Christmas Special 1974 (a.k.a. A Perfect Christmas) - S8-E7
Continuity mistake: Harold suggests to Albert that they spend Christmas abroad. Albert has not been abroad since his military service in the First World War, so Harold obtains Albert an up-to-date, modern passport. The fact that Harold has an old passport, but Albert has a newly issued passport is absolutely essential to the story. This contradicts two previous episodes of Steptoe And Son. In Pilgrim's Progress (S4-E7) Albert wanted to re-visit the First World War battlefields: Albert and Harold went to an airport and boarded a plane for France. In A Winter's Tale (S5-E2) Harold bought a ticket for a ski-ing holiday in Switzerland. He had an accident and could not go, so Albert went instead. (Albert would have needed a passport for both trips.) This also contradicts the 1972 Steptoe And Son cinema film, in which Harold married, and took both his new bride and Albert on his honeymoon to Spain.
Christmas Special 1974 (a.k.a. A Perfect Christmas) - S8-E7
Continuity mistake: Harold is looking through the box for Albert's birth certificate - the first two documents he finds are a wireless receiving licence then the Skinners Arms Christmas club saving book. He puts them both down on the table after reading them, the camera cuts to Albert, then when it cuts back to Harold there are now three documents on the table.
Christmas Special 1974 (a.k.a. A Perfect Christmas) - S8-E7
Continuity mistake: When Harold picks up the brochures off the floor then places them on the table to make a decision on where to go on holiday there are two brochures on the table, before he started to pick them up there was only one.
Chosen answer: There is no definitive answer. In the original run of the series in the early sixties, Harold was given a birth year of 1925, matching that of Harry H Corbett, who played him, making him old enough to have fought in the war. When the show was brought back in the early seventies, his birth year was, for no immediately obvious reason, revised to 1932.
Tailkinker ★