Patience, it is said, is a virtue. Stephen has more patience than it is probably healthy to have. He's married to Penny, Jean's former sister-in-law. When we first meet him, Penny is bombarding him with a list of questions that she wants to ask of Lionel. She never gives Stephen a chance to comment -- she just keeps firing and ends by telling him not to ask Lionel, but rather to let the conversation take its course. Weakly, Stephen observes that he always does.
Someone mentioned that he didn't start out looking as much the bumbler he turned out to be and used, as an example, the fact that he saw thru the "Dodgems" story. Well, right on the heels of that admission he failed to see thru the "psychiatrist" story. In fact, Lionel just about told him he was lying. A short time later, during a "session" Lionel DID tell him he was lying and Stephen still wouldn't believe it.
He's a likeable man, but about 15 minutes of him at a stretch is about all you can take. Considering that 10 minutes is about all you can take with his wife, it's a good thing that they found one another.
He must not be a totally "dull-witted dentist" (his words), because he apparently was focused enough to get a good job and find a nice house and buy a nice car. But he doesn't really think things through. At first he wanted to buy the house next door to Jean and Lionel. Then he didn't so he pretended to outbid himself, never thinking that if the bidder didn't show up, his bid would still be the highest. He displays a rather perverted sense of logic when he admits to having an affair that he really didn't have because Penny's already forgiven him and he doesn't want to bring the matter up again.
He doesn't seem to be a man with many friends -- in fact when he talks about the possibility of living next door to Lionel, he seems anxious at the prospect of being able to share some "man talk" with him on a regular basis.
But logical talk doesn't seem to come easy to him. He spends what seems like his entire 15 minute allotment discussing his plan to reduce the number of days he spends reading the newspaper. He beats the subject of "short cuts" to death. He's every bit as boring as Mrs. Flack, and probably every bit as good-hearted but people seem to like him better. I'm guessing that's because we see him with Penny and realize how difficult life must be for him. Gwen has only her Herriot to contend with, but Stephen has to be forever on his toes.
Poor Stephen.