Sooty is celebrating his 60th birthday with a special show at the British seaside resort town of Blackpool. The man with his hand up the lovable glove puppet now is Richard Cadell. The enduring character was created by Harry Corbett (not to be confused with Steptoe and Son star Harry H. Corbett) and continued to appear on British television into the 1990s co-starring alongside Harry's son Matthew and Cadell. It's been a while since he's been on Australian TV. If you're feeling nostalgic, there's more at Wikipedia.