The rights to the franchise were sold in 1996 to a development firm who formed a holding company for the property, with Matthew later retiring and handing over control of the puppet characters to Richard Cadell in 1998.

Purchasing the item for 7s 6d (37.5p), he made use of it to entertain his children during that time, including his newborn son Peter (Matthew), naming the puppet Teddy.

However in those days Saturday was a normal working day and when his employer refused to give him time off his job as an engineer he took the risk and resigned, becoming a regular performer on the BBC children's show Saturday Special, where his puppet immediately appealed to children, turning him into an overnight success.

Corbett's design for the character was that all his puppets were yellow bears who bore the distinct features of black ears and nose.

When portrayed in performances on television and stage shows, the character was cheeky and naughty, fond of playing practical jokes, but was also kind-hearted and good.

Part of the character's design that Corbett devised, was for Sooty being mute in his appearances and thus communicating with others by 'whispering' in their ear, to which the recipient often repeats what was said for the audience to understand.

The character often retains two items that are iconic in his appearance: a magic wand, which he uses for spells conducted to the catchphrase of "Izzy wizzy, let's get busy!"

The first character, Sweep, introduced in 1957, was designed to be a dog and friend of Sooty, who would be portrayed as being dim-witted but good-natured and innocent, who would often make mistakes that would cause problems for others, often get his own back on others when tricked, and have an obsession with bones.

An aspect of the character's design was his voice – in performances he would speak in a high-pitched squeak that would have some form of sentences, but would often be translated by the main puppeteer for the audience to understand more clearly.

The programme, run on BBC TV (later BBC1) between 1955 and 1967 and made as a replacement for Muffin the Mule, included a series of comedic sketches involving Sooty conducting simple tasks or ventures, which would sometimes go wrong and result in a mess that they would need to deal with.

The show expanded on the routines used in episodes by featuring slapstick humour suitable for young children, magic tricks, and the inclusion of songs and music.

The glove puppet gained a sufficient profile from television exposure that his likeness became a feature on charity collection boxes used by the Royal National Institute of Blind People in the late 1950s.

Faced with the prospect of this or his programme being cancelled, Corbett decided to sign a deal with ITV to bring Sooty to commercial television, having earlier performed with the character in one of the channel's first product advertisements.

Corbett's role in children's television earned him an OBE for his services in January 1976, with his character Sooty being given a special one alongside him during his ceremony.

He continued to provide assistance on The Sooty Show as a guest star, making his final appearance in 1984 – five years before his death in 1989.

Following his father's retirement, Matthew Corbett took sole responsibility for the puppets on The Sooty Show, although he was forced to forgo his own programme as a direct result.

Elements such as slapstick comedy, comedic messes, practical jokes, music and guests remained a part of the programme under the new format.

Production on the new format of the television programme was aided by Connie Creighton, who had worked alongside Matthew's father and was given a co-star role on several episodes,[4] while following his mother's retirement from her role, the voice of Soo was cast to Brenda Longman; Sweep's handler was also replaced, with Brian Sanford replacing Matthew's brother.

While Creighton remained a part of the programme for a number of series, Longman was given a physical role as co-star in several episodes, mainly as a regular customer named Mo, alongside her role as Soo's voice actor, with the programme featuring several stories that ventured out into new locations.

Like its predecessor, the new programme stuck to the same format, but with episodes set within a beachside hotel that the characters ran, with Cadell joined by Liana Bridges – a co-star whom he worked with on a number of episodes in the final series of Sooty & Co. By the end of 1999, The Britt Allcroft Company, owners of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, had purchased a 50% stake in the franchise from Sooty International Limited,[7][8] and created a joint-venture company called Bridgefilms (Also known as Sooty Limited), which would also handle distribution rights to existing Britt Allcroft property Magic Adventures of Mumfie.

HIT continued to struggle with the franchise from this point forward, seeing it as having little "international appeal" and attempted to put their stake in the Sooty Limited joint-venture with ProVen Private Equity up for sale in December 2002, with Entertainment Rights as an interested purchaser.

[11] Alongside conducting new stage shows, he also began work on producing a new programme, which eventually launched on CITV in 2011 under the title of Sooty.

Although the format remained the same, the setting changed to misadventures within a holiday park that they helped to run, while scripts were aimed at younger audiences.