If you had to choose one episode of Steptoe And Son to survive armageddon which one would it be?
My choice would have to be Divided We Stand.
"I have the knobs on my side"
Greatest episode of Steptoe and Son
Agreed. Superb episode.
Surely The Desperate Hours.
I'll have to be boring and agree with the first two. Although the second ever episode 'The Bird' has such a classic ending and really sums up the series.
Divided we Stand is my second favourite episode of Steptoe. The classic line in that episode was 'Even the bleedin' firemen had to put pennies in'
But my favourite episode is the classic 'Pilgrim's Progress' Series 4 episode 7, where Harold takes his Dad to see the trenches at France, but they get deported after Albert starts a fight on the plane. An absolute classic episode.
I love the Christmas special when they both end up getting chicken pox.
Great choices so far.
For me it's a really tough choice, but at a push I'll opt for Sunday For Seven Days.
But some other great episodes:
Sixty-Five Today
Full House
Pilgrim's Progress
Without Prejudice
Oh What A Beautiful Mourning
Divided We Stand
The Desperate Hours
Upstairs Downstairs, Upstairs Downstairs
Quote: Jack Massey @ December 10 2008, 1:24 AM GMTDivided we Stand is my second favourite episode of Steptoe. The classic line in that episode was 'Even the bleedin' firemen had to put pennies in'
But my favourite episode is the classic 'Pilgrim's Progress' Series 4 episode 7, where Harold takes his Dad to see the trenches at France, but they get deported after Albert starts a fight on the plane. An absolute classic episode.
i think the scene on the plane is my joint favourite scene ever in steptoe along with the scene in the cinema in sunday for seven days.
"i bet it was you that got at maude elliott" "she was a tram conductor out of the putney garage"
"here you are late again"
The Seven Steptoerai, made me laugh when I first saw it as a kid, still makes me laugh now.
Divided We Stand for me too.
Simple idea brilliantly done.
Divided We Stand is a great episode and it was directed by the late, great David Croft - says it all!
The one where they look at the holiday booklets and Albert is banned from the countries.
I have not seen any Steptoe & Son, and out of curiosity I started watching the first episode on YouTube. I only got about 10mins in before turning it off. It just did not seem at all funny, and was more of a drama than a comedy it seems. Both characters seemed quite nasty. Is this representative of the whole show? Should I try some of the episodes mentioned in this thread?
It's not an average sitcom. Very layered, complex and - yes - dramatic. Some episodes are out-and-out comedy whilst others are much weightier on the drama, but once you've got to know the characters from the beginning, it's a sheer delight.
I'd say to go for Divided We Stand, except that's by far the best single episode so it'll only be downhill afterward and you don't want that.
Don't think I could name one episode so it's between Oh, What A Beautiful Mourning, The Desperate Hours, and the second of the Christmas specials. Not knocking the brilliance of Divided We Stand but wasn't the whole premise lifted from an old episode of I Love Lucy?