The Good Life
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- For other uses, see The Good Life (disambiguation)
Template:Infobox television Image:RadioTimesGoodLife.jpg
The Good Life was one of the most successful British situation comedies of all time, produced by the BBC between 1975 and 1978, running for four series and two specials. Such is its popularity, it is still being repeated to this day. It was shown in the United States as Good Neighbors to avoid confusion with a short-lived American situation comedy of the same name. It was written by Bob Larbey and John Esmonde and came ninth in a BBC poll to find 'Britain's Best Sitcom'.
There were 30 half-hour episodes made which were shown in four series of seven episodes each and, later, a Christmas Special and a Royal Command Performance (see below for details).
Contents |
Cast
- Richard Briers — Tom Good
- Felicity Kendal — Barbara Good
- Penelope Keith — Margo Leadbetter
- Paul Eddington — Jeremy "Jerry" Leadbetter
- Reginald Marsh — Andrew/Sir
Background and plot
On his 40th birthday, Tom Good gives up his well-paid job as a draughtsman in an engineering company. He is no longer able to take seriously his assignment to design plastic toys for insertion into breakfast cereal packets. He and his wife Barbara make a decision to live a sustainable, simple and self-sufficient lifestyle while staying in their beloved home in Surbiton. They dig up their front and back gardens and convert them into allotments, growing soft fruit and vegetables. They introduce chickens, pigs (Pinky and Perky) a goat called Geraldine and a cockerel called Lenin. They generate their own electricity, using methane from animal waste. Later they even attempt to make their own clothes. They also work at selling or bartering surplus crops for essentials which they cannot make themselves. They try to cut their monetary requirements to the minimum with varying success.
Their actions horrify their kindly but conventional next-door neighbours, Margo and Jerry Leadbetter. Originally, Margo and Jerry were intended to be minor characters, but their relationship with one another and with the Goods soon became an essential element of every episode. The writers decided against an option they regarded as "easy" in not making the Leadbetters harsh detractors of the Goods' choice, but instead depicted them as concerned friends.
There were hints, both broad and small, of a healthy sexual relationship within both marriages. Under the influence of Tom's homemade wine ("Peapod Burgundy"), their mutual, intermingled, attraction for each other became apparent. Both couples are childless for reasons unexplained, and the topic of families is never raised.
Jerry worked for the same company as Tom, but through cunning and good self-promotion, rather than particular talent, he rose into the ranks of senior management. As the series progressed, he moved to within striking distance of the managing director's job ("Sir", the current boss, and his wife were recurring characters). He is initially convinced that the go-it-alone attempt will fail, and on several occasions, he pleads with Tom to come back to work, but he eventually comes to appreciate the strength of character it has taken for Tom to "leave the system". He is somewhat henpecked at home but has the strength to put his case across when sufficiently compelled to do so.
Barbara is a housewife at the start of the series, and while she sometimes wilts under Tom's determined and dominant nature, her sharp tongue puts her on an equal footing with him. She is in many ways the "heart" of the enterprise, whilst Tom's engineering "brain" designs and builds what they need. Of the two, she endures far more yearnings for the lifestyle and luxuries they previously enjoyed, but her own determination to succeed — along with Tom's single-minded persuasion — extinguishes these thoughts.
Margo, with her stunted sense of humour, is totally unable to understand her neighbours' new lifestyle, but their long friendship is important to her, and she learns to tolerate it. She comes from a well-heeled background and is something of a social climber, staunchly Conservative and unafraid to challenge anyone who gets on her nerves. She involves herself with organisations such as a pony club and a music society for the status that they add to her and Jerry's lives. Some viewers see this attitude as a precursor to Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances, although Margo is at least occasionally made aware of her faults by the others, including her husband — something Hyacinth never experienced. She is not afraid to be apologetic when she is informed she has done wrong.
