''Sooty'' is a British

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

, created and presented by

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 ...

, and premiered on

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

on 5 November 2001, running for three series. The programme is the fourth programme in the franchise of the same name, and replaced ''

Sooty Heights ''Sooty Heights'' is a British children's television series, created and presented by Richard Cadell, co-stars Liana Bridges and Brenda Longman, produced by Granada Television, and aired on ITV Network from 27 September 1999 to 11 December 20 ...

'', with Cadell supported by co-presenter Vicki Lee Taylor, and Brenda Longman during the first series, and Sheila Clark for the remaining series. The programme focuses on the exploits of the titular character and his puppet friends in their running of the hotel, and features many elements used in previous programmes. The show saw the return of a puppet character from the franchise, as well as the creation of a new character. The programme was originally produced by

Gullane Entertainment Gullane Entertainment PLC was a British independent production company which produced children's programming, including ''Thomas & Friends'' (1984–2021), '' Shining Time Station'' (1989–1993), and '' The Magic Adventures of Mumfie'' (1994–1 ...

, before the production company was bought up by

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Soph ...

following the first series. HIT's decision to cut costs and make changes to the programme, including using new puppets, resulted in several members of production leaving the programme, and ''Sooty'' being eventually cancelled in January 2004 due to falling viewing figures. In conclusion, Vicki Lee Taylor left the programme and it was revamped into a new series of the same name in 2011 in which Richard, Sooty, Sweep and Soo quit running the hotel and began running a holiday park instead.

Premise

''Sooty'' focuses on the misadventures of the titular character of the programme and his friends – Sweep, Soo, and Little Cousin Scampi – managing a hotel alongside their close friends

and Vicki Lee Taylor. Along with them, the group are also joined by Butch – another dog whom the group have been with before, who attempts various jobs that the group find themselves assigning to him – and Miki – a Brazilian cat who joins the hotel as its chef. The programme functions on the same format as ''

'' and previous programmes in the ''

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 ...

'' franchise, including slapstick humour, guest stars, and music and songs.

Cast

– presenter * Vicki Lee Taylor – co-presenter *

– a mute yellow bear who is the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of the show. He owns a magic wand whose power is invoked using the words "Izzy wizzy, let's get busy". *

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 ...

– a dim-witted grey dog with a penchant for bones and sausages. He communicates using bizarre squeaks. * Soo – a calm and collected female panda 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 Sooty and Sweep and usually wears a red skirt. She was voiced by her long-time voice actor Brenda Longman in Series 1, but was replaced with Sheila Clark for Season 2 and 3. *Little Cousin Scampi – Sooty's cousin, who is very cheeky and a serial troublemaker. He wears a navy-blue school uniform and, like Sooty, is mute. However, in this show he is rarely seen. *Butch The Dog – a bull dog who often visits the hotel. *Miki – a Brazilian cat who is also the hotel's chef. She is a new character made especially for this show.

Episodes

Series 1 (2001)

# "All New Sooty" (5 November 2001) # "A New Arrival" (6 November 2001) # "Sci Fi Sooty" (7 November 2001) # "It's My Party" (8 November 2001) # "Sweep Asleep" (9 November 2001) # "Sad Sad Sooty" (12 November 2001) # "It's a Dog's Life" (13 November 2001) # "Practice Makes Perfect" (14 November 2001) # "Night of a Thousand Bears" (15 November 2001) # "You Don't Scare Me" (16 November 2001) # "A Cat and Dog Thing" (19 November 2001) # "Favourite Things" (20 November 2001) # "Santa's Back" (21 November 2001) Source:From PC Sweep blog: http://members.tripod.com/sweeps_friend/page4.htm

Series 2 (2002)

# "Robo Richard" (15 October 2002) # "The Mysterious Visitor" (22 October 2002) # "Sooty's Pet" - (29 October 2002) # "Superheroes" (5 November 2002) # "Sooty in Charge" (12 November 2002) # "Sooty's Magic Garden" (19 November 2002) # "The New Gang" (26 November 2002) # "The Little Big People" (3 December 2002) # "Digging for Dinosaurs" (10 December 2002) # "Best Friends" (17 December 2002)

Series 3 (2003–2004)

All episodes were filmed and produced in 2002. # "Sooty's Baby" (27 October 2003) # "Double Trouble" (28 October 2003) # "Flying Fun" (29 October 2003) # "Sooty at the Seaside" (30 October 2003) # "Treasure Hunt" (31 October 2003) # "Water, Water Everywhere" (7 November 2003) # "Sooty's Ghost" (10 November 2003) # "Let's Get Camping" (17 November 2003) # "Sooty the Scientist" (28 November 2003) # "Keep Fit Sooty" (6 January 2004)

References

External links

''Sooty''
at itv.com/citv {{DEFAULTSORT:Sooty (Tv Series) 2001 British television series debuts 2004 British television series endings 2000s British children's television series 2000s British comedy television series 2000s British workplace comedy television series British children's comedy television series British television shows featuring puppetry ITV children's television shows ITV comedy English-language television shows Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Granada Television Television series by Mattel Creations Sooty Gullane Entertainment