Monday
13th May 2013
Even as I’m writing this
now, over a month later! I still can’t believe I’ve had this amazing
experience. I’ve been a huge fan of Sooty growing up and it’s been a huge dream
of mine to be there with them, filming it and seeing what goes on. It’s
something I never thought I’d see, but I finally have! You may not know, but
I’ve actually co-written episodes for this new series. Co-writing is great, but
to actually be there with everyone has been a fantastic experience!
I’d been planning on going
to see Sooty being filmed for ages and Richard Cadell was happy for me to be
there. Then the day had come! Me and my family had arrived at Brean when my
phone suddenly rang. I answered it and it was Wink Taylor, co-writer of Sooty!
This was my first surprise of the day! I was so glad that they had remembered I
was attending and Wink kindly told me what to do and how to get to where they
were filming. We arrived at Pontins, where the scenes were being filmed. I met
Wink at the main door and he took me through to the studio. This was where the
magic started! Everything was there, Sooty’s bedroom, Sooty’s kitchen, the tool
shed! And the best thing of all, Sooty, Sweep and Soo were playing at the
kitchen counter whilst waiting for the next scene to start! And I also spotted
some familiar faces too. Richard Cadell, Brenda Longman and Wendy Abrahams etc.
I still couldn’t believe I was surrounded by all of the things I’ve seen on my
TV for years! I remember Richard asking
me if it spoiled the magic and I replied, “No, not at all! Seeing all of these
things in real life makes it even better!”
My mission was to
chat to everyone and I was lucky to be able to have a quick chat with Joolz
Clough (puppeteer) before the scene started. I’d already met Joolz at Christmas
in London but she couldn’t remember me! Brian Sandford came over and talked to
me too which was very exciting and Richard also came over and said hello.
Filming was starting! Me and Wink had great seats right in front of the
kitchen. So close, I’m surprised we weren’t in shot! During a break, me and Wink were talking
about the script writingand some of the episodes that will be in the series and
then the wonderful Brenda Longman came up and talked to me! All this time, I
thought I would have to try my best to try and chat to her! “Hello, nice to meet you!” she said to me.
“Aw hello! I’m a big fan!” I replied, she was such a lovely person to chat to. After
the break, we got the rest of the morning scenes complete and then it was time
for lunch.
I had forgotten about lunch on my way there,
it’s something I didn’t think through but I was extremely lucky to have lunch
with the crew! So it was down to Brean Leisure Park for something to eat! I’m a
huge fan so having lunch with these people was very exciting! Me, Wink and
Brian Sandford sat together and talked about the old Matthew episodes whilst
tucking into our beef curry! Lunch was over and after a quick dash to the Sooty
production office (where I came across some of the costumes that will feature
in my episodes I’ve written) it was back in the van and back to the studio to
start the next load of scenes.
The next load of scenes were
from an old Harry Corbett episode and I remember Richard talking quite a lot
about this episode as he loves Harry’s material. A lot of the scenes had Sweep
in them and in rehearsals, there was a bit where Sweep had to slide backwards
and forwards! It was seriously funny, the crew were hysterical. Brian totally
nailed it! In the second scene, Sweep said a line that made me laugh out loud.
I’m surprised I didn’t ruin the take – even Richard turned around in surprise! At
this point, I had to go back to my hotel! Back again tomorrow!
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| Me and Sooty in the bedroom |
Tuesday
14th May 2013
My second (and final) day with Sooty & Co! I arrived on
set at 09:30. There was meant to be outside filming at the fun park but due to
rubbish weather, we were inside all day! Wink and Richard welcomed me and Brenda
came over and said hello too. Dave Benson Phillips was there too as a guest on
the show and he played a wicked Genie! It was very exciting to watch and Dave
was fantastic for the role, he put so much enthusiasm into it!
I “bear-ly”
spoke to Richard on Monday because he was too busy but when I arrived on the
Tuesday, he had some time before the next scene so it was great to have a nice
chat with him. He then took me to see the haunted house set which was being
filmed in the afternoon. The scenes in the kitchen with Dave Benson Phillips
had started and once again, I had a great view! But something more exciting
than that was that I actually had a job! The man who works the clapper board
for each scene asked me if I wanted to have a quick go. I jumped at the chance
and he quickly told me what to do. He watched me do it the first time and he
then left! So I was in charge of working the clapper board for the morning
scenes. Very good experience!
Green screen
was needed for the next scenes. As the team set it up, I remember the rest of
the crew looking at the miserable weather outside! After the green scenes were
complete, it was lunch time! On our way to the car, Dave was chatting to me.
Someone must have told him about my scripts. “So I understand you’ve written
some of the episodes for this series?” “Yes, I’ve co-written a few and I’ll hopefully
get to do more next year if Richard approves of my new ones I’m writing!” I
replied. He asked me if I felt proud and I nodded my head with a huge smile on
my face!
Lunch was
over and Sooty’s haunted house was nearly ready! The design team had a few
finishing touches so we had a spare few minutes before the recording. Wink knew
I wanted a photo with Sooty so he was kind enough to let me “give Sooty a hand” for the photo. I had the photo taken with
him in the bedroom set, what set could be better for a photo? Time was getting
on and my time with Sooty was nearly over. The haunted house scenes were ready
and for this, I was sat next to Brenda at the recording table! She wasn’t
needed for these scenes which meant we could talk quietly! One of the Sooty
puppeteers made me and Brenda a cup of tea. Is this happening? Am I really sat
here having a cuppa with Brenda Longman? I kept thinking! Brenda was such a
lovely person to chat to though. I had a really great time talking to her about
the old Sooty days! She was happy to answer all of the questions I’ve wanted
answering since I was the age of 5! Richard then came over to us and said this
was like Déjà Vu! “Now this looks very familiar!” Richard said. “Here we have
young Aaron Price talking to Brenda Longman! And I remember me being on Sooty
when I was 15, chatting to Brenda Longman also!” Brenda laughed! “Does this
mean Brenda has to give me a lift to the station?” I asked as a joke (Proper
Sooty fans should know what I mean when I say this!)
And that
was it! Time was up. It was time to say goodbye to the lovely people who I’ve
been with for the past two days! I said goodbye to Richard and the rest of the
crew and left. That was my time over with the Sooty gang. Or was it??
 |
| My new job! |
Wednesday
15th May 2013
We were
leaving today and me and my family went to the Pier in Weston Super-mare to
spend a few hours before going back home. It was before 12pm which meant most
of the things at the Pier were still closed! I found it pretty boring. My mum
asked me if I wanted to go to Brean Park and have an hour on the rides up there
so I said yes! And when we were about two minutes away, I suddenly remembered
that they were filming there outside today! When we arrived, the Sooty van was
there and I had an extra half an hour with the crew. Richard saw me and looked
very surprised! So did Wink! I think they must have thought I was going home
yesterday instead of today! But now it really was time to go, back to South
Wales!
Overall, I
have probably had the best few days of my life, there at Brean. I had such a
fun time and an amazing experience. It was so nice to spend a few days with
such lovely people, filming something I have watched all of my life. It’s been
fantastic! Thank you to Richard for letting me be a part of it. Thanks to Wink
for looking after me on my visit! Thanks to Brenda Longman for taking the time
out to chat to me and thanks to everyone else for making me feel very welcome
there!
 |
| This is the haunted house set. Look out for it in an upcoming episode! |
Look out for the new series of The Sooty Show on CITV in
September!
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