Soo is a British

glove puppet Glove puppetry () is a type of opera using cloth puppets that originated during the 17th century in Quanzhou or Zhangzhou of China's Fujian province, and historically practised in the Min Nan-speaking areas such as Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, the Chaosh ...

and TV character from the show

Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...

and first appeared in 1964 as the girlfriend of Sooty.'Sooty is not just black and white' Liverpool ''Echo'' 22 November 1966 p. 2 They still remain boyfriend and girlfriend today. In many episodes they kiss. Soo is a calm and collected female

panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes use ...

who acts as the

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

for both

and

Sweep Sweep or swept may refer to: Cleaning * Sweep, the action of using a brush to clean * Chimney sweep, a worker who clears ash and soot from chimneys * Street sweeper, a person's occupation, or a machine that cleans streets * Swept quartz, a cleani ...

. Sometimes, Soo tells people off and is very intelligent, and usually wears a red skirt. In the spin-off series

Sooty's Amazing Adventures ''Sooty's Amazing Adventures'' is a short-lived animated spin off series of the popular puppet show ''Sooty''. In this incarnation of the famous bear, he is a full bodied bear free from the puppeteer's hand. Setting and location The gang ...

, Soo wore a blue dress with a yellow flower on it and a white nappy instead.

Voice

The original voice artist and puppeteer for Soo was

Harry Corbett Harry Corbett OBE (28 January 1918 – 17 August 1989) was an English magician, puppeteer and television presenter. He was best known as the creator of the glove puppet character Sooty in 1952. Biography Corbett was born in Bradford, W ...

's wife, Marjorie Corbett, who voiced Soo until 1980. Brenda Longman took over in 1981. In 2001, when the new owners of Sooty, Hit Entertainment, overhauled the production Sheila Clark became the voice of Soo in the second and third series of ''

'' from 2001 - 2004. Brenda Longman continued to play the character away from the TV series and in 2002 featured as Soo's voice in some McDonald's Happy Meals adverts. When

Richard Cadell Richard Cadell (born 23 March 1969) is a British illusionist, puppeteer, actor and screenwriter, best known for being the in-vision presenter and the hand of puppet Sooty since succeeding Matthew Corbett in 1998. He is a Gold Star Member of th ...

bought the rights to Sooty, Longman was asked back and her first TV appearance as Soo was when she appeared on ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'' in 2007. She has remained since and currently voices her in ''

'' show.

Other appearances

Soo, along with Sooty and Sweep appear in ''

The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940–12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television comed ...

'' episode '' The Goodies Rule – O.K.?''. In 1991 Soo along with many other puppets appeared in the 1991

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

music video ''Helping Hand'' In December 2007 Soo appeared on, and won, a puppet special of ''

'' hosted by

Anne Robinson Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is an English television presenter and journalist. She was the host of BBC game show '' The Weakest Link'' (2000–2017). She presented the Channel 4 game show ''Countdown'' from June 2021 to Jul ...

which was originally broadcast on 28 December 2007 at 6pm on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

, and was the strongest link statistically five times in the game, in Rounds 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7. She raised £11,500 for her chosen charity, the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

, after defeating

Roland Rat Roland Rat is a British television puppet character. He was created, operated and voiced by David Claridge, who had previously designed and operated Mooncat, a puppet in the Children's ITV television programme '' Get Up and Go!'' Claridge work ...

thanks to sudden death, and when voting, she generally sided with the majority of the other puppets, and was the deciding vote in Round 7, eliminating Nobby the Sheep. She is the second puppet to win ''The Weakest Link'' after

Basil Brush Basil Brush is a fictional red fox, best known for his appearances on daytime British children's television. He is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet, but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts and comic strips. The character has f ...

. In her appearance on ''The Weakest Link'', it is revealed that she owns a pair of wellingtons and wore them to the show. On 30 September 2008, Brenda Longman, assisted by Soo, appeared on

's ''

Bargain Hunt ''Bargain Hunt'' is a British television programme in which two pairs of contestants are challenged to buy antiques from shops or a fair and then sell them in an auction for a profit. It has aired on BBC One since 13 March 2000 in a daytim ...

'', buying

antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

s at

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Portobello Road Market Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...

and then selling them at Bellmans Auction House in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

Filmography

References

Television characters introduced in 1964 Female characters in television British comedy puppets Fictional pandas Sooty {{Puppet-stub

Voice

Other appearances

Filmography

See also

References