th, 2013, Sooty and Sweep and Soo appeared as the judging panel in one episode of "The Matt Lucas Awards" Season 2. From 2009, stage shows will again feature Richard Cadell, as he tours the country with Sooty and the gang. The first, Sooty in Space, is a reworking of one of Matthew Corbett's scripts. The Sooty Show proved popular with children and helped to develop the Sooty franchise, culminating in the formation of additional television programmes that would run on the format brought in by Matthew Corbett in the 1980s. After the programme's conclusion, it was followed with a sequel in 1993, titled Sooty & Co.. The programme also spawned an educational spin-off series for young children, titled Learn With Sooty, that was produced for the direct-to-video market between 1989 and 1991, and several stage shows involving the puppets, Matthew, and Connie Creighton. Its early success led to it receiving a short-run comic strip based on the character, for the children's magazine Playhour between 1960 and 1961, drawn by Gordon Hutchings. [5]Sooty appeared on Kellogg's "Puffa Sugar Stars" cereal in the 1960s, then on "Puffa Puffa Rice" cereal starting in 1973.

Sooty and the gang starred in the "Make it!" episode of "Text Santa - Help with Hattitude" in 2013. The third format used by the programme was introduced by Matthew in 1981, later becoming a staple for all future programmes in the Sooty franchise. Under the new format, Matthew discontinued the use of a studio audience and comedic sketches, in lieu of a sitcom format focused on a single misadventure, with himself, Sooty, Sweep and Soo sharing a suburban house together. Elements of the previous format, such as guest stars and music, were retained, with narration added in for scenes focused entirely on the puppets; story-telling was also retained, but phased out over the 1980s. The new format included the use of educational elements in some stories, and the creation of specially designed sets for the puppet characters, which would be later updated and maintained in subsequent programmes in the Sooty franchise – in particular, a bathroom set created for the programme was specially designed so that its miniature taps and shower dispensed running water. Marjorie Corbett (1964–1981) – The first voice of Soo, whom her husband Harry had created as a talking female panda. She remained a part of the show until after the first series of the format change. According to Brenda Longman, who took over the voice of Soo, the reason Marjorie was replaced was because her heavy smoking caused her to be short of breath. It was also felt that she made Soo sound too old.Sooty's Christmas Party, Sooty's Christmas Special ( Billy Dainty) (Compilation DVD with ' Rainbow')