YORK is to mount the world premiere of the first-ever stage play in the UK featuring a pair of TV legends - Harold and Albert Steptoe.

The production will be staged at York Theatre Royal from October 24 to November 12, when original creator Ray Galton and fellow comedy writer John Antrobus will present Steptoe And Son - Murder At Oil Drum Lane.

In the play, the house where Steptoe and his unmarried son ran a decrepit rag-and-bone business is now in the hands of the National Trust, as the last remaining example of a totters yard. Late one afternoon a lone figure arrives. So what does he know about a certain murder that took place there?

Galton was prompted to do the show by a combination of Antrobus and Theatre Royal artistic director Damian Cruden, who responded enthusiastically upon receiving the script.

"When asked by John Antrobus how I felt about the possibility of putting Steptoe And Son on the stage, I pondered long - five to ten minutes actually - and said I would on the following conditions," said Mr Galton.

"Firstly, the old man had at long last been murdered by his son, Harold, who comes home after years of living in South America, where he has fled, to find the house has been taken over by the National Trust, where he confronts the ghost of his father.

"Secondly, the director should be Roger Smith. Thirdly, we should stage it at York Theatre Royal under the watchful eye of artistic director Damian Cruden. Fourthly, that last stipulation is a complete lie (I had never been to the Theatre Royal), but when we met Damian and saw the wonderful theatre he so brilliantly runs, we were in no doubt this was the venue for us."

Welcoming the chance to stage Steptoe And Son in York, Mr Cruden said: "We're all looking forward to working with Ray, John and Roger on Steptoe. The quality of the writing, as you would expect from writers of John and Ray's calibre, is superb, and for our company to be the originators is very exciting. I hope our audience will have as much fun watching the show as we're bound to have creating it."

Galton and Alan Simpson wrote 12 years of Steptoe And Son shows on the BBC for the late Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell from 1962 to 1974. Casting for the new play will be announced soon. Tickets go on sale on July 18. For details phone 01904 623568.

Updated: 09:58 Tuesday, July 05, 2005