The drama starred Jason Issacs and Phil Davis as the stars of sitcom Steptoe and Son

The Curse of Steptoe was a BBC drama about the making of the beloved sitcom Steptoe and Son.

Steptoe and Son ranks among the BBC's most cherished sitcoms, attracting peak audiences of approximately 28 million viewers. The series documented the turbulent, tragicomic existence of a father and son operating a rag-and-bone enterprise.

Albert, the father, was portrayed by Wilfrid Brambell, while his ambitious, exasperated son Harold was brought to life by Harry H. Corbett.

Given its enduring influence, the broadcaster's announcement of a film exploring the programme's creation came as little surprise.

The Curse of Steptoe was transmitted in 2008, featuring acclaimed actors Phil Davis and Jason Isaacs as Corbett and Brambell respectively. Broadcast on BBC Four on 19 March, it delivered the channel's strongest viewing figures to that point, with roughly 1.41 million people watching.

Critics responded enthusiastically, and it secured the 2008 Royal Television Society Award for Best Single Drama. The biographical drama, starring Jason Isaacs as Corbett and Phil Davis as his Steptoe and Son colleague Wilfrid Brambell, concentrated substantially on an allegedly strained relationship between the performers, reports the Express.

However, despite its achievements, the BBC was forced to re-edit the production before withdrawing it from broadcast and recalling the DVD release, after receiving multiple complaints.

The production faced backlash even before broadcast, with Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, the writers of Steptoe and Son, publicly distancing themselves from it.

Writing to The Times, they declared: "During this entire [12 year] period we were unaware of any conflict between the actors..."

During a radio appearance on 15 January 2009, Simpson reinforced this, calling the drama "not at all accurate", while Galton maintained: "We didn't recognise any of that. Really didn't."

Both dismissed suggestions of animosity or tension between Corbett and Brambell as false, asserting, "They worked beautifully together."

Members of Corbett's family also strongly condemned the programme. A particular source of dispute was its harmful depiction of Corbett's second wife, Maureen.

Despite her death aged 56 on 4 November 1999, her brother challenged the film on her behalf, highlighting multiple factual errors.

The BBC's editorial complaints unit partially upheld the grievance in 2008, acknowledging it was inappropriate to merge two separate incidents from Corbett's life occurring eight years apart, and confirming the show would not be repeated "without appropriate editing". A revised version was broadcast on 28 and 29 December 2008, running 23 seconds shorter than the original.

It also featured the on-screen disclaimer: "The following drama is inspired by the lives of real people. For the purpose of the narrative some events have been invented or conflated."

However, a BBC Trust investigation concluded that the drama remained both unfair and inaccurate. This prompted further re-editing prior to a broadcast on 2 December 2009 on BBC HD, which ran 69 seconds shorter than the original version. This is the cut that was subsequently released on a BBC DVD on 14 June 2010.

Corbett's brother-in-law then lodged a further appeal, which was upheld by the BBC Trust Editorial Standards Committee. The ruling determined that the revised portrayal in The Curse of Steptoe remained "unfair and inaccurate", and that "despite the edits made, further action was required by the BBC to remove the impression of a casual relationship between Maureen and Harry".

At this point, the Trust ordered that all DVDs of the drama be recalled. The Committee stated it "wished to apologise on behalf of the BBC for the original editorial breaches in The Curse of Steptoe and the fact that subsequent remedial action had been ineffective in removing the unfairness".

The incident created an enduring impact, prompting the BBC to introduce fresh guidelines on "Portrayal of Real People in Drama" published on 12 October 2010.

The rules now specify: "Where the drama goes against the wishes of the individual portrayed or their surviving near relatives, approval must be sought from the BBC's Director of Editorial Policy and Standards, and will be given only if three criteria are met: (1) the portrayal is fair; (2) the portrayal is based on a substantial and well-sourced body of evidence whenever practicable; and (3) there is a clear public interest."