Steptoe and Son

Steptoe and Son: Albert Steptoe and his son Harold run a "rag and bone" business. Harold wants to move up in the world and leave home, but his plans constantly thwarted by his cunning old and cantnkerous father.

Steptoe and Son was a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were aired on the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old Ned", was composed by Ron Grainer. In a 2004, BBC, poll to find "Britain's Best Sitcom", Steptoe and Son was voted 15th best British sitcom of all time.

The show had its roots in a 1962 episode of Galton & Simpson's Comedy Playhouse entitled "The Offer". Galton & Simpson had split from Tony Hancock, for whom they had written Hancock's Half Hour, and had agreed to write a series of six comedy shows for the BBC. The fifth in the series, "The Offer", was born partly out of writer's block, and partly from budgetary contraints. Earlier shows in the series had cost more than expected, and so Galton & Simpson decided to write a two-hander set in one room.

Although Galton & Simpson had initially expected a different pilot from the series to have been commissioned ("Clicquot Et Fils" starring Eric Sykes as a French undertaker), they were reportedly overwhelmed by the reaction to "The Offer", and later that year, the first of eight series was commissioned, the first four of which were made in black and white. Each series comprised five to eight half-hour episodes, and the last was transmitted in 1974. At the peak of the series' popularity, it commanded viewing figures of some 28 million per episode. In addition, the early 1970s saw two feature films, two 45-minute Christmas specials and a number of radio shows based on the TV scripts. In 2005, the play Steptoe and Son in Murder at Oil Drum Lane, written by Ray Galton and John Antrobus, brought the storyline to a close.

The series was one of the first UK situation comedy programmes to employ actors rather than comedians in the principal roles. Galton and Simpson had decided themselves that they wanted to try to write for performers who "didn't count their laughs".

Links

Review

http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tv/100/articles/comedy.html

Summary and info on cast list ect.

http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/steptoe/index.html

Episode List

http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/steptoe/list.html

Steptoe and Son Appreciation Website

http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/indexmain.html

Mini Clips

http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/episodes/vctheoffer.html

http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/episodes/vcthebird.html

http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/episodes/vcthepiano.html

http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/episodes/vctheeconomist.html

http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/episodes/vcthediploma.html

http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/episodes/vctheholiday.html

Steptoe and Son Gallery

http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/stills/stillsgal01.html

More information

"Steptoe and Son" is about the love-hate relationship between Albert Steptoe (Wilfrid Brambell) and is son Harold (Harry H Corbett). Together they run a 'rag-and-bone' business although Harold wishes he could leave. "Steptoe and Son" is a landmark in British sitcom history as it set the standard against which all sitcoms were judged.

"Steptoe and Son" was never meant to be a sitcom. It all started when Tony Hancock dispensed with the services of the top comedy writers in Britain at the time, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. On leaving "Hancock" they were invited to script 10 short comedy plays for the BBC. Thus began ‘Comedy Playhouse’, which would run from 1961 to 1974 and whose pilots would spawn series such as "Till Death Us Do Part", "Meet The Wife", "Are You Being Served?" and "Last of the Summer Wine". Of Galton and Simpson’s 10 originals, it was the fifth, "The Offer", broadcast on the 5th of January 1962, about a father-and-son, rag-and-bone business, which was deemed most worthy of a series.

Its creation had been hurried and haphazard. Under sudden pressure to produce 10 new scripts in a short space of time, Galton and Simpson simply decided to start writing two male characters and worry about the rest later. Soon they became rag-and-bone men, and after a while they realised that one partner was older than the other, so made them father and son. A truly classic television show was thus born. "The Offer" was an instant success, and the writers and actors were invited to create a series, which (eventually), they agreed to. "Steptoe and Son", as it was now titled, aired in June of 1962 and was an instant success.

It was an absolute landmark, the first ‘proper’ sitcom in the sense that it featured actors playing actual characters as opposed to comedians playing extensions of themselves. Landmark too, was the exploration of the misery, poverty and hopelessness of working class, even underclass, life on British television. Extraordinary also was the portrayal of a father and son who truly loathed and despised each other. And to find comedy in this situation? Apparently effortless for Galton and Simpson, who blended farce with tragedy, hilarity with cruelty, and created what remains, if not the funniest, certainly the most important situation comedy of all time. Harold’s plight was heartbreaking, his desire for love, success, money and dignity constantly thwarted by his controlling, sadistic and manipulative father.

The series ended in 1965, only to return (in colour) for 4 more series from 1970 to 1974, which again featured glorious scripts and outstanding performances from Harry H Corbett and Wilfred Brambell. The show never lost its capacity to move and shock audiences as well as make them laugh. This is evident in one of the later episodes, ‘Divided We Stand’, in which the farcical and hilarious concept of Harold splitting the house in two (including the TV) is used to explore the extent of Harold’s desperation and Albert’s cruelty. This episode is justly famous and remains the ultimate highlight in a show packed full of memorable moments. The series came to a final end in 1974. Having come tantalisingly close so many times, Harold remained in Oil Drum Lane with his father, the horse Hercules, and a life of wasted opportunity, at all times thwarted by the twisted old man he lived with. In "Steptoe and Son", there were no happy endings.

To this day, "Steptoe" remains a funny, fresh and intensely moving piece of character comedy. The recent revelation that Corbett and Brambell actually despised each other in real life as well as on-screen adds yet another depth. Following the old maxim that conflict, hatred and despair reap comic rewards, "Steptoe and Son"’s influence on situation comedy and television generally cannot be overestimated. It is, quite simply, one of the most important television programmes ever produced.