CityLife

Steptoe And Son @ The Lowry

TWO of television's greatest characters, Harold and Albert Steptoe, who last appeared on TV in 1974, have packed up their rag-and-bone cart and now find themselves, of all places, at the very respectable Lowry in this unexpected new comedy.

Written by the TV programme's creator Ray Galton and fellow comedy writer John Antrobus, it's set some time in the future.

The Steptoe house is in the caring hands of the National Trust as the last remaining example of a typical totters' yard. Old Albert (Harry Dickman) is long dead, finally killed by his furious son Harold (Jake Nightingale) hurling an African assegai through the door of the "karzy".

Harold fled to South America to escape a life-sentence. But now, some 30 years later, he has slipped back into the country to revisit the scene of the crime.

Ghost

To his horror, he discovers the ghost of Albert waiting for him, needing his forgiveness so he can move on from limbo. In no time, the pair are once again at each other's throats as they relive the wily Albert's sabotaging of Harold's education, love life, emigration to New Zealand and even his stint in the Army.

The set-up is clever and Dickman and Nightingale, reprising their West End roles as the perpetually-feuding father and son, are impressive. But the show as a whole, despite a few choice gags, fails to deliver much more than a mildly entertaining diversion into nostalgia.

It's difficult to imagine that a modern audience, largely unaware of the TV show, would be that engaged by proceedings.

"I thought it might be fun to put the final nail in the coffin," Galton has said and, on that level at least, Murder At Oil Drum Lane actually does succeed.

Steptoe And Son In Murder At Oil Drum Lane is at The Lowry, Salford Quays, until Saturday, September 2. é14 - é20. To book call 0870 060 1768 or click here to book online.