A BBC play about the on/off relationship between Harry H Corbett and Wilfred Bramble during the making of the classic Steptoe and Son starring Jason Isaacs and Phil Davis.
Why did I feel so down and upset watching this I remember watching this as a child beside my mother who never liked tv but always rushed to everything to sit without being disturbed to watch Steptoe and Son me laughing not at the Steptoe because I was so young but watching my mother literary laughing her head off and me laughing at her laughing in front of the tv not knowing about all this upsets going on. My mother has now passed too. Bless there sweet souls resting well ♥️😍
The play doesn't suggest they "hated" each other , rather that Harry H Corbett had ambitions to be a "proper" theatre actor in the grand tradition and always felt Steptoe & Son was a bit beneath him, and that Wilfrid Brambell's closet homosexuality (at a time when it was illegal in the UK) and drink issues effected him deeply and screwed things up.
They worked together brilliantly. They respected one another and they got on really really well. Wilfred Bramble’s alcoholism did tarnish his character somewhat, which irritated Harry H Corbett, but there was no fall out, nor did they hate each other. It was media spin and lies.
Amazing!! Thank you Harry and Wilfred for the best comedy and the best laughs, such amazing duo that'll never exist again in the comedy industry. A comedy classic. :)
I recall reading about Wilfred Brambell and his role in 'A Hard Day's Night'. Director Richard Lester described how the Beatles would ad lib in scenes but Wilfred didn't partake. He said to Wilfred 'Wilf, you TRADE actor, you !' Loved all this series of plays. As a child I saw the episode where Harold breaks down trying to push the cart and felt moved by that, even if the cart didn't.
Serious actors weren't supposed to do TV shows back then, but this one was exceptional. These days no one would think twice about an actor being in a sitcom one week and appearing on stage as Hamlet the next week.
Many actors struggled with the crossover from theatre to television, especially in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Although TV allowed actors to reach a much greater number of people than theatre it was also the case that many actors became typecast by a tv role (like HH Corbett) and thereafter found it harder to land serious roles such as Shakespear. The downside to being in a populat TV show is that once the popularity of that show begins to wane, the actors then find it hard to find any other work (except maybe panto) which is what this biopic is attempting to portray.
Thank You for uploading this. I was born 1961 Wales, GB and grew up watching these two. There were always rumors that they hated each other in real life. I'm sure they can both look back now and say WOW!!!!For what it's worth, you were and are the greatest actors the world has ever seen. You both created something so special that will stick around forever. Not a week goes by when I don't watch an episode of Steptoe & Son (or Rising Damp).We love you. You will never be forgotton. XXXXX
I have quite a few `Steptoe Album`s taken from the episodes or Radio Plays from the 60`s. The Thickness of these vinyl are amazing you could hammer a nail into the wall with them. They were released on the `Golden Guinea ` Record Label.
Phil Davis really took on the role of Wilfred Bramble, haunting at times. Jason Isaacs was every bit the part of Harry H Corbett as well. A great film, shame there's not more in this class.
There’s other films on here like this. First one is called Fear Off Fanny, about fanny Cradock the uk tv cook, and another called Fantabuloso about Kenneth Williams
An incredible documentary play of that popular early 1960s series….as a child…I loved that tv series….but now….I see the work and the real world of actors life…back then. I’m sorry for the wife of Harry H. Corbett (Shiela Steafel a wonderful actress too)….the price to a career in acting….is high. Thank you for sharing this excellent tv BBC play…a very gem….with great actors like Jason Isaacs, Rory Kinnear and Zoe Tapper….with us 😊👍👍
@@Ajs_1988Spot on they did get on but Brambell’s excessive drinking could make him very aggressive and rude the straw that broke the camels back was the Australian tour but deep down they still had great respect for each other on another level. Brambell was a kind gentle and quiet person till he hits the drink and that side of him is what was obviously documented over the years. Corbett’s own daughter has even stated they were good friends and Brambell was also supportive of Corbett when he suffered his first heart attack in 1979 and heartbroken when he passed away in 1982.
Whatever the inaccuracies, this is beautifully written and poignant. The resolution of the main characters' lives through finding their own love was mvoing and beautiful. These dramas have given voices to their subjects, when, in their own lifetimes, they were silenced.
That little fellow, Wilfred, who had been in the Beatles A Hard Days Night, was a comedic genius. You know, these guys were actors. They had a hit tv show for years. They were paid. They wanted to act and they were successful at it. Why get all depressed over it?
