The Curse of Comedy (1)
Seasons & Episode
0s aspiring stage actor Harry H. Corbett jumps at the chance to play junk-dealer Harold Steptoe in a television comedy show 'Steptoe and Son'. However, the show's success proves to be a poisoned chalice for him, type-casting him and thwarting his stage ambitions. Wilfrid Brambell, the actor playing his father, is marginalized in a different way.
After his alcoholism and depression result in his admittance to hospital, Tony Hancock is invited by his friend, John Le Mesurier, to stay with him. Hancock soon begins an affair with Le Mesurier's wife, Joan. Hancock's drinking puts a strain on their relationship. Joan tells Hancock she will leave Le Mesurier and marry him, but only if he can stay sober. With the opportunity to revive his career with a new television series, Hancock leaves for Australia, confident he can win back Joan. It's a journey from which he will never return.
Hughie Green's womanising lead to the collapse of his marriage and alienated his children. His affair with Jess Yate's wife, Elaine, would lead to the revelation of one of the biggest secrets in British show business.
The private life of Frankie Howerd was racked with depression and self-loathing of his own sexuality. His partner and manager, Dennis Heymer, would guide Howerd's career from the early 1960s - a time when little work and the death of his mother made him consider leaving show business, to the 1990s, when Howerd's comic genius found appreciation amongst a new, younger audience.
Biopic of Maurice Cole, better known as Kenny Everett. A chronicle of the life of the Radio and TV star, and his private struggles with his sexuality.