The Curse of Steptoe

Corbett begins the play as a rising Shakespearean actor, starring as Richard II at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. He also looks beyond that to Henry V at the Old Vic, tipped to eclipse Gielgud. This marks the early ascent of his stage career.

Across town at the BBC Television Centre, writers Galton and Simpson are free from Hancock scripts. They begin writing a series of one-off plays starring actors rather than comics. They experiment with tonal variety and a lack of guaranteed laughs.

Galton and Simpson cast Corbett in The Offer, a project that proves wildly successful. The format evolves into a longer-running association between Corbett and Brambell. This marks a turning point from stage to a sustained on-screen partnership.

The Offer evolves into a decade-long comedy partnership between Corbett and Brambell, whose dynamic drives the show's tone and success. Brambell's alcoholic, self-loathing persona complicates their relationship and creative process. Off-screen, their differences begin to strain the collaboration.

Corbett's stage career fades as he becomes typecast in his cockney rag-and-bone-man persona. His first marriage to Sheila Steafel suffers from his womanising and public image tightens around him. The performing life loses its earlier promise.

Brambell's drinking and relaxed approach to acting create conflict with Corbett on and off screen. He remains secretive about fame and resists the trappings of public life. The partnership comes under increasing pressure as personal demons surface.

Brambell is prosecuted for persistently importuning for an immoral purpose after an encounter in a public toilet; the case underscores his fears about exposure. Newspaper coverage publishes details of his failed marriage, widening the damage to his public image. The incident amplifies the pressures weighing on both performers.

The show and the actors' careers are milked dry as public appetite wanes and the industry exhausted their potential. The once-new format becomes repetitive, and creative energy fades. The commercialization of the partnership overshadows its initial creativity.

Corbett is unable to obtain work that is not a variation on his cockney rag-and-bone-man persona. Attempts to break out into other kinds of roles face resistance from typecasting and audience expectations. His career trajectory narrows further as the years pass.

At the start of the narrative arc, Corbett, in Richard II, speaks the line I wasted time and now doth time waste me. The line foreshadows the arc of his career and the toll of aging as a performer. It anchors the dramatic contrast between ambition and obsolescence.

Near the end, Corbett repeats the same line to himself while waiting for his cue in a live recording of Steptoe and Son. The moment crystallizes the cycle of fame and the repeated return to past roles. It marks a somber reflection on a career built on a single persona.

With limited options, Corbett finds no work beyond pantomime or a stage version of Steptoe in Australia. The decline highlights the industry's shifting tastes and the personal toll of a life lived in the public eye. It closes the main arc with an unsettled horizon for his career.

The production notes a five-year break between 1965 and 1970 when no episodes were recorded, framing the overall history of Corbett and Brambell as a long, uninterrupted arc rather than a continuous run. The break serves as a structural aside to explain the era-shaping gaps. It contextualizes the decade-long collaboration within a broader TV history.

The narrative ties the actors' personal declines to the show’s lasting legacy, reflecting on fame, craft, and the costs of living under public gaze. It presents a nuanced view of success that outlived the performers' prime years. The ending leaves questions about memory, performance, and identity in the public consciousness.