The fortunes of the Good household wax and wane, but reach an all-time low when, in the final regular episode, on Tom's forty-second birthday, at the same time as their soil is ruined by a leakage from an oil tank, their house is broken into and vandalised. Coincidentally, Jerry has now succeeded to the top job, and he again offers Tom his old job back. Courageously, and perhaps foolishly, Barbara and Tom refuse, and Jerry congratulates Tom on his strength of character.
The 1977 Christmas special found the Goods still moving along in their happiness and in their self-suffiency. The final episode, "When I'm Sixty-Five" was taped at a Royal Command Performance which included Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and many BBC senior management. The cast, writers and studio staff were presented to the royal party after the show. George Cole made a special appearance, playing a bank manager whom Tom visits in a vain and naive attempt to obtain a bank loan.
Of the four main actors, only Richard Briers was well known before the series began. However, the other three quickly became major stars and all went on to have "vehicles" created for them by the BBC. The big hit of the series was Penelope Keith's character, Margo, a consummate snob with a heart of gold. Keith went on to be the star of the series To the Manor Born among others. Her long-suffering husband, Jerry, was played by Paul Eddington, who went on to play the lead in the extremely successful Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister series. Felicity Kendal became something of a sex symbol among men of a certain age. Images of her in wellington boots were particularly memorable. The short lived series Solo was tailored for her talents.
There are many within the UK organic gardening and self-sufficiency movements who continue to this day to claim that The Good Life was inspirational and influenced their own lifestyle changes.
Episodes
Series One (1975)
- "Plough Your Own Furrow" (4 Apr 1975)
- "Say Little Hen" (11 Apr 1975)
- "The Weaker Sex?" (11 Apr 1975)
- "Pig's Lib" (25 Apr 1975)
- "The Thing in the Cellar" (2 May 1975)
- "The Pagan Rite" (9 May 1975)
- "Backs to the Wall" (16 May 1975)
Series Two (1975–1976)
- "Just My Bill" (5 Dec 1975)
- "The Guru of Surbiton" (12 Dec 1975)
- "Mr. Fix-It" (19 Dec 1975)
- "The Day Peace Broke Out" (2 Jan 1976)
- "Muntiny" (9 Jan 1976)
- "Home Sweet Home" (16 Jan 1976)
- "Going to Pot?" (23 Jan 1976)
Series Three (1976)
- "The Early Birds" (10 Sep 1976)
- "The Happy Event" (17 Sep 1976)
- "A Tug of the Forelock" (24 Sep 1976)
- "I Talk to the Trees" (1 Oct 1976)
- "The Wind-Break War" (8 Oct 1976)
- "Whose Fleas Are These?" (15 Oct 1976)
- "The Last Posh Frock" (22 Oct 1976)
Series Four (1977)
- "Away From It All" (10 Apr 1977)
- "The Green Door" (17 Apr 1977)
- "Our Speaker Today" (24 Apr 1977)
- "The Weavers Tale" (1 May 1977)
- "Suit Yourself" (8 May 1977)
- "Sweet and Sour Charity" (15 May 1977)
- "Anniversary" (22 May 1977)
Christmas Special (1977)
- "Silly, But It's Fun" (26 Dec 1977)
Royal Command Performance (1978)
- "When I'm 65" (10 Jun 1978}
Trivia
It seems unlikely that the local Council would have allowed Tom and Barbara to turn their garden into a farm with animals. When Margo objects to the pigs, instead of making a complaint to the local Council, she turns to Mr. Carter (Robert Gillespie), the new Chairman of the residents association — who turns out to be supportive of their venture, much to Margo's chagrin.
The exterior filming of the Good and Leadbetter houses took place in the North-West London suburb of Northwood, even though it was actually set in Surbiton, Surrey.
The house lived in by Tom and Barbara was used, on the condition that it was returned to the state it was in previously (with a normal flower-garden) after the show ended.
DVD Release
The complete series of The Good Life is available on DVD (Region 2, U.K.) through Acorn Media. The series is also available on DVD in the U.S. (Region 1) under the title "Good Neighbors".