An icon of British television returns to the stage

Richard Cadell and Sooty will be visiting Stourbridge Town Hall on Thursday, April 14 and Solihull's Core Theatre on Friday, April 22 as part of the "Sooty's Magic Show" national tour.

The tour, which was delayed for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is set to feature a show with lots of jokes, audience participation, magic tricks and the best of Sooty, Sweep and Soo.

Sooty will be ably assisted by his faithful right-hand man Richard Cadell, who has been at Sooty's side since taking over from Matthew Corbett in 1998.

The 53-year-old said he was excited to be able to get the tour up and running again and bring back a family show for children of all ages.

He said: "I always put on the posters 'the big family laughter show' and the crazy thing about Sooty is that he'll be celebrating his 75th birthday next year, making him the longest running children's television show in the world.

"It means that most parents who bring their kids and grandparents have watched it at some point in their lives and I always gear it towards everybody because they've all seen it and we play very much to the adults, as well as the children."

Richard admitted he was still as much of a fan now as he was in when taking over from Matthew Corbett more than 20 years later.

He said: "I still get that starry-eyed thing about it as I remember watching it, so when I'm on stage and I see Sooty doing his drum solo, I think 'Wow, that's me doing that!', so it still gets me.

"I always have to remember I'm just the guardian of this, then someone else will take over and do it, so I know that they'll live forever.

"It's take me this long to be accepted, as it was for Matthew when he took over from his father, and I really struggled at the beginning because it was a tough act to follow, but I finally feel like I know what I'm doing now."

Richard said he felt like Sooty and Sweep were like any comedy double-act such as Morecambe and Wise and Laurel and Hardy and spoke about the lasting appeal of Sooty, describing it as a very English thing.

He said: "It's something that means absolutely nothing outside of the UK and we've had talks with American executives who couldn't understand why Sooty didn't speak and the mouths didn't move.

"The kid's who watch it know he's a puppet, but they'll still come to live shows and want to hug him and kiss him and talk to him, so they are in on the joke and it's just wonderful and innocent.

"Matthew Corbett said Sooty's never been fashionable, so that mean's he's never been in fashion and we don't want him to be, and Harry Corbett was once asked what it worked and he said 'I don't know, it just does' which says it all."

To find out more and to book tickets, go to thesootyshow.co.uk/see-us-live