The Good Life (1975 TV series)

John Esmonde and Bob Larbey wrote The Good Life for Richard Briers,[3] the only cast member who was well known before the series was broadcast. Larbey and Esmonde were inspired by Larbey's 40th birthday, which seemed to them a milestone in most people's lives.[3] Their story has the Goods' decision to pursue self-sufficiency conflicting sharply with the habits of the Leadbetters, who live next door. The conflict between the neighbours, balanced with an increasingly close friendship, creates comic tension as that friendship is tried to its limits.

Peter Bowles was originally cast to play Jerry but was unavailable.[3] (He later starred opposite Penelope Keith in To the Manor Born.) Hannah Gordon was considered for the role of Barbara but was ruled out, having recently played a similar role in the BBC sitcom My Wife Next Door. Esmonde and Larbey chose Felicity Kendal and Penelope Keith after seeing them on stage together in The Norman Conquests.

Outdoor filming took place in the northern Greater London suburb of Northwood, although the series was set in Surbiton, south-western Greater London. The producers searched extensively for a suitable pair of houses, eventually chancing on Kewferry Road, Northwood.[4][5] The grounds of the Goods' house were returned to their original state after the filming of each series' inserts, and all livestock removed at the end of each day's filming.

The opening theme was composed by Burt Rhodes.[6]

• Richard Briers – Tom Good
• Felicity Kendal – Barbara Good
• Penelope Keith – Margo Leadbetter (née Sturgess)
• Paul Eddington – Jeremy "Jerry" Leadbetter
• Reginald Marsh – Andrew/Sir
• Moyra Fraser – Felicity, Sir's wife (series 1)
• Charmian May – Mrs. Weaver (series 2)

On his 40th birthday, Tom Good is no longer able to take his job seriously and gives up work as a draughtsman for a company that makes plastic toys for breakfast cereal packets. With their house in The Avenue, Surbiton, paid for, he and his wife Barbara adopt a sustainable, simple and nearly self-sufficient lifestyle while staying in their house. They turn their front and back gardens into allotments, growing soft fruit and vegetables. They introduce chickens, pigs (Pinky and Perky), a goat (Geraldine) and a cockerel (Lenin). They generate their own electricity with methane from animal waste, and attempt to make their own clothes. They sell or barter surplus crops for essentials they cannot make themselves. They cut their monetary requirements to the minimum, with varying success.

Their actions horrify their kindly but conventional neighbours, Margo and Jerry Leadbetter. Margo and Jerry were intended to be minor characters, but their relationship with one another and the Goods became an essential element of the series. Under the influence of the Goods' homemade wine, called "peapod burgundy" (the strength of which becomes a running joke), their intermingled attractions to one another become apparent.

The Good Life aired for four series and two specials from 4 April 1975 to 10 June 1978. The final one-off episode, "When I'm Sixty-Five", was a Royal Command Performance in front of The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and senior BBC management. The cast and crew were presented to The Queen and Prince Philip after the recording. The episode was originally broadcast in a 45-minute slot with footage either side of the 30-minute episode showing the Royal Party entering and exiting. The Command Performance came about after the BBC invited Queen Elizabeth to attend a recording of a television programme for the first time to mark her Silver Jubilee and to this end, Buckingham Palace was asked to confirm her favourite entertainment show. Reputedly, this was The Good Life, but this was problematic as the series had ended before it was possible to facilitate the Queen's attendance. Thus a 'Christmas Special' episode was commissioned, but it proved impossible for the Queen's schedule to accommodate the recording and a further subsequent episode was commissioned, although this was not recorded until 1978, after the jubilee year. Despite being informed that The Good Life was the Queen's favourite, when Felicity Kendal's son presented her with a bouquet upon her arrival at TV Centre, the Queen asked "who is Felicity Kendal?"[7]

Two novelisations of The Good Life were written, both by Esmonde and Larbey. The first, The Good Life, was published in 1976 by Penguin Books, and novelised the first series. The second, More of The Good Life, was published in 1977, also by Penguin, and featured three episodes from series two and four episodes from series three.

The series broadcast in Australia on ABC and in Canada on CBC. It was also seen in South Africa, Zimbabwe, New Zealand and many other Commonwealth countries as well as Belgium[8] and the Netherlands.[9]

In the United States The Good Life was retitled Good Neighbors to avoid confusion with a short-lived American sitcom of the same name, and was shown by most PBS stations across the country starting in the early 1980s. By the late 1980s, it was rarely seen but returned to PBS stations after CBS/Fox Video released selected episodes on VHS in 1998.[3]

After the success of The Good Life, the four cast members were given their own "vehicles" commissioned by the then Head of Comedy and producer of The Good Life, John Howard Davies.[3] Immediately after the series ended, Larbey & Esmonde created a new show for Richard Briers, co-starring Michael Gambon. The Other One was a seven-part sitcom that aired on BBC1 in the autumn of 1977, running concurrently with The Good Life Christmas Special – Silly, but it's fun.[10] A second series of 6 episodes aired in early 1979.[11] Keith starred alongside Peter Bowles in To the Manor Born, which began in September 1979.[12] Eddington joined Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds in Yes Minister and its sequel Yes Prime Minister. Kendal, who had become something of a sex symbol, went on to join Elspet Gray in Solo, and Jane Asher in The Mistress. Briers later starred alongside Penelope Wilton and Peter Egan in the popular sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles again written by Larbey & Esmonde, and notable for Briers' character being the polar opposite of Tom Good. In 1992, Kendal and Eddington reunited in the Channel Four adaptation of Mary Wesley's The Camomile Lawn.

In 2003, the BBC broadcast the mockumentary Life Beyond the Box: Margo Leadbetter, describing Margo's life since the series had finished, although the original actors appear only in archive footage. In 2007, Briers and Kendal were reunited on ITV1 series That's What I Call Television in a mockup of the Goods' kitchen.

The complete series of The Good Life is available in the US (Region 1) under the title Good Neighbors. Series 1–3 were released as a box set in 2005; Series 4 was released in 2006 and includes the Royal Command Performance.

The first UK (Region 2) DVD release omits two episodes (the first episode from series 1 and one from series 3). All four complete series were rereleased in their entirety on 29 March 24 May 19 July and 20 September 2010; the complete boxset has also been rereleased.

All four series have been released in their entirety in Australia (Region 4), albeit in NTSC format rather than the PAL format typical in Australia. The series 4 release (on two DVDs) also contains an interview with Briers as well as the Royal Command Performance episode.

A stage adaptation of the sitcom premiered at the Theatre Royal, Bath, before embarking on a UK tour in October 2021. It was written and directed by Jeremy Sams and starred Rufus Hound as Tom Good.[21]

• The Good Life at BBC Online
• The Good Life at IMDb
• The Good Life at British Comedy Guide
• The Good Life at the BFI's Screenonline
• Opening Titles at BBC Cult