For about 4 years around 1980, Tunbridge Wells Labour Party ran a large fair in the assembly hall. It was very popular and had many stalls from the local pressure groups. Thr event was opened by a big name TV star. Harry H Corbet opened the fair one year and he spent the remainder of the day with us talking to people and spending money on the stalls. He was one of the best guests to open the fair and a very nice person. I turned down a prize and he insisted that I should accept something and he gave me his hankey (it was clean and a token) The price of the hall went up considerably every year and eventually it was not viable.
I worked with Harry in an episode of Tales of the unexpected, it was about 6 months before he died. He seemed very alone, kept himself solitary and chain-smoked. It was very sad.
Many factual inaccuracies, to many to list here,but Tom Sloan the BBC executive, played by Roger Allam, died of cancer 4 years before the final TV episode
So much chemistry on screen,wonderful acting. This fawlty Towers, rising damp, porridge, only fools and horses the list goes on,genius writers with genius character’s genius actors. ❤️🇬🇧
A moving piece of drama but, as an ex-tv senior cameraman, I also do not understand why there are EMI b&w cameras on set, once the programme had gone colour. Dickie Howett (New Age TV) usually supplies all the equipment for these period pieces and is most particular about accuracy!!
That was bloody brilliant!. I'm old enough to just about remember my Dad taking me and my sister to watch the Steptoe and Son movies when they were released...The TV series' I watched many times on repeat growing up..then bought the DVD collection.
I grew up watching Steptoe and Son and still watch it now on DVD and love it more every time I watch it. This was interesting but Davis didn't get Bramble and Isaacs didn't really capture Harold for me. If only we had classics like this now instead of the shite they churn out. Praise Jebus for DVD's, Steptoe and Son, Rising Damp, On The Busses, Fawlty Towers, The Likely Lads... Ect. Despite their differences and issues in their personal lives, Bramble and Corbett are now Legends. It doesn't (and will not ever again) get any better than this. RIP and thank you WB & HHC.
Agreed on everything but On the Buses wich was rubbish lowest common denom stuff the writing in the Likely lads First class Steptoe First class fawlty towers First class Rising Damp First Class also but The buses? NO
ive already seen documentarys about their private lives,its always sad to see the other side of the image you have,when they clearly were not happy with parts of their lives,i loved steptoe and son,especially the two films they made,i grew up watching them.rip Wilfred bramble and harry h Corbett, thank you for all you put into it despite the sadness and problems in your lives
I actually thought this was quite good. In the production scenes ok it was Harry H Corbett and Wilfred Bramble but Jason Isaacs and Phil Davis as two individual actors told this story very well. There were times particularly with Phil playing Wilfred when I felt it was difficult to watch not because it was bad but very good. In the time they had, the script, the budget etc I thought these two guys gave a very real glimpse of how it must have been.
Interesting how the craftsmen writers Galton & Simpson created such strong characters in Steptoe and Son that it lasted the actors for a big part of their careers. Did the actors become type-cast? Probably. But the programmes of Steptoe are part of British comedy history. Great
+Ritchie Winters Galton & Simpson wrote this with them in mind, Harry & Willy had never worked together, it was pure luck they were both free and wanted to do it, the pilot was more a comedy drama than just a sit-com
PC largely a right-wing media-driven myth. There is no great body of offended out there. If you believe there is, then all you're doing is perpetuating that myth.
Really fascinating interpretation! I was impressed. And was not at all surprised to see Jason Isaacs as Harry C, and Phil Davis as Steptoe! From the first time I ever saw Phil Davis I always thopught he'd make an ideal Steptoe! Interesting too how much of the confilcts and contradictions of each of their lives melded into what Steptoe & Son became. Harry C's character always wanting something outwith his environment and to be more than what he has been given. And Wilfred struggling with legality of his sexuality and the copmplications this caused in his life. (Or to parody his part in Beatles 'Hard Days Night' ''A very clean old man''.)
This is the seriously edited version that came out on DVD after all the legal action. It did originally go on to Australia. The problems with creating dramas based on real people and events to show an authorial point. .
Steptoe and son was a british classic!! incredibly well written and acted with layers and nuances that are unseen today from when the bbc was actually worth the liscence fee and before it became a super woke left wing propaganda machine compare Steptoe and son to the sad sorry state of so called comedy today
We had a school trip to a recording of an episode. After the recording a group of us went with our scripts to ask for autographs, Harry H Corbett was friendly, Wilfred Bramble was extraordinarily unpleasant and hostile.
It's sad to think that both men hated playing their characters because as the British audiences, at the time loved them both. Steptoe & Son is still funny. But as a curse, I wonder if it really destroyed them. Interesting though.
