In contrast to the symmetrical 'orthogonal' 'stair' polymers recorded in the previous paper, a variety of distorted ('skewed') stair polymer systems have been synthesized and structurally characterized by using substituted pyridine bases. The structure of CuBr/pyridine (1 : 1) is recorded, completing the series for pyridine with all halides (CI, Br, I), together with full halide arrays for the bases pyridine-2-carbaldehyde and 4-benzoylpyridine, in which substituent interactions with metal or halide are insufficient to destroy the basic polymer form but nevertheless may induce substantial distortions from the orthogonal ideal.