Sooty has stated that his favourite magic trick is to make an egg appear on somebody's head, so that it can then smashed by Sweep. The format was maintained by Harry when the programme moved from the BBC to ITV in 1968, and later by Matthew, upon becoming a regular in 1974, after taking over from his father following his retirement in 1975, though with Harry retaining a guest capacity in episodes.

The plots devised for these episodes were influenced by societal values, current events and the development of new technologies, tailored towards amusing young children, and made use of slapstick humour, including the use of cream pies and water. It was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films (the producers of Count Duckula and Danger Mouse); they gave Sweep, and Scampi actual voices and kept Sooty the same, having to nod his head to say "yes" or "no" or miming what his ideas are. From 2009, stage shows will again feature Richard Cadell, as he tours the country with Sooty and the gang. In both formats, guests are featured in episodes, alongside the involvement of prop items for gunging and making messes of human performers and guest stars. In 1981, Matthew changed the format towards a sitcom setting, in which he and the characters lived within a country cottage and engaged in a new adventure in each episode.

According to Brenda Longman, who took over the voice of Soo, the reason Marjorie was replaced was because her heavy smoking caused her to be short of breath. All starring Richard Cadell, three of them also featured Richard's Sooty Heights co-star, Liana Bridges, with the fourth starring Amanda Howard in Liana's place.

In 2017, Sooty and Richard Cadell appeared on the BBC games show "Pointless Celebrities" where they read out a selection of questions on children's television, including "which member of the royal family did Sooty squirted in 1955 (Prince Philip). Superdog (Compilation DVD with Jamie and the Magic Torch', ' Danger Mouse', ' Chorlton and the Wheelies', ' Rainbow', and ' Count Duckula'.Elements of the previous format, such as guest stars and music, were retained, with narration added in for scenes focused entirely on the puppets; story-telling was also retained, but phased out over the 1980s. On Tuesday April 9th, 2013, Sooty and Sweep and Soo appeared as the judging panel in one episode of "The Matt Lucas Awards" Season 2.

The character's design was towards being a foil for both Sooty and Sweep, but with a motherly-like nature to her personality. The Sooty Show proved popular with children and helped to develop the Sooty franchise, culminating in the formation of additional television programmes that would run on the format brought in by Matthew Corbett in the 1980s. In 1967, Corbett fell into disagreement with BBC producers over the presentation of the programme, and with the decision by Paul Fox, BBC1 controller at that time, to cancel the programme, he signed a deal with ITV to move The Sooty Show to their channel. Ramsbottom – A brown male snake who spoke in a deep Yorkshire accent and had the habit of telling convoluted stories and ditties.Calico Joe, a fully clothed cat who smokes, always stands erect as a biped, and is the normal villain.