I wish more BBC productions came with closed captions! That out of the way, let me say that I wasn't sure what to expect from this. The many looks (and accents) of Jason Isaacs overwhelmed me. I just may have to re-view it....
You do understand that neither of the real actors portrayed in this movie were actual londoners? Bramble was irish and corbett was from the manchester area, that is why the accents are different throughout this production.
This features a few false stuff but the other documentary “when Steptoe Met son” is even worse - 95% lies that. Read Harry’s daughters book, that’s the only thing to read if you want the truth.
I remember when this was first shown and didnt take way anything from how great steptoe and son was how amazing these actors were and thats coming from some born after the serie and i think both acotors had passed away
Both Harold and Harry were trapped. Harold was Trapped by his manipulative father and the business. Harry was trapped by the character he played and couldn't escape from. Two tragic sad stories.
When you research in the right places, they could and should have done a much better job of this national institution. Very good actors in this but the makers and writers made a mess of it. That other 'documentary' - "When Steptoe met Son" - was a bloody disgrace as well.
Awful in every respect. They actually got on well until the end when Brambles alcoholism caused problems.Corbetts daughter testifies to this. A good part of this just didn't happen. The timeline was screwed. Neither actor was believable. Surely they could have done better than this ? Comedic royalty. They had limited work availability after it ended. Typecast. Their memory deserves much better.
Not awful at all. Well acted, and very watchable. It is intended as a dramatization, not a pastiche. It doesn't besmirch their memory at all, it only serves to emphasize what a fine comedy show it was.
I'm no actor and never want to be Choosing theatre over an opportunity like a sitcom on tv? Even considering it? Was this a product of the times or is this a real thing?
I found this production annoying in its inaccuracies, especially the portrayal of Harry H Corbett for which I fully understand the upset it caused to his family. Some of the other inaccuracies annoyed me too, such as the implication that HHC's longer hair coincided with the switch to colour in 1970 when in fact his hair was only that long in the final series in 1974. Also, what's with the old black and white cameras still on set in the colour era studio scenes ? They managed to get that right in the Hughie Green feature of the same series. (Sorry to be so geeky !).
Adding to that, Tom Sloane the head of light entertainment played by Roger Allam died in 1970 but appears in scenes that happen well after that point like the A Star is Born episode from 1972. Speaking of which the clip recreated with a boy asking Harold if he is an actor takes place in daylight; the original was a nighttime scene after the play he was in has finished.
Yeah I did also note the 'day instead of night' gaffe with the scene recreated from A Star is Born. However, I wasn't aware of Tom Sloan's premature death in 1970. This massively adds to the serious liberties they took with accuracy. Actually another scene which grated on me slightly was the one showing the two SOS actors sitting in the BBC bar both cross dressed, presumably after recording the episode 'Live now, PAYE later'. However, in this episode they were not cross dressed at the same time, Albert having gone back to his normal dress in the final scene with Harold only then appearing in drag. So this would not have resulted in the post-recording scenario as depicted in TCOS.
david havve you ever heard of the bbc strike in the 60s and 70 even on the busses was in black and white even tho colour was available it was all due to strikes back then
Is it my ears or is the audio on some of these biopics terrible. There are times when I cannot make out what one character is saying to the other... or the background music tends to drown them out. It was the same on the Kenneth Williams biopic.
I remember reading 60s how they BOTH thought they were above the Parts so why do it, MONEY of course. Neither of them did .owt elae of note on TV or screen ?
Why on earth was this made out to be such a dark topic? The inference here is that the two stars despised each other and that everyone involved was troubled and preoccupied. There was even the implication that HHC was so upset not to be in a West End Shakespearean drama that he attempted to make S&S into a bit of a WS comedy. I know I wasn't there, but I feel pretty sure that this whole play is a wild exaggeration of the facts, and that neither HHC or WB were treated fairly by whoever made this. What a shame.
The episode where Harold tries to be an actor has some real life elements to it that I never knew. Wilfred not being able to read properly and the accent.
I'm no actor and never want to be Choosing theatre over an opportunity like a sitcom on tv? Even considering it? Was this a product of the times or is this a real thing?
Harry H Corbett was a classic trained actor in the mold of Burton but not mainstream known then this came & brought him fame & money but it was his bete noire & hated it also. The great Steptoe monologues showed his acting fettle. Brambell was another Theatre man but knew what the score was with small box fame.
@@michaelm4950 He did he died in '82 at the age of 57 but his daughter said he had put his professional frustration about Steptoe behind him and that he enjoyed being a father and a family man on their farm and that he was brilliant dad
