Andrew Barrett
I think my favourite fictional couple might come as a surprise to a lot of people. They are Harold and Albert Steptoe from the hit UK TV show of the 1960s and 70s, Steptoe & Son. It featured a father and son rag-and-bone duo who live and work together in squalor.
I can see your eyebrows rising.
Well, I love the dynamics between them; how Harold (the son) 'hates' his father who is perpetually in his way, always preventing him from making a better life for himself, always spoiling the plans he has. Yet secretly, he adores his father and would probably be lost without him.
Albert is excellent at playing the guilt trip on his son, and would be helpless without him. Albert confounds Harold's plans to leave or to get married and move someone else into their home with regularity (and hilarity); eager to preserve what they have together - even if it means Harold is frustrated.
They interact beautifully, and the viewer delights at their status quo, knowing intimately what their intentions are towards the other, and knowing the outcome way before it actually happens. But it's the way they are with each other that keeps the viewer intrigued.
This is the duo that I'm aiming to emulate in my CSI Eddie Collins series of books. The father, Charles, is beaten and his home burgled, and Eddie brings him home to live with him in his small country bungalow.
Charles settles right in; and even though he feels a bit guilty about shacking up with his son, he has no intention of leaving again. Eddie is tolerant towards his father, but uses him as a punching bag for his sarcasm and his wit. Both dislike each other's company, but both would find life harder without the other in it.
I can see your eyebrows rising.
Well, I love the dynamics between them; how Harold (the son) 'hates' his father who is perpetually in his way, always preventing him from making a better life for himself, always spoiling the plans he has. Yet secretly, he adores his father and would probably be lost without him.
Albert is excellent at playing the guilt trip on his son, and would be helpless without him. Albert confounds Harold's plans to leave or to get married and move someone else into their home with regularity (and hilarity); eager to preserve what they have together - even if it means Harold is frustrated.
They interact beautifully, and the viewer delights at their status quo, knowing intimately what their intentions are towards the other, and knowing the outcome way before it actually happens. But it's the way they are with each other that keeps the viewer intrigued.
This is the duo that I'm aiming to emulate in my CSI Eddie Collins series of books. The father, Charles, is beaten and his home burgled, and Eddie brings him home to live with him in his small country bungalow.
Charles settles right in; and even though he feels a bit guilty about shacking up with his son, he has no intention of leaving again. Eddie is tolerant towards his father, but uses him as a punching bag for his sarcasm and his wit. Both dislike each other's company, but both would find life harder without the other in it.
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