NOSTALGIA: Sooty, Sweep, and ... the Daleks? Famous TV duo visit Lincolnshire in 1965

The pair stopped by Boston, Sleaford, and Louth to stage charity performances in aid of the National Children’s Homes.

Speaking to the Standard, Mr Corbett said: “I think the secret of Sooty’s appeal is that he is successful in taking the mickey out of me, an adult, and all the kiddies with they could do the same.”

By the mid-1960s, Sooty was a well-established figure in children’s entertainment, having made his TV debut more than a decade earlier.

“I always keep his age at five, but officially he would now have been in his late teens,” Mr Corbett said.

Asked if he had any plans for introducing new characters into his scripts, he said: “Sweep was a great success. And most of the children like him as much as Sooty. At the moment, I’m thinking of constructing a robot puppet on the lines of Dr Who and the Daleks. The programme is so popular and the kids seem infatuated with science fiction these days.”