IT is not often that during an interview your subject whips out a water pistol and cheekily fires off a watery round in your direction, sending you diving for cover behind your note pad. I can only say I should have expected it, after all I was meeting up with the country's most famous and mischievous bear, Sooty.
When Harry Corbett bought a bear glove puppet from Blackpool Pier for 7s 6d in 1948 to entertain his children, little did he know that his furry purchase would become a household name with The Sooty Show and go on to win a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the star of the longest running children's TV show.
In 1967, Harry's son Matthew took over the show and, on his retirement, the reins were handed over to Richard Cadell, who was appointed co-presenter on CITV's Sooty Heights in 1998. He has the tiring task of keeping Sooty and his friends in order during their current Izzy Wizzy Tour.
I meet up with Richard and Sooty in the coffee bar at The Elgiva Theatre, Chesham, where the tour is coming to early next month.
Richard made his first appearance on The Sooty Show 13 years ago, when he performed his award winning illusionist act at the request of Matthew Corbett. However, his somewhat unusual career began at the age of eight when he became Britain's youngest Punch and Judy man. He was named the Magic Circle's Young Magician of the Year at 15. But his ultimate ambition was fulfilled when he joined the custard-throwing, magic-filled world of Sooty.
Richard says: "Matthew remembered me from years ago and I think he could see how desperate I was to get the job. I have loved every second of it. I want to make this my life's work."
The Sooty Show was a real family affair, with Harry's wife for many years providing the voice of Soo and his son David doing the music. I ask Richard what it was like to be the first presenter to take the job out of the family?
"It is a huge responsibility. I felt pressured to deliver and felt I owed it to Sooty rather than myself to do well. I didn't want to be the guy who messed it up.
"Matthew does occasionally come to see the show with his brother and after one performance they told me that their father would have been proud. I felt very humbled."
Richard is a big fan of his predecessors and says that Matthew deserves the credit for keeping Sooty alive for its 50-year span.
"It was getting a little old fashioned and Matthew took over just at the right time. He was young and keen and had children of his own so he knew what was modern and appealing."
Despite the topical spectacle of Sooty playing on his computer and Soo watching videos and DVDs on the show, there is still a strong element of Harry in what Richard does.
"The cookery routine is classic Harry Corbett and most of the gags are his gags. It is heart-warming that they are still getting laughs 50 years later," Richard says.
"The reason Sooty has survived for so long is that it is instantly appealing to children and the star of the show is a teddy bear who moves and does magic which is a winning formula. It has also been around for so long and has crossed the generations so when parents watch it, it is a trip down memory lane. Sooty has become a national treasure and people won't allow him to stop."
The new tour follows Sooty and his friends as they go off on holiday and Richard promises it will be a fabulous show with "fun, magic, audience participation and lots of mess in true Sooty style."
The Izzy Wizzy Tour is showing at The Elgiva Theatre in St Mary's Way, Chesham on Saturday, April 5 and Sunday, 6 at 1pm and 4pm. Tickets cost £7 adults, £6 children and OAPs, £24 for a family ticket. Call the box office on 01494 582900.
March 27, 2003 11:00
