Sooty

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.