"Steptoe and Son" Come Dancing (TV Episode 1970) Poster

(TV Series)

(1970)

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9/10
This one's a definite winner.
Sleepin_Dragon5 August 2019
Harold is bored out of his skin on a Sunday afternoon, brooding and grumpy, it turns out his problem is a bird. The problem, Harold's told his new flame he can dance, he can't, so Albert steps in to help teach him.

The look on the Milkman's face when he discovers Albert and Harold in a tango is so funny, the dance is a wonderful scene. Albert's cha cha is a joy also.

This is one of the best episodes, it is terrific from start to finish, you can't help but have a smile on your face throughout. We finally get the pair working together and supporting one another, it makes for a nice change to see some warmth between the characters, as Albert says it's the first thing he's helped him with in years.

Of course, the ending provides a moment of sadness, but it's one of the funniest ever scenes, hilarious lines, perfect delivery, and superb timing.

One of the best. 9/10
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10/10
Strictly Steptoe Dancing!
ShadeGrenade8 July 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Its Sunday afternoon. While Albert snores his head off in his favourite armchair, Harold talks to himself. He is thoroughly miserable because he has set his sights on an attractive woman named Jean and does not appear to be getting anywhere with her.

As Jean is a fan of ballroom dancing, Albert offers to teach his son so that the couple can enter a local contest.

Harold is clumsy at first, but soon gets the hang of it. Confidant of winning the prize money, the trophy and the girl of his dreams, he heads for the contest...

This episode is structured in two parts; the first in which Harold whines about being bored has echoes of the classic 'Sunday Afternoon At Home' episode of 'Hancock's Half-Hour', the second has Albert teaching Harold how to dance. Of course the whole thing ends in disaster; Harold learns too late that he has only succeeded in mastering the woman's steps. Bye bye prize money, trophy and Jean.

I watched this again recently and my wife complained because we did not see Harold's humiliation, merely heard of it second-hand from Harold himself. I argued that it would have been too expensive to stage such a scene, with all the extras and costumes and so on, and that it was funnier the way it was. What's wrong with using your imagination every now and then when watching television?

Funniest moment - Harold, dressed up for the occasion, dances a few steps in the yard, before accidentally treading in horse dung!
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6/10
Come Dancing
Prismark1012 October 2017
Strictly the first episode of Steptoe that exists in colour!

The episode begins with Harold in a miserable mood. It is a wet Sunday afternoon, Albert is sleeping on the chair and Harold is bored and frustrated talking to himself and imagining himself as Henry the Eighth. Even the cuckoo clock is irritating him as he tries to hammer it.

When Albert wakes up we find the cause of his annoyance. He is going out with a lady called Jean and she loves ballroom dancing, trouble is Harold cannot dance and she wants them to enter a competition.

Luckily for Harold, Albert knows how to dance and shows him the steps from the Argentinian Tango to the Cha Cha. Pretty soon Harold gets the hang off it as they practice all night, even the milkman joins in to show Harold a few moves.

Albert is pleased that he could do something for his son but come the night of the competition, will Harold still be the leading man?

This is an episode of two halves and I became concerned about Harold's mental wellbeing in the opening part of the episode. It becomes much more enjoyable as you the see the two men trying to dance and then the milkman who catches the men dancing pulling Harold's leg before joining in.

You keep trying to work out where it would all go wrong as Harold goes off to the dance club in a confident mood, so the twist certainly left me wrong footed.
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