Sweep (puppet) explained

Sweep is a British puppet and television character popular in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and other countries.

Sweep is a grey glove puppet dog with long black ears who joined The Sooty Show in 1957, as a friend to fellow puppet Sooty.[1] He is a dim-witted dog with a penchant for bones and sausages.[2] [3] Sweep is notable for his method of communication[4] which consists of a loud high-pitched squeak that gains its inflection from normal speech and its rhythm from the syllables in each word.

The rest of the cast, namely Soo and the presenter, could understand Sweep perfectly, and would (albeit indirectly) translate for the viewer.[5] [6] The sound of Sweep's voice was achieved using a saxophone reed.[7] Versions of the puppet later sold as toys had an integral squeaker connected to an air bulb that was squeezed by hand.

Sweep's family first appeared on the Sooty Show in an episode called "Sweep's Family". He has a mother and father; a twin brother, Swoop; two cousins, Swipe and Swap[8] and another seven brothers in the litter (all of whom look exactly like him, and wear different coloured collars to tell each other apart).

Swipe and Swap are described as Sweep's brothers in the Sooty & Co. episode "Sweep's Family" and the Sooty Heights episode "The Hounds of Music".

Voice actors

Notes and References

  1. News: The Newsroom . Half-term fun for fans of Sooty at Blackpool's Grand Theatre . 5 September 2021 . . . 11 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210905190548/https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/arts-and-culture/half-term-fun-fans-sooty-blackpools-grand-theatre-668953 . 5 September 2021 . . en . It features the glove puppet characters Sooty, Sweep (who first appeared in 1957).
  2. Book: Croft . Malcolm . Super Dogs: Heart-warming Adventures of the World's Greatest Dogs . 14 August 2014 . . 978-1849536226 . 5 September 2021 . Paperback . Sweep . Sweep, Sooty's silly sidekick and lover of bones and sausages.
  3. News: Moore . Matthew . What's that, Sooty? You're back on TV for a new generation of children? . 5 September 2021 . . . 30 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180830031439/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/what-s-that-sooty-you-re-back-on-tv-for-a-new-generation-of-children-fqdphllsc . 30 August 2018 . en . Sooty first appeared on television in 1952 and was soon joined by his companions Sweep, a squeaky dog who loves bones and sausages, and Soo, Sooty’s panda girlfriend..
  4. News: Tryhorn . Chris . Sooty sale heralds new series . 7 September 2021 . . . 26 June 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150916043356/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jun/26/television.mediabusiness . 16 September 2015 . en . He would get into scrapes with Sweep, who spoke only in squeaks, the sensible Soo, and - in more recent series - his schoolboy cousin Scampi..
  5. Web site: Goldman . Laurence . What's that you said Sooty? Puppets, parlance and pretence . . 6 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210906115720/https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/46878354/0271-5309_2895_2900011-920160629-12249-a6t2hl-with-cover-page-v2.pdf?Expires=1630932856&Signature=Nw5dwpa~4akMJ5kDIR7~yh8hwjLfzQe3~ZapRXxQ88Vx2TUJhtH9JoXaxlulwkyvGGg8m7h9xJ7avSjn8bA1Gb9M7bEJcn~AQ8Xy18WLEPIt4qIv2TO-r-9mDdhvE3iliU8oiuPJPjXMAgnMXyOi1g45-wLHo578UwhVJo5NovjXJNOxjhiW4FhK1QygbsrBhbC-4FhEiO847rOU40ANEtHaK6XbmIpHF4l-EWtln3iEjbsl08tluts9jMar3zIESx-8dtl485k4AOGhpgIXvXIytJX3WENNIaJG8eJCrUvT~ffhXsNwBUuvANwX5MAmECQha9yI76TdL1BMmfdZRA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA . 6 September 2021 . 3 . en . PDF . 1996 . However the majority, but interestingly not all, of Sweep's squeaks are subject to a similar 'translation' on the part of Corbett and Soo..
  6. News: Tims . Anna . How we made: Brenda Longman and Matthew Corbett on The Sooty Show . 5 September 2021 . . . 6 August 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160913224337/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/aug/06/how-we-made-sooty-show . 13 September 2016 . en . Soo, who translates Sooty and Sweep's noises, didn't say much until I came along..
  7. News: The Newsroom . Wigan man Phil swaps Hacker for Sweep to realise his dreams . 5 September 2021 . . . 5 September 2018 . . en . Phil revealed that Sweep gets a proper script and that he uses something similar to a saxophone reed to speak the part, making sure listeners can get a gist of all the syllables..
  8. News: MacKenzie . Steven . Izzy-wizzy, let's get busy! 70 facts about Sooty as he celebrates 70 years! . 5 September 2021 . . The Big Issue Company . 26 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180726140052/https://www.bigissue.com/latest/izzy-wizzy-lets-get-busy-70-facts-about-sooty-as-he-celebrates-70-years/ . 26 July 2018 . . en . Sweep has three brothers – Swoop, Swipe and Swap.

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