John Esmonde

Comfort classic: The Good Life

A show that gently sends up the English middle class is built on a sharp script and consummate acting.

Matthew Bell, Royal Television Society, 4th February 2021

Lunch With Bob Larbey

A few years back, I decided I owed Bob Larbey a pint. I've long thought Ever Decreasing Circles is the best there is, and with John Esmonde having died in 2008, there was only Bob left to thank.

Jason Hazeley, Sitcom Geek, 5th April 2014

When Richard Briers died recently aged 79, there was a huge outpouring of affection for one of our great comic actors. Audiences felt as if they'd lost a favourite uncle.

It was John Esmonde and Bob Larbey's 1975 sitcom, which ran on BBC1 for three years, that cemented Briers's place in our hearts. He played Tom Good, an ex-City man who turned his back on his old life to set up a smallholding with wife Barbara in the London suburb of Surbiton.

As a tribute, G.O.L.D. is broadcasting back-to-back episodes, starting with episode seven of series one, followed by all of series two and ending with the final episode of series four. Age hasn't wearied a minute of it.

Alison Graham, Radio Times, 3rd March 2013