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Louise Thomas
Editor
Not the curiously mute, wand-waving yellow bear?
Yes, The iconic TV puppet, Sooty, is to move to a new home after the rights to a large library of programmes featuring the children's favourite were sold yesterday. Sooty has been entertaining kids on the small screen with his friends Sweep the dog and panda Soo since the 1950s, making his show the longest-running children's programme in the UK, according to the Guinness Book of Records. The whole gang was bought by One Media IP, a Buckinghamshire-based acquirer of music and video rights.
Who could possibly sell a TV icon?
The rights were sold by Richard Cadell, who appeared alongside the puppet since 1999 and purchased the franchise four years ago. Sooty first appeared on our screens after being devised by Harry Corbett, the long-time host of the show who bought the puppet as a present for his son from a market stall while on holiday in Blackpool in 1948. Cadell started co-hosting the show with Sooty after Matthew Corbett – the son for whom the puppet was bought – retired in 1998.
So Sooty's been swept from history then?
Unlikely. The company said it will repackage the children's classic for a 21st-century generation of toddlers by making it available on iTunes, Amazon and YouTube.
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