Steptoe and Son

After creating the supreme comedy that was Hancock's Half Hour, many wondered where else writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson could go when the eponymous Mr H dispensed with their services. Their answer was another sitcom tour-de-force, Steptoe & Son. Steptoe was born from a one-off comic play, "The Offer" commissioned by the BBC in 1962 as part of Comedy Playhouse, a series of short plays all written by Galton and Simpson. From the outset it broke the mould of British comedy. Where previous sitcoms relied on slapstick, gags and farce, Steptoe and Son introduced a note of gritty realism: its characters were resolutely working-class, down-at-heel rag-and-bone men scraping a living by spotting gems among other people's junk. Father and son used earthy language and swore like troopers (at least as much as the BBC would allow them to) and both were given an added reality by being played by "straight" actors (Wilfred Brambell and Harry H Corbett) rather than comedians. Where other comedies revolved around interfering mothers-in-law and the sudden failure of the hero's braces the moment his boss came round, Steptoe's focus was on the inter-generational conflict that marked out the 60s. While father Albert Steptoe was - as his son often reminded him - a "dirty old man", set in his grimy and grasping ways, middle-aged son Harold was filled with social aspirations, not to say pretensions. Many episodes saw Harold attempting to attract a posh "bird" (this was still the sixties and early seventies) with his literary erudition, love of classical music or amateur dramatic skills, only to have a single leer from his gargoyle-like dad put the kybosh on the whole affair. Despite the advantage of Harold's relative youth, the audience always knew who was master in the Steptoe household. Albert, convinced his work in years (long) gone by entitled him to live off his son's hard graft, used every weapon from blood-curdling threats to pathetic wheedling to kee

English français
  • TheTVDB.com Series ID 76607
  • Status Ended
  • First Aired January 5, 1962
  • Recent December 22, 2023
  • Network BBC One Channel 5 ITV1
  • Average Runtime 30 minutes
  • Genres Comedy
  • Original Country Great Britain
  • Original Language English
  • On Other Sites IMDB TheMovieDB.com
  • Episode Screenshot Format 4:3 Screencap
  • Favorited This series has been favorited by 26 people.
  • Created February 4, 2008 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified May 26, 2024 by
    weirdbeard
Season From To Episodes
All Seasons
Specials November 1963 December 2023 15
Season 1 January 1962 July 1962 6
Season 2 January 1963 February 1963 7
Season 3 January 1964 February 1964 7
Season 4 October 1965 November 1965 7
Season 5 March 1970 April 1970 7
Season 6 November 1970 December 1970 8
Season 7 February 1972 April 1972 7
Season 8 September 1974 October 1974 6
Unassigned Episodes 0
Season From To Episodes
All Seasons
Season 1 January 1962 July 1962 6
Season 2 January 1963 February 1963 7
Season 3 January 1964 February 1964 7
Season 4 October 1965 November 1965 7
Season 5 March 1970 April 1970 7
Season 6 November 1970 December 1970 8
Season 7 February 1972 December 1973 8
Season 8 September 1974 December 1974 7
Unassigned Episodes 13
Absolute ordering places all episodes in a single ordered season. This is generally used for anime.
Season From To Episodes
Season 1 0
Unassigned Episodes 70
Name Number of Episodes Dates
Alan Simpson 61 01/05/1962 - 09/14/2016
Ray Galton 61 01/05/1962 - 09/14/2016
Tim Buckland 4 11/15/1965
Sidonie Bond 2 11/15/1965
Brian Fillis 1 03/19/2008
Frederick Schiller 1 11/15/1965
Catharine Ferras 1 11/15/1965
Name Number of Episodes Dates
Peter Sykes 1 08/08/1973
David Barrie 1 08/20/2002
Michael Samuels 1 03/19/2008
Cliff Owen 1 01/07/1972
Helen Nixon 1 03/19/2008

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BFI TV 100 (2000)

1 99 Sr.Kin

The BFI TV 100 is a list of 100 television programmes or series that was compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), as chosen by a poll of industry professionals, with the aim to determine the best British television programmes of any genre that had been screened up to that time.

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