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Steptoe and Son
1962 - 1974 7.8 (33 votes) 8 Seasons
Official Website
Genres
Comedy
Networks
BBC One
Created By
Ray Galton
Alan Simpson

Steptoe and Son

Overview

Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father and son played by Wilfred Brambell and Harry H. Corbett who deal in selling used items. They live on Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old Ned", was composed by Ron Grainer. The series was voted 15th in a 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom. It was remade in the US as Sanford and Son, in Sweden as Albert & Herbert and in the Netherlands as Stiefbeen en zoon. In 1972 a movie adaptation of the series, Steptoe and Son, was released in cinemas, with a second Steptoe and Son Ride Again in 1973.

Top Cast

Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett

Harold Steptoe

Wilfrid Brambell
Wilfrid Brambell

Albert Steptoe

Seasons

Season 0 poster
Season 0 (1973)

No overview available.

7 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Christmas Special: The Party
1973-12-24

Albert is busy putting up Christmas decorations while Harold is making plans to go to Spain for the holidays. When he tells Albert that he will have to spend the holiday at the local old people's home, Albert objects, so he changes his plans and decides to spend his holiday money on a big party for all his friends... but things don't go to plan.

Runtime: 43 min
Episode 2: Christmas Special: A Perfect Christmas (Season 8)
1974-12-26

Harold is fed up with staying at home over Christmas, so he plans to take Albert abroad for the holiday, only to find out that he has no passport. After a long hunt for the birth certificate, and pleas to Harold that they go to Bognor instead, they finally turn up at the station but find that the passport is out of date! Just when it looks like Harold's Christmas is going to be a disaster, he has a surprise in store...

Runtime: 42 min
Episode 3: When Steptoe Met Son
2002-08-20

When Steptoe Met Son is a 2002 Channel 4 documentary about the personal lives of Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett, the stars of the long-running BBC situation comedy, Steptoe and Son.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Mark Lawson Talks To Galton & Simpson
2008-03-19

Interviews with the giants of TV comedy who created Steptoe and Son. They provide a fascinating insight into their work and an enduring friendship.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: The Curse of Steptoe
2008-03-19

A television play which stars Jason Isaacs as Harry H. Corbett and Phil Davis as Wilfrid Brambell. The drama centres on the actors' on and off screen relationship during the making of the BBC sitcom Steptoe and Son, and is based on interviews with colleagues, friends and family of the actors, and the Steptoe writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Steptoe and Son
1972-03-23

A British comedy drama film and a spin-off from the popular British television comedy series of the same name about father-and-son rag-and-bone dealers.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Steptoe and Son Ride Again
1973-08-08

Albert Steptoe and his son Harold are junk dealers, complete with horse and cart to tour the neighbourhood. They also live amicably together at the junk yard. Always on the lookout for ways to improve his lot, Harold invests his father's life savings in a greyhound who is almost blind and can't see the hare...

Runtime: 99 min
Season 1 poster
Season 1 (1962)

No overview available.

6 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: The Offer
1962-01-05

The very first episode of what was to become an all time classic comedy series. In this episode that introduces the characters Harold is very unhappy working as a rag and bone man, and wants to leave for a better job. Albert, his father, seeing his workforce about to leave, conspires to get him to stay.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: The Bird
1962-06-14

Harold is going out every night, so Albert suspects that he must being seeing a girl. Determined to put a stop to the romance, he gets Harold to invite the girl back to the house for dinner. Meanwhile, Albert puts the clocks forward so when she fails to show up at the right time, Harold thinks she has stood him up.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: The Piano
1962-06-21

Harold is offered a piano, providing he moves it himself. He gets Albert to help, only to find out that it is on the top floor of a block of flats.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: The Economist
1962-06-28

Harold tries to teach Albert about the economics of running a business. He then ends up buying 400 sets of false teeth hoping to make a killing. When they don't sell, he takes their last £10.00 and tries again, this time bringing home 400 World War 2 gas masks.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: The Diploma
1962-07-05

Harold decides to get out of the rag and bone trade and get a diploma in TV repair, only for Albert to prove that he knows more about it than him.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: The Holiday
1962-07-12

Harold has holiday plans, and they don't involve Albert or the annual trip to Bognor Regis; Albert attempts to change his son's mind by using emotional blackmail.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 3 poster
Season 3 (1964)

No overview available.

7 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Homes Fit For Heroes
1964-01-07

Harold plans to sail around the world with a group of young adventurers, but first he has to persuade Albert to go into an old people's home. Then the problems start.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: The Wooden Overcoats
1964-01-14

Harold buys a job lot of coffins and plans to store them in the house, only for Albert to object and threaten to sleep in the stable with the horse until they have been moved.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: The Lead Man Cometh
1964-01-21

A con man, Welsh Hughie, played by guest star Leonard Rossiter, tries to sell the Steptoes some cheap lead.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Steptoe a La Cart
1964-01-28

Harold meets a French girl, and falls for her. When she meets Albert they talk about her family history and it becomes apparent that Albert may have dated her grandmother while on leave during the first war...

