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STEPTOE AND SON
'Steptoe And
Son' remains one of the greatest of British sitcoms, and
only really had two principal characters, both grumpy rag
and bone men - one old, one young, and one a father and
one a son.
Wilfrid Brambell played the selfish, manipulative father,
Albert Steptoe, evincing violins of sympathy whenever
pretentious son Harold, played by Harry H. Corbett, a man
nearing middle age, threatened to leave home. Rarely
short of attractive girlfriends, the Steptoe abode was
never a great lovenest for Harold and his girls, with
some hygiene problems and a vindictive Albert to contend
with.
Harold was ashamed of his father, and whenever Harold was
trying to get ahead, and impress his newly found highbrow
acting chums, Albert would put a spoke in the works, and,
on one occasion, steal the limelight, much to the chagrin
of an apoplectic Harold.
There's some memorably spiteful, but witty, exchanges in
the series. Harold once said to his father, "Dracula
was a better father than what you are". His father
had to come back with something, of course, and when
Harold said he wanted to be a doctor, Albert retorted, on
the fact that he wasn't a doctor, with "That saved a
few lives".
Another treasure from writers Ray Galton and Alan
Simpson, to go alongside the likes of their work on
'Hancock'. Classic episodes included 'The Desperate
Hours', with two criminals, played by Leonard Rossiter
and J.G. Devlin, on the run, and the younger crim (Rossiter)
finding he has things in common with Harold's plight -
both feeling weighed down by old men, and the old men
feeling the young men are selfish and heartless, but
everythng is resolved amicably. 'Come Dancing' is a
hilarious episode of meticulous planning coming
spectacularly unstuck. 'Divided We Stand' shows the two
men at their most petty, as they erect a partition in the
living room, but realise that neither can see more than
half of the TV screen - as the telly has been
partitioned, too!
- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.
Steptoe And
Son Episode List (all BBC)
(dates are of first TV screenings)
The Offer - 5 January 1962
(Comedy Playhouse)
Season One
June/July 1962
The Bird - 14 June 1962
The Piano - 21 June 1962
The Economist - 28 June 1962
The Diploma - 5 July 1962
The Holiday - 12 July 1962
Season Two
January/February 1963
Wallah Wallah Cat's Meat - 3 January 1963
The Bath - 10 January 1963
The Stepmother - 17 January 1963
Sixty Five Today - 24 January 1963
A Musical Evening - 31 January 1963
Full House - 7 February 1963
Is That Your Horse Outside? - 14 February 1963
Season Three
January/February 1964
Home Fit For Heroes - 7 January 1964
The Wooden Overcoats - 14 January 1964
The Lead Man Cometh - 21 January 1964
Steptoe A La Cart - 28 January 1964
Sunday For Seven Days - 4 February 1964
The Bond That Binds Us - 11 February 1964
The Lodger - 18 February 1964
Season Four
October/November 1965
And Afterwards At . . - 4 October 1965
Crossed Swords - 11 October 1965
Those Magnificent Men And Their Heating Machines - 18 October
1965
The Siege Of Steptoe Street - 25 October 1965
A Box In Town - 1 November 1965
My Old Man's A Tory - 8 November 1965
Pilgrims Progress- 15 November 1965
Season Five (Screened
in Colour for the first time) March/April 1970
A Death In The Family - 6 March 1970
A Winter's Tale - 13 March 1970
Any Old Iron - 20 March 1970
Steptoe And Son - And Son - 27 March 1970
The Colour Problem - 3 April 1970
TB Or Not TB - 10 April 1970
Men Of Property - 17 April 1970
Season Six
November/December 1970
Robbery With Violence - 2 November 1970
Come Dancing - 9 November 1970
Two's Company - 16 November 1970
Tea For Two - 23 November 1970
Without Prejudice - 30 November 1970
Pot Black - 7 December 1970
The Three Feathers - 14 December 1970
Cuckoo In The Nest - 21 December 1970
