Say the phrase "you dirty old man" to fortysomethings and it immediately evokes a junkyard in Shepherds Bush, an ageing horse called Hercules, and two disreputable rag-and-bone men.

Steptoe and Son was devised by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson as a one-off Comedy Playhouse in 1962, but the series ran until 1974 with audiences peaking at around 20 million.

Earlier this year BBC2 screened four episodes of the classic comedy which had been "lost" for 20 years until they were found in the basement of writer Galton's house last year. Now a further eight episodes - not screened for many years - have been unearthed. In this first episode, Tea for Two, politics divide the household.
With Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell. (Rpt)