Steptoe And Son – The Radio Series – 1966 – 1976
There was a time when Radio was the medium of the day, then Television arrived and as we have seen some great radio comedy edged it’s way onto our TV screens.
A number of popular BBC TV comedies were adapted for Radio broadcast, but few were more successful than Dad’s Army and Steptoe And Son. So for this week’s Radio pick we look at Steptoe And Son – The Radio series.
There were six series of the Radio series broadcast between 1966 and 1976, this meant that the Radio series was still running after the TV Series had finished. A special sketch Steptoe and Son – Scotch On The Rocks was recorded for BBC Radio 2 for the 1978 World Cup.
The radio episodes were faithful reworking’s of the original television programs, obviously there had to be some adjustments to allow for the medium of Radio, therefore some of the more visual episodes could not be used for radio (e.g. Divided We Stand), because of the additional dialogue content required to to create the same impact. The first two series of the Radio series were not adapted for Radio by Galton And Simpson but by Gale Pedrick, Galton and Simpson would take up adaptation duties in series three.
Summary
The plot follows the same lines as the television series. Harold is still desperately trying to escape the emtional blackmail of his Old Man and move onto to better things, only to be thwarted at every attempt by Albert.
Clips
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Cast
Harold Steptoe – Harry H. Corbett
Albert Steptoe – Wilfrid Brambell
Details
Written By: Ray Galton and Alan Simpson
Adapted For Radio By: Gale Pedrick (series 1 & 2), Ray Galton and Alan Simpson (series 3 – 6)
Channel: BBC Light Programme (1966-1967), BBC Radio 2 (1971-1976)
Original Transmission Dates:
Series One – Series Two – 3rd July 1966 – 30th July 1967
Series Three – Series Four – 21st March 1971 – 19th March 1972
Series Five – 26th May 1974 – 30th June 1974
Series Six – 8th February 1976 – 28th March 1976
Christmas Special 1976 – 25th December 1976
Steptoe And Son Radio series currently airs as part of the comedy hour Mondays BBC Radio 4 Extra !