Season Seven
February/April 1972
Men Of Letters - 21 February 1972
A Star Is Born - 28 February 1972
Oh What A Beautiful Mourning - 6 March 1972
Live Now P.A.Y.E. Later - 13 March 1972
Loathe Story - 20 March 1972
Divided We Stand - 27 March 1972
The Desperate Hours - 3 April 1972
Christmas
Special
The Party - 24 December 1973
Season Eight
September/October 1974
Back In Fashion - 4 September 1974
And So To Bed - 11 September 1974
Porn Yesterday - 18 September 1974
The Seven Steptoerai - 25 September 1974
Upstairs, Downstairs, Upstairs, Downstairs - 3 October 1974
Seance In A Wet Rag And Bone Yard - 10 October 1974
Christmas
Special
The Holiday - 26 December 1974
Feature Films
Steptoe and Son - 1972
Steptoe and Son Ride Again - 1973 |
Steptoe And Son DVDs available from
booksmusicfilmstv.com - in association with Amazon.co.uk
 The Complete Steptoe & Son ~ Harry H. Corbett, Wilfrid Brambell |
 Steptoe & Son - The Christmas Specials ~ Harry H. Corbett, Wilfred Brambell |
 Steptoe & Son - Double Bill ~ Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H. Corbett |
 Steptoe & Son - Series Seven [1972] ~ Wilfred Brambell, Harry H. Corbett |
 The Very Best of Steptoe and Son [1962] ~ Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H. Corbett |
 Steptoe & Son - Series One [1962] ~ Harry H. Corbett, Wilfrid Brambell |
 Steptoe & Son - Series Eight [1974] ~ Wilfred Brambell, Harry H. Corbett |
 Steptoe & Son - Series Six [1970] ~ Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H. Corbett |
 Steptoe & Son - Series Two [1963] ~ Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H. Corbett |
 The Very Best of Steptoe and Son - Volume Two [1962] ~ Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H. Corbett |
Watch 'Steptoe And Son' videos free at classicbritishsitcomvideos
Steptoe And Son Videos available from
booksmusicfilmstv.com - in association with Amazon.co.uk
Steptoe And Son - 65
Today
Steptoe And Son - Divided We
Stand
Steptoe And Son - The Stepmother
/ Full House / The Wooden Overcoats
Steptoe And Son - The Very Best
Of
Steptoe And Son - The Very Best
Of Steptoe And Son - Vol. 2 [1972]
Steptoe And Son - Wallah, Wallah,
Catsmeat
Steptoe And Son [1972]
Steptoe And Son Ride Again [1973]
Steptoe And Son Audiobooks, CDs, Books available from
booksmusicfilmstv.com - in association with Amazon.co.uk
|
| STEPTOE AND
SON DVDs Episodes |
Steptoe
and Son Series 1
Synopsis
The comic genius of two of Britain's most
extraordinary scriptwriters and the talents of
two comedy actors come together to produce this
wildly popular British television series. This
volume contains the original one-off 'The Offer',
as well as 'The Bird', 'The Piano', 'The
Economist', 'The Diploma' and 'The Holiday' from
the very first series.
|
|
Steptoe
And Son - Series 2
Synopsis
Features seven episodes from the second series of
the television comedy. In 'Wallah Wallah
Catsmeat' the local rag and bone men are called
in to help when Hercules falls ill. Also features:
'The Bath', 'The Stepmother', 'Sixty-Five Today',
'A Musical Evening', 'Full House' and 'Is That
Your Horse Outside?'.
|
|
Steptoe
And Son - Series 3
Synopsis
Features seven episodes from the third series of
the television comedy. In 'Homes Fit For Heroes',
Harold wants to sail around the world but he has
to get his dad into a home first. Also features
'The Wooden Overcoats', 'The Lead Man Cometh',
'Steptoe A La Cart', 'Sunday For Seven Days',
'The Bonds That Bind Us' and 'The Lodger!'
|
|
Steptoe
And Son - Series 4
Synopsis
Features seven episodes from the fourth series of
the television comedy about the Rag and Bone Men
first broadcast in 1965. Episodes include 'And
Afterwards At...', 'Crossed Swords', 'Those
Magnificent Men And Their Heating Machines', 'The
Siege Of Steptoe Street', 'A Box In Town', 'My
Old Man's A Tory' and 'Pilgrim's Progress'.
