"The Bath" is in black and white and features a wonderfully disgusting sequence of old man Albert retrieving pickled onions from his bathwater and putting them back in the jar. The other four episodes are from the 1970s and in colour: "Seance in a Wet Rag and Bone Yard" features a young Patricia Routledge as a bogus medium. "Porn Yesterday" has Harold outraged to discover that the young Albert once starred in a "What the Butler Saw" feature. "And So to Bed" has Harold buying a waterbed to impress a new "bird" and having his romantic hopes literally punctured by his old man. The wonderful "Upstairs Downstairs, Upstairs, Downstairs" has the put-upon Harold getting the better of his dad for once when he discovers that the "perpendicular ponce" is feigning a back injury to keep Harold at his beck and call and plans an excruciating revenge--a bed bath. There's only one shortcoming: completists would prefer these old episodes to be issued chronologically and in full rather than in selective "Best of" compilations.

On the DVD: The Very Best of Steptoe and Son episodes are presented in the format in which they were originally shown and all hold up well without any great efforts at enhancement. There are no extras. --David Stubbs

Whatever the reason, this remains a must have for the fans, but for those who fell in love with the first volume this could be a disappointment.