In the early 1960s 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. He is a gay man in an England where homosexuality is still illegal.

En la década de 1960, el actor de teatro Harry H. Corbett tiene la oportunidad de interpretar a Harold Steptoe en "Steptoe and Son", un espectáculo de comedia para televisión. Sin embargo, el éxito del programa resulta ser un regalo envenenado para el actor, que se ve encasillado y con sus ambiciones teatrales frustradas.