Editing Steptoe and Son (section)

==Production==
'''Development'''

The show had its roots in a 1962 episode of ''Galton & Simpson's [[Comedy Playhouse]]''. Galton and Simpson's association with comedian [[Tony Hancock]], for whom they had written ''[[Hancock's Half Hour]]'', had ended and they had agreed to a proposal from the BBC to write a series of 10 comedy shows. The fourth in the series, "The Offer", was born both out of [[writer's block]] and budgetary constraints. Earlier shows in the series had cost more than expected, so the writers decided to write a [[two-hander]] set in one room. The idea of two brothers was considered but father and son worked best.

[[Galton and Simpson]] were not aiming to make a pilot for a series, having worked for seven years with Hancock. However, [[Tom Sloan (broadcaster)|Tom Sloan]], the BBC's head of comedy, told them during rehearsals that "The Offer" was a definite series pilot: he saw that the Steptoe idea had potential. Galton and Simpson were reportedly overwhelmed by this reaction, and the first of what became eight series was commissioned, the first four of which were transmitted between 1962 and 1965. The last four series were broadcast between 1970 and 1974, in colour. At the peak of the series' popularity, it received viewing figures of some 28,000,000 viewers per episode. In addition, the early 1970s saw [[Steptoe and Son (film)|two feature films]] and two 46-minute [[Christmas]] specials. In 2005, a  play based on the series was released called ''[[Steptoe and Son in Murder at Oil Drum Lane]]'', written by [[Ray Galton]] and [[John Antrobus]].

'''Casting'''

Unlike other British TV series of the early 1960s, ''Steptoe and Son'' cast actors in its principal roles rather than [[comedian|comedians]]. Galton and Simpson had decided that they wanted to try to write for performers who "didn't count their laughs".

Both of the main actors used voices considerably different from their own. Brambell, despite being Irish, spoke with a [[Received Pronunciation|received pronunciation]] English accent, as did the [[Manchester]]-raised Corbett. Brambell was aged 49 when he accepted the role of Albert, only 13 years older than Corbett. For his portrayal, he acquired a second set of "rotten" dentures to accentuate his character's poor attitude to hygiene.

'''Music'''

[[Ron Grainer]] won a second successive [[Ivor Novello award]] for the show's theme tune 'Old Ned', to which he gave a different treatment, one year later, during a Rag-and-Bone Man scene in [[The Home-Made Car]]. The series had no standard set of opening titles but the opening sequences would often feature the Steptoes' horse, Hercules.

'''Locations'''

Outside filming of the Steptoes' yard took place at a car-breakers' yard in Norland Gardens, London W11, then changing to [https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Stable+Way+%26+Latimer+Road,+London/@51.5157514,-0.2222963,3a,75y,216.69h,94.73t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sEp4QPFYyjnW0kg78p3JBmQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DEp4QPFYyjnW0kg78p3JBmQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D43.127625%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x48761027ebf707ed:0x240ca9f5cadadeaa!8m2!3d51.5157739!4d-0.2222896?hl=en Stable Way, Latimer Road], for the later series. Both sites have subsequently been redeveloped with no evidence now remaining of the entrance gates through which the horse and cart were frequently driven.

The pilot episode and the first four series, which aired in 1962–1965, were recorded in the BBC [[Lime Grove Studios]] in London. When the show returned in 1970 after a four-year hiatus, the programme was made in the [[BBC Television Centre]] studios in west London, as from 1970 the show was recorded in colour.

'''Notability'''

During its production in the 1960s and 1970s, ''Steptoe and Son'' marked itself out as radical compared to most UK sitcoms. This was an age when the predominant sources of laughter in British comedy were [[farce]], [[coincidence]], [[slapstick]] and [[innuendo]]. However ''Steptoe and Son'' brought greater [[social realism]]. Its characters were not only [[working class]] but demonstrably poor. The earthy language and [[slang]] used were in marked contrast to the refined voices heard on most television of the time: e.g., in "Back in Fashion", Harold warns Albert that when the models arrive, "if you feels like a [[D'Oyly Carte Opera Company|D'Oyly Carte]] ([[rhyming slang]] for 'fart'), you goes outside." Social issues and debates were routinely portrayed, woven into the humour. The programme did not abandon the more traditional sources of comedy but used them in small doses. The characters, and their intense and difficult relationship, displayed deeper qualities of writing and performance than comedy fans were used to.