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"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.
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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.
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