Steptoe and Son

I love this type of simple comedy. No complicated stories or phrases or lines. I'm a young'un myself, growing up in such a degraded and unfunny society, so it's nice that a show that's pushing 70 years old is perfectly capable to make me genuinely laugh. As I said before, this level of simple comedy keeps me coming back, and I'm often quoting the show around people who have no idea what I'm talking about. For it's time, Steptoe was the most vulgar, offensive show on the box, yet is now considered the "elder statesman" by some today. I find it's not repeated on TV enough, with Divided we Stand being repeated on BBC Four only last October. Yet BBC Three is ok with repeating Bad Education's Christmas Special three times in one night. In conclusion, Steptoe was ahead of its time, portraying a very grim and off-beat picture of working class life.

This is a BBC sitcom that's set in Shepherd's Bush, West London. It's about a father and son who are rag-and-bone men. It ran from 1962-1974. There were also films, plays, documentaries and versions of the TV series made by other countries.

It's well-written and well-acted. There are many good performances from actors who only appear in one or two episodes each.

Steptoe and Son is probably the best British comedy ever. Featuring late stars, Wilfred Brambell and Harry H Corbett, this was an excellent show which never failed to amuse me and was true to life.

The show featured pensioner Albert Steptoe and his son Harold Steptoe (a pair of rag and bone men). They bickered, the fought, they sulked and generally got on each other's nerves. But underneath, there was a mutual love.

This show kind of reminded me of my own life. Even though I love my own dad, I did spend quite a few years of my life arguing with him even when I left home at 18. We were two different people with different outlooks on life and this led to some battles at times. This show was the same. Albert and Harold could not have been more different. Harold was fed up with his dad's filthy habits and moaning; Albert was always playing on Harold's emotions with phrases such as, "I'm an old man Harold. Need looking after." Also funny was the fact that Albert always ruined any prospective relationship that Harold was going to engage in. But they loved each other deep down and that was the fun of it.

Truly the greatest British comedy ever.

Along with Rab Nesbitt this is equally my top of British comedy. The worst episode holds more laughs than the best of anything else. The idea is so simple in real terms but holds so much span of internal conflict and emotional war. Father and son material, as most men know is like a battlefield of top dogism..Here we have a 40 year old man living with a father who has been widower for the same time with equal demons to come to terms with. If any man out there who had a father who could play football or cards better than him then this is for you. Apart from all this social comment the script was so funny and witty it can be often funny without empathy. Whatever funny you're after , this has it!

Although Steptoe and Son ran on British TV for twelve years it is one of those rare (maybe unique) examples of an idea which continued to develop and evolve rather than slide into stale repetition.

In its early years the series emphasised broad comedy. One well-remembered episode features Albert eating a meal while sitting in his bath, earning a rebuke from his son which became a national catchphrase: "You dirty old man!"

As time went by the characters became established and the writing began to emphasise the mutual dependency of two basically lonely men (Harold the batchelor and Albert the widower). Harold dreams of a better quality of life away from his father and constantly makes attempts to achieve something in his own right. His attempts are thwarted by his own lack of social standing and his father's scheming: if Harold joins a local theatre group, Albert joins too and becomes the star of the show.

Albert, for his part, fears losing his son and being abandoned in his old age. He will use any means (especially moral blackmail) to keep Harold at his side. More importantly he is far more realistic than Harold and sees that his attempts at social ambition are doomed.

In one of the most moving episodes an old girlfriend of Harold's reappears after many years. They still feel the same way about each other and plan to marry. Finally Harold can break away from the old man. Naturally Albert has other ideas, but at the climax of the show it is the girl who ends the relationship, telling Harold he is already married.

The performances of Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett never faltered through the show's run. Galton and Simpson produced scripts of wit and insight and they performed with great skill and subtlety. This is a show where you laugh while recognising the truth and basic sadness of the situation in which the characters live.