Divided We Stand

A classic, the one episode most people remember.

Harold wants to redecorate the house but Albert is having none of it. He is sick and tired of living in filth and when he goes through the mess he finds Albert's old pair of false teeth that he lost during the war.

Harold goes all apartheid and partitions the house. The living room and the kitchen. The hallway has a turnstile where they have to put a penny if they wish to spend a penny. Even the cooker, sink and television set has been divided up.

Problems occur when they want to watch television, Harold wants culture on BBC2 but Albert wants to watch the football and his part of the set has the knobs on.

It all ends in disaster as the kitchen burns down and the fire crew had to put a penny in to get inside the house.

It is no wonder Steptoe and Son is so often regarded as one of the best sitcoms of all times, one of the best offerings has to be Divided we stand.

Fed up of living in squalor, and having ideas of living in something more palatial, Harold tries convincing Albert to redecorate, he's got ideas of flock wallpaper and new carpets. Naturally Albert puts a spanner in the works by refusing every option. Incensed by the lack of cooperation Harold can see no other way forward then dividing the house in two, partitions separating each room and a coin operated turnstile in the hall which each must pass through. It all goes wrong when a cloth goes up in flames on the Kitchen, the fire brigade turn up, even they have to put coins in to get through the turnstile, the two land up in hospital.

It is an utterly hilarious episode, it is so funny, there are so many good moments to pick out, the television scene of course, the cruet set, the line that always gets me though is 'even the bleedin firemen had to put pennies in the turnstile, utterly genius.

Total brilliance. 10/10

When i was a boy like 10 years old back in the early 90's i used to go through all the VHS tapes, rewinding and what-not, i loved this episode ever since, perticularly the bit where Harold eats his fine meal all organized with silverware, that meal he had looked nice. great episode is a understatement to this great episode devydid we stand 2g4 we fall. omg i have to write ten lines to fill up and make it OK so this message review thing goes through? well teen lines is quite difficult as you can see i am struggling and having to press return key thats eleven lines lets see. NO... are you kidding me? I JUST wrote ten lines, no scratch that i wrote eleven, no twelve, sod it im just gonna keep on going because i ain't got time for this, i ain't got a job because choose to enjoy every moment of my life to the max, even though i realise it important to not be too high on life because you'll end up falling equally low to balance it all out, thats how it goes throughout the universe, its all about waves of spektrums and highs and lows. so i choose to remain flat and level. with a few highs at the expense of lows to balance it out naturally.