My apologies to readers whose childhood was deprived by an absence of Sooty and have no idea what I am talking about, but I thought this was a good illustration of the fact that there really is a slippery slope. Today Sooty would be gay, have a boyfriend and there would be no scandal. Or he would be a transgender bear.

From the BBC:

The idea to introduce a female puppet to Sooty’s children’s TV show in the 1960s was so controversial that the BBC director general had to intervene, a new documentary has revealed.

The suggestion by Sooty creator Harry Corbett caused a furore in the press, which claimed it would “introduce sex into a children’s programme”.