Katherine MacAlister meets the man who inherited the Corbett family job at the controls of The Sooty Show... and loves it

Richard Cadell was on a roller-coaster in Sweden when he got the call to say he was being recommissioned for 26 Sooty shows. “They asked me if I was sitting down,” he grinned.

It was, however, the news he’d been waiting for. Having bought the rights to The Sooty Show and paid £30,000 to stage a pilot episode, ITV had recommissioned the childhood favourite, and the rest is history.

Which is why the star of The Sooty Show is so passionate about what he does, and why after 18 months on the road and 170 theatres to visit on tour he still enjoys every minute of it.

“I love it. I’ve never stopped loving it and there isn’t a show when I don’t get on stage and think, I love doing this. I’m always raring to get out there.

“So yes it is a long slog, but I’ve worked so hard to bring Sooty back. This is what I wanted. I’m living the dream.”

To cut a long story short, Richard and Sooty go way back to when Sooty first appeared on Richard’s childhood TV at home in Leicester, complete with wand. Richard took up magic as a result, eventually doing some TV work, which made him the ideal choice when his famous predecessor, Matthew Corbett, retired from the Sooty show.

However, the show was changed for an international market and then didn’t take off abroad. Viewers at home, unhappy with the new format, started switching off in their droves. “They took the heart out of it,” Richard said sadly.

As a result ITV pulled the plug on Sooty and everyone relegated him to a dusty cupboard, a nostalgia trip.

Except Richard. “In the dark days I did feel bitter about it. I just couldn't understand how Sooty had been allowed to die. It was such a wasted opportunity.”

He rang his brother and together they bought the rights, reviving Sooty, and reinstating the classic, original slapstick format. ITV loved it and Sooty was back in business.

Now selling around the world the stage show was then launched off the back of the TV show’s success and has been extended three times already.

“Filling theatres all over the country may be relentless but it’s what I worked for, and when Sooty was decommissioned it was heartbreaking.

“I could see what was happening and what they were doing but I couldn’t do anything about it. So when we got the chance to buy it I made it my life’s mission. It’s a happy ending but I would never have given up. I didn’t care what it took.

“My mother taught me that if you want something you go out and get it.”

When not touring or filming, Richard spends his time at his amusement park in Weston-super-Mare. He is fixing an old roller coaster when we speak and happily tinkering away before returning to his world of custard pies.

“In the old days they used real custard pies, which would slowly go off under all the bright lights and you would stink for days afterwards of rotten eggs. Now we use foam, porridge with food colouring or yoghurt and vats of gunge and gloop, but then that’s what Sooty is all about – timeless slapstick, with children running rings around adults.”

So what’s its secret? “It’s harmless and trusted and it makes children laugh, albeit at my expense, although you learn to live with that,” he grins.

“But I also bear in mind that for many children it’s their first theatrical experience, so it’s lucky then that I’m nuts about Sooty”. We hadn’t noticed!

SEE IT
Sooty and the gang star in The Sooty Show Live at Oxford’s New Theatre on Tuesday. 
Call the box office on 0844 8713020.

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