A set of original Sooty and Sweep puppets used by the creator of the much-loved children’s TV show are expected to fetch thousands of pounds at auction.
The puppets belong to Matthew Corbett, son of Harry Corbett OBE, who invented the iconic character of Sooty and hosted The Sooty Show for two decades, becoming a familiar presence in British households.
The collection going up for auction comprises one Sooty, two Sweep and two Soo puppets, as well as a mechanical puppeteer’s rod, and DVDs of the shows and other related memorabilia.
The collection has been given a guide price £4,000 to £5,000 by Hansons Auctioneers.
Corbett invented Sooty in 1948 when he bought a puppet during a holiday in Blackpool to entertain his children.
Sooty rose to fame four years later when Corbett introduced him on the BBC’s Talent Night in 1952.
Their act was then transformed into a TV show in 1952, which Corbett presented until 1975, when son Matthew took over until 1992.
While The Sooty Show began with just one puppet, Sweep, the squeaking dog, was introduced in 1957. The character was originally voiced by Corbett’s brother, Leslie, who used a saxophone to create the sounds.
Female panda character Soo was then brought in 1965, and was originally voiced by Corbett’s wife Marjorie.
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Corbett’s plan to add a female character to The Sooty Show caused quite a stir at the BBC at the time, with the show’s producer Trevor Hill penning Corbett a letter in which he suggested that the addition of a female character would ‘allow sex to creep into the programme’.
Fortunately, the BBC Director General, Hugh Carlton Greene got involved and allowed Corbett to go ahead and introduce Soo on the show, but with one condition – that they must “never touch”.
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Authors
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
