Classic Comedy At Its Finest

Rabical-91

I am fairly certain that most readers are already familiar with 'Steptoe & Son' so I wont bother going into great detail about it. I will, however, say that it is one the finest sitcoms ever made, brilliantly performed with such realism and panache by its two leads - Harry H. Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell.

Sprouting from a 'Comedy Playhouse' edition entitled 'The Offer', it was created and written by Ray Galton & Alan Simpson, whose previous comedy work included 'Hancock's Half Hour' and 'Citizen James'. 'Steptoe & Son' was nothing like either of those. It was more a comedy drama rather than a sitcom. The love/hate relationship between rag and bone man Albert and his downtrodden son Harold added a touch of drama and pathos to the show.

It has also been well documented that Corbett and Brambell both despised each other in real life over the course of the show's run, a fact which, while unfortunate, adds greatly to the realism of the actors portrayal of their characters.

Aside from great acting from the show's main players, Galton and Simpson's wonderfully crafted scripts helped make 'Steptoe & Son' the classic it was. Among my favourite episodes were 'Upstairs, Downstairs, Upstairs, Downstairs' ( Harold has to look after a bedridden Albert ), 'Oh, What A Beautiful Mourning' ( Harold and Albert attend the funeral of a tight fisted relative ), 'Loathe Story' ( the harrowing history behind Harold's childhood is revealed ), 'The Desperate Hours' ( two escaped criminals seek refuge in the Steptoe household ) and, the best of all, 'Divided We Stand' in which Harold and Albert try to lead their own lives whilst living under the same roof.

There was quite an impressive array of guest stars too which included Mollie Sugden, Joanna Lumley, Leonard Rossiter, J.G Devlin, Yootha Joyce and Patricia Routledge. Two feature films were subsequently made - 'Steptoe & Son' ( 1972 ) and 'Steptoe & Son Ride Again' ( 1973 ).

'Steptoe & Son' like many British shows was sold off to the States where it was remade as 'Sanford & Son' ( starring Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson ), however the original remains the best.

score 10/10

Rabical-91 15 June 2015

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3258928/