British Comedy Guide
The Good Life. Image shows from L to R: Margo Leadbetter (Penelope Keith), Tom Good (Richard Briers), Jerry Leadbetter (Paul Eddington), Barbara Good (Felicity Kendal). Copyright: BBC
The Good Life

The Good Life

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC One
  • 1975 - 1978
  • 30 episodes (4 series)

After Tom Good becomes disillusioned with his life, he packs in his job and he and his wife attempt to live a completely self-sufficient life in suburbia. Stars Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington.

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Press clippings Page 3

Ordinary homes for showbiz fans on sale

There have been multiple opportunities to move into a house that has been populated by fictional characters ranging from The Young Ones to multitudes of spotted dogs. Also includes the Peep Show flat, the home of the Brockmans in Outnumbered and Alan Partridge's Linton Travel Tavern.

Bethan Bell, BBC News, 27th September 2016

The sitcoms we'd like to see come back on the TV

As some of our most classic comedies are revived for one-off specials - Hancock's Half Hour, Steptoe and Son and Are You Being Served? among them, our brilliant writers explain which sitcoms they'd like to see brought back and why...

Paul Routledge, Polly Hudson, Amber Graafland, Jessica Boulton, Dave Kidd, Sara Wallis and Mark Jefferies, The Mirror, 9th August 2016

The children uprooted to live the 1970s Good Life

A recent Magazine feature explored what happened to the people who pursued a self-sufficient lifestyle in the 1970s. Here, four readers share their stories of their idealistic upbringings.

Claire Bates and Harry Low, BBC News, 17th April 2016

What happened to self-sufficient people of the 1970s?

John Seymour, author of the "bible" of self-sufficiency, had put his principles into practice and set up a farm on rented land in Suffolk, driving a horse and cart instead of a car. His books and articles, which are thought to have helped inspire the BBC sitcom The Good Life, urged others to follow his lead.

Claire Bates, BBC News, 12th April 2016

John Lloyd critical of 'impertinent' sitcom remakes