The programme was the last major children's show for Corbett to front before he retired in 1998, having sold the rights to Sooty and the other characters to his successors Richard Cadell and Liana Bridges, guest stars during a number of episodes in the final series.

Like its predecessor, each episode sees Matthew, Sooty and the others being involved in hijinks ranging from trying to make money with the shop, or dealing with an issue that they have to sort out, and included moments of singing songs and providing educational insights.

Brenda Longman, the voice of Soo, was given a physical role in the programme as a regular character named Mo – a market seller to whom Matthew tends to have difficulty in selling anything, and always being made to buy something from her.

In the sixth and final series, as Corbett prepared for his retirement, several episodes featured the appearance of Richard Cadell, Corbett's successor to the rights on Sooty, and Liana Bridges, Cadell's partner in the subsequent programme Sooty Heights, as junior shop staff, mainly to test how they would fare with young viewers after the programme's conclusion.

In the same episode, Yvonne (played by Beverly Hills) says she feels she has got the whole of the Manchester Football Team inside her, a joke that could be seen as sexual innuendo.