THE Margin is distraught, to say the least, at news that Sooty, the loveable bear with the water pistol, has undergone an image change. After his purchase for £1.4 million by the Guinness Mahon merchant bank, Sooty is to appear in the new series on Granada TV dancing in a Spanish disco, while friend Soo the panda falls for a waiter's chat up line.

According to his puppet master, Sooty has now turned into a bear about town. Next thing you know Thomas the Tank Engine will be going on the beer and off the rails; and the Magic Roundabout will feature magic mushrooms - thus explaining Zebadee's strange behaviour.