|
|
Steptoe
And Son - Series 5
Synopsis
TV's beloved rag and bone men Steptoe and Son
return to their quarrelsome antics in this, the
show's fifth series. Features all seven episodes
including 'A Death In The Family', 'A Winter's
Tale', and 'Men Of Property'.
|
|
Steptoe
And Son - Series 6
Synopsis
TV's beloved rag and bone men Steptoe and Son
return to their quarrelsome antics in this, the
show's sixth series. Episodes include 'Robbery
With Violence', 'Come Dancing', 'Two's company',
'Tea For Two', 'Without Prejudice', 'The Three
Feathers' and 'Cuckoo In the Nest'.
|
|
Steptoe and Son, Series 1 Amazon.co.uk
Review
Fresh from their success with Tony Hancock, writers Ray
Galton and Alan Simpson originally planned Steptoe and
Son as a one-off for the BBC’s Comedy Playhouse.
It was quickly turned into a series, originally broadcast
in 1962, and the six episodes here (including the Comedy
Playhouse "pilot") contain all the classic
ingredients that were to keep the show on British TV
screens until 1974. Harry H. Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell
are the father and son rag and bone men, constantly
bickering, constantly at each other’s throats.
Corbett’s Harold harbours ridiculous bourgeois
aspirations, hoping to impress the "birds" with
asparagus soup or his wine cellar, which has been
painstakingly collected by draining the dregs of empty
bottles. But all his efforts at social improvement are in
vain, thanks to the mean-spirited efforts of his father
Albert, who glories in his son’s contemptuous "dirty
old man" tag, and who is content with life exactly
as it is in the cast-off paradise of their ramshackle
junk-filled boneyard. The show was groundbreaking at
the time, depicting working-class people in light comedy
instead of serious social drama as was the norm. It also
differed significantly from Hancock’s Half Hour
and other sitcoms, which featured comedians effectively
playing themselves: Brambell and Corbett were real actors
whose marvellous chemistry helped ensure the show’s
longevity. In our modern throwaway culture, Steptoe
and Son provides a window into a bygone era, when men
with horses and carts routinely patrolled the streets
recycling junk, without the need for government
incentives or environmental pressure.
On the DVD: Steptoe and Son, Series 1
has six episodes on one disc. The black and white picture
shows its age quite badly, and the mono sound is equally
fuzzy in places. There are no extras, which is a shame,
as Galton and Simpson could surely have provided an
illuminating commentary track. --Mark Walker
|
Steptoe
And Son - Series 7 on DVD
Availability: This title will be released on March 26, 2007.
Pre-order now! Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
Steptoe And Son Radio Collection
A boxed set containing Volumes 1,
2 and 3 of BBC Radio Collection's releases, featuring 12 episodes
from the "Steptoe & Son" radio series. It also
includes a 60-minute interview with the writers, Galton and
Simpson.
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Steptoe & Son - Series Five [1970]
Steptoe & Son / Steptoe & Son Ride Again [1973]
Steptoe & Son - Series Four [1965]
Steptoe & Son - Series Three [1964]
Steptoe And Son - The Very Best Of [1962]
Steptoe And Son Ride Again [1973]
Steptoe And Son - The Piano / The Bath / The Holiday
Steptoe And Son - Divided We Stand
"Steptoe and Son", the Very Best Episodes: v. 1 (Steptoe & Son)
"Steptoe and Son" (Steptoe & Son)
Steptoe & Son
Steptoe & Son [ Ray Galton & Alan Simpson ]
"Steptoe and Son": And So to Bed No.7 (BBC Radio Collection)
"Steptoe and Son": The Seven Steptoerai No.6 (BBC Radio Collection)
"Steptoe and Son": The Lead Man Cometh No.1 (BBC Radio Collection)
"Steptoe and Son" (Radio Collection)
