Meanwhile, across town at the BBC Television Centre, writers Galton and Simpson are no longer working on scripts for comedian Tony Hancock, and are given a free hand.

Off-screen, Brambell is secretive and dislikes the trappings of fame, and his worst fears are realised when, entrapped by a policeman in a public toilet, he is prosecuted for persistently importuning for an immoral purpose,[3] and the details of his failed marriage are published in the newspapers.

[6] The Independent's reviewer said, "Anyone who remembers David Barrie's Channel 4 documentary When Steptoe Met Son, broadcast in 2002, won't have found all this particularly revelatory, but Isaacs and Davis played it so well that it had a fresh life.

The writers of Steptoe and Son, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, also distanced themselves from the drama, stating in a letter to The Times published shortly before the drama was aired that "during this entire [12 year] period we were unaware of any conflict between the actors save from the occasional gritting of Wilfrid's false teeth when Harry had the perceived audacity to give him a little direction.

"[11] In a radio interview on 15 January 2009 Alan Simpson stated that the drama was "not at all accurate", while Ray Galton claimed, "We didn't recognise any of that.

Davis gave the impression that The Curse of Steptoe was entirely factual and claimed that Brambell and Corbett loathed each other, whereas the balance of first-hand evidence is that this was by no means the case.

However, the two events were separated by eight years, so the device tended to mislead viewers significantly on an aspect of the narrative central to their interest in the drama."

The Trust also warned the BBC that, "while it was the right of dramatists to change events for dramatic purposes, the basic facts should remain as a framework on which to build the drama".

The same version was released on a BBC DVD, Legends of Comedy, on 14 June 2010, together with two other episodes from the drama series, Frankie Howerd Rather You Than Me and Hughie Green Most Sincerely.

The ruling stated that the revised portrayal in The Curse of Steptoe was still "unfair and inaccurate", and, "despite the edits made, further action was required by the BBC to remove the impression of a casual relationship between Maureen and Harry".

The Committee was concerned by the failure to withdraw The Curse of Steptoe from sale in a timely manner, but was satisfied that the problem had been treated seriously and that steps had been taken to prevent similar issues in the future.

It also "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.