[2] The show, part of the Sooty franchise, focuses on the mischievous adventures of the glove puppet character of the same name, alongside his friends Sweep and Soo, and their handler.

The show originally focused on a sketch-based format featuring slapstick comedy, music, and stories, along with additional puppet characters, and later the incorporation of a studio audience.

The plots devised for these episodes were influenced by societal values, current events and the development of new technologies, tailored towards amusing young children, and made use of slapstick humour, including the use of cream pies and water.

The second format, devised in the mid-1960s, expanded episodes to consist of a series of sketches involving Sooty and his friends, but with the inclusion of a studio, and a live audience of young children at each filming session.

The programme also spawned an educational spin-off series for young children, titled Learn With Sooty, that was produced for the direct-to-video market between 1989 and 1991, and several stage shows involving the puppets, Matthew, and Connie Creighton.

Its early success led to it receiving a short-run comic strip based on the character, for the children's magazine Playhour between 1960 and 1961, drawn by Gordon Hutchings.