The Curse of Steptoe

The Curse of Steptoe is a television play about the on- and off-screen relationship of Harry H. Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell during the making of their iconic BBC sitcom Steptoe and Son. The drama, which stars Jason Isaacs as Corbett and Phil Davis as Brambell, was written by Brian Fillis, who also wrote the similarly-themed drama Fear of Fanny about the off-screen behaviour of television personality Fanny Cradock. The 66-minute film The Curse of Steptoe was first broadcast on 19 March 2008 on BBC Four as part of a season of dramas about television personalities. It was directed by Michael Samuels and produced by Ben Bickerton.

The drama was widely acclaimed by critics and won the 2008 Royal Television Society Award for best "Single Drama". However, the TV play generated controversy due to its inaccurate fictionalisation of the story despite being based on interviews with the actors' colleagues, friends and family, and Steptoe's writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. Following numerous complaints, especially from the Corbett family, the drama was re-edited twice before being shown in repeat broadcasts. Despite these revisions, an investigation by the BBC Trust found that the drama was still unfair and inaccurate. All DVDs of the drama have been withdrawn from sale and no future broadcasts will occur without further editing.