Foxy After Dark Episode 128, Steptoe and Son, The Holiday

Hello you and welcome to very own late night podcast called Foxy After Dark, I'm sharing my bed time routine with you and I really hope you enjoy it :)

I'm Lucy and I'm recording this from my home in a leafy suburb of Surrey in the United Kingdom where the suns gone down, everything is quiet and we can just relax and prepare to drift off to sleep.

This little podcast is my opportunity to spend some quality time with you guys, have a catch up before we think about heading off to sleep.

I wanted to share with you my love of some great old time radio shows, every night a part of my bedtime routine is to put in the ear pods and listen to some of my favourite shows. I thought it might be fun to share some with you.

What I’d really love is your feedback and ideas on how the podcast evolves so make sure you keep in touch using my social media, if you check out some of my social media,

I'm on instagram and youtube as Foxy Geek Girl so I'm really easy to find and I've set up an exclusive hangout page at patreon.com/Foxy After Dark

We’ll  do plenty of shoutouts for my patreon gang and I'll definitely be keeping you up to date with everything I'm getting up to.

 

 

Love you guys xx

 

Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business in 26a Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC in black and white from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974 in colour. The lead roles were played by Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett. The theme tune, "Old Ned", was composed by Ron Grainer. The series was voted 15th in a 2004 poll by the BBC to find Britain's Best Sitcom. It was remade in the United States as Sanford and Son, in Sweden as Albert & Herbert, in the Netherlands as Stiefbeen en zoon, in Portugal as Camilo & Filho, and in South Africa as Snetherswaite and Son. Two film adaptations of the series were released in cinemas, Steptoe and Son (1972) and Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973).

The series focused on the inter-generational conflict of father and son. Albert Steptoe, a "dirty old man", is an elderly rag-and-bone man, set in his grimy and grasping ways. By contrast, his son Harold is filled with social aspirations and pretensions. The show contained elements of drama and tragedy, such as how Harold was continually prevented from achieving his ambitions.

In 2000, the show was ranked number 44 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll Albert was ranked 39th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.

Plot Many episodes revolve around sometimes violent disagreements between the two men, Harold's attempts to bed women and momentary interest over things found on his round. Much of the humour derives from the pathos of the protagonists' situation, especially Harold's continually thwarted (usually by the elder Steptoe) attempts to better himself, and the unresolvable love/hate relationship that exists between the pair.

Albert almost always comes out on top, and routinely proves himself superior to his son whenever they compete, such as when they played snooker into the night and pouring rain in 1970, and Scrabble and badminton in the 1972 series. Harold takes these games extremely seriously and sees them as symbols of his desire to improve himself, but his efforts come to nothing each time. His father's success is partly down to greater skills but is aided by cynical gamesmanship and undermining of his son's confidence. In addition, Albert habitually has better judgement than his son, who blunders into multiple con tricks and blind alleys as a result of his unrealistic, desperate straw-clutching approach. Occasionally the tables are turned, but overall the old man is the winner.

Harold is infuriated by these persistent frustrations and defeats, even going to the extent in "Divided We Stand" (1972) of attempting to partition the house so that he does not have to share with his selfish, uncultured and negative father. His plan ends in failure and ultimately he can see no way out. However, for all the bitterness there is an essential bond between the pair. In bad situations, Harold sticks by his father, and Albert looks out for his son. This protective bond is shown in several episodes, such as "Full House" (1963) when Albert wins back Harold's money in a game of cards against Harold's manipulative group of friends, and "The Seven Steptoerai" (1974) when they are menaced by a local gangster running a protection racket and team up with some of Albert's friends to fight off the gangster's thugs.

The 1974 Christmas special ended the run and it first appears Harold is once again at the bad end of poor planning, when he books a Christmas holiday abroad, but then finds his passport is out