Penelope Keith

The Good Life would never work in modern Britain

The BBC sitcom The Good Life would never work now because viewers would not believe that rich and the poor could live next door to each other, Penelope Keith, one of its stars, has said.

Shirley Bassey getting into big boots, Andre Previn (or should that be Mr Preview?) watching in horror as Eric Morecambe murders Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor, Glenda Jackson being a remarkably convincing Ginger Rogers... We've seen these clips time and again, yet somehow they never cease to raise a smile. Penelope Keith, who took part in Morecambe and Wise's 1976 Christmas special, presents the best of the pair's musical routines from the archives.

Two important reasons for the public's infatuation with Eric and Ern are nailed in the last of this lovely series. First, as fan Stephen Mangan identifies: "You always felt you were inside the joke with them." And second, their show was a great leveller. Penelope Keith, a guest in 1977, recalls Eric telling her, "You're known for being dignified. We're going to get rid of all that." And so they did, making the elegant actress clamber off an unfinished staircase in a Fred-and-Ginger spoof. But Keith's street cred soared after that.

Victoria Wood narrates the final episode of this toe-warming series looking back at the finest comedy double act this country has ever produced. Tonight we take a look at their flawless Christmas specials over the years. There is nothing on earth that could make you feel more Christmassy. Guest stars including Angela Rippon and Penelope Keith reminisce, while famous fans watch rare and unbroadcast sketches with all the wonder of a five-year-old on Christmas morning.

Ernie Wise's terrible plays and the A-listers they attracted to 70s staple The Morecambe and Wise Show are the focus of this week's raid on the sketch cabinet. There are marvellous clips of Arthur Lowe, Peter Cushing and Penelope Keith sending themselves up, but the icing on the guest-star cake was Oscar-winning Glenda Jackson. As M&W scriptwriter Eddie Braben says, "She brought out the best in them, as they did in her."

The Eric and Ern missteps aren't glossed over, however. One film - a deal-sweetener for the pair's migration to ITV and shown only once on telly - is fascinatingly terrible. But otherwise the deluge of punchlines will leave you satisfyingly soaked.

A look at the Silver Jubilee Good Life performance

At the conclusion of the myriad of events surrounding the recent Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration, I started thinking back to the Silver Jubilee in 1977 when Her Majesty and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, attended a taping of an episode of The Good Life (Good Neighbors in the States), starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington.

Penelope Keith blasts the youth cult of TV

Penelope Keith says: "When I did The Good Life and To The Manor Born, producers didn't have to fill in forms saying which audience they were targeting. It was commissioned just because it was good."

Video: David Croft discusses complexity of 'Allo 'Allo

With the passing of David Croft on Sunday, 27 September, at age 89, more from our 1999 interview for the public television program, Salute to British Comedy on American Public Television. When host Penelope Keith introduces the 'Allo 'Allo! segment, we come to realize that the series was not only complex for the audience, but for both David Croft and co-creator/writer, Jeremy Lloyd. As you'll see, thank goodness David Croft's secretary was able to follow the plot line.

Penelope Keith on the actor/writer relationship

From Behind the Britcom: From Script to Screen, coming to PBS stations nationwide in March 2011, we continue our look at the making of British comedy while celebrating those that pen the programs that make up one of the most intelligent television genre's on the planet.

Good Life actress Penelope Keith's tea room approved

Good Life actress Penelope Keith has been given permission to open a tea room in the Scottish Highlands following a six-year planning battle.