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Sunday For Seven Days
1964-02-04

Every Friday night, Harold has promised to take Albert out to the cinema, but it's always to a film that Harold wants to see, consequently Albert is bored to death and decides to wreak the whole evening.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: The Bonds That Bind Us
1964-02-11

For years Albert has been buying premium bonds, hoping for a winner, while Harold is sceptical that he will ever win. Imagine Harold's surprise when finally one of the bonds comes up and Albert's in the money.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: The Lodger
1964-02-18

In an attempt to bring in some money Albert decides to advertise for a lodger. Harold threatens to leave as soon as the lodger shows up.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 4 poster
Season 4 (1965)

No overview available.

7 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: And Afterwards At
1965-10-04

Harold finally gets to the altar with Albert as his best man.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Crossed Swords
1965-10-11

When Albert gets locked in the outside loo, Harold arrives back to find no dinner. But he is not worried as he has found a rare piece of porcelain and he wants to put it up for auction.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Those Magnificent Men and Their Heating Machines
1965-10-18

Harold decides that he wants central heating for the house and plans to install the system himself.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: The Siege of Steptoe Street
1965-10-25

When the money runs out and the bills mount up, a summons is delivered from the local butcher demanding payment. Barricading themselves in the house, the Steptoes need something drastic to happen.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: A Box in Town
1965-11-01

When Harold brings his current girlfriend back home after a date, he finds that he has to entertain her in the yard because Albert will not go upstairs to sleep. So he decides to leave and rent a flat in town.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: My Old Man's a Tory
1965-11-08

Harold invites the local Labour Party organizer to a meeting, hoping they will adopt him as their candidate for the next election. Albert, who supports the Tories, plans to thwart his ambitions.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Pilgrim's Progress
1965-11-15

Harold takes Albert on a trip to France to see the battlefields of the First World War. But as soon as the plane has takes off, he starts arguing with an American passenger about their involvement in the conflict.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 5 poster
Season 5 (1970)

No overview available.

7 episodes

Season 6 poster
Season 6 (1970)

No overview available.

8 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Robbery with Violence
1970-11-02

While cleaning the house, Albert knocks over Harold's china cabinet and destroys his valuable collection. To cover up the accident he invents a story that the damage happened during a robbery. Then the press get involved...

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Come Dancing
1970-11-09

Harold's new girlfriend is a Come Dancing fan and she wants Harold to partner her in the local championship, but as Harold can't dance, Albert offers to teach him. All goes well until the big night, when Harold has a shock...

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Two's Company
1970-11-16

Albert is thinking about getting married and brings his fiance home to meet Harold. Imagine Harold's shock when she turns out to be an old girlfriend!

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Tea for Two
1970-11-23

During a bi-election, the local Tory party want Albert to entertain Ted Heath at the junk yard. When Harold finds out, he is furious and promises to do everything he can to stop it.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Without Prejudice
1970-11-30

When Harold finally gets fed up of the house falling down around his ears, the noise of the aircrafts overhead and the cars in the street, he persuades Albert to move to a more upmarket neighbourhood.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Pot Black
1970-12-07

Harold buys a second hand snooker table and has it set up in the front room. He is obsessed with beating Albert at least in one sport, even if it takes all night.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: The Three Feathers
1970-12-14

When Harold buys a 19th century commode from a lady during his round, he thinks he has made a killing, but Albert has second thoughts.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Cuckoo in the Nest
1970-12-20

Out of the blue, Albert's long lost son Arthur shows up from Australia, and much to Harold's horror, Albert offers him a partnership in their business, until he learns that Arthur is a lazy good-for-nothing.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 7 poster
Season 7 (1972)

No overview available.

7 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Men of Letters
1972-02-21

The local vicar asks the Steptoes if they will write an article for the parish magazine on the history of their profession. After arguing over who will write it, Harold gets the job, while Albert decides to get his own back with a crossword puzzle.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: A Star is Born
1972-02-28

Harold is offered a role in a new play performed by the local amateur dramatic society. They are to hold a rehearsal at his house but are one actor short, so Albert is asked to take part.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Oh, What a Beautiful Mourning
1972-03-06

When Albert's older brother dies, he and Harold go to the funeral and meet the other members of the family. After the burial, they come back to the house for the reading of the will, but the family are in for a big shock.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Live Now, P.A.Y.E. Later
1972-03-13

When Albert gets a letter from the tax people, he confesses to Harold that he has been claiming for his dead wife. The two of them start to plan what to do, when the tax inspector arrives.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Loathe Story
1972-03-20

Because Albert wins at most things that they do together, Harold tries to strangle him, while sleepwalking. After seeing a psychiatrist, he thinks he's cured, until he goes back home and finds out what Albert has been up to.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Divided We Stand
1972-03-27

Harold plans to redecorate the house, but he and Albert can't agree on anything. The only solution is a drastic one.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: The Desperate Hours
1972-04-03

Two convicts escape from prison and break into the Steptoes' house, holding them hostage.

Runtime: 30 min

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