You dirty old man...

Steptoe and Son are coming back to London. Not alas to Oil Drum Lane as both Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett went to that great rag-and-bone yard in the sky many moons ago, but the much loved duo are back nonetheless:

A stage play based on classic BBC sitcom Steptoe and Son is opening in London's West End. Steptoe and Son In Murder At Oil Drum Lane, written by the series' creator Ray Galton, is set some years after the series has ended. Son Harold has accidentally killed "dirty old man" Albert, but finds himself haunted by his father's ghost.

Younger readers or those reading this off in the colonies may want to know who the hell it is we're talking about - Wikipedia as usual provides a valuable resource.

We're not sure if this will open the floodgates on classic TV characters returning to tread the boards, but there's a few Londonist favourites we'd love to see back in the spotlight:

Rising Damp: The Musical with the ever versatile Christopher Eccleston as Rigsby and new Londoner Paris Hilton as Miss Jones.

Oliver Stone's Pussy: Are You Being Served II in which the staff of Grace Brothers department store find themselves in the middle of a plot to assassinate Tony Blair. Hi De Hi Camp X Ray - Political farce set in Guantanamo. With Su Pollard. Dad's Army on Ice - The only show comeback with the entire original cast (Please note the limited run due to the fragile nature of the remains). On The (Bendy) Buses - not really a stage show at all, but two Londonist staff writers wearing dated uniforms and cracking even more dated jokes until being slapped in the face by female passengers and eventually maced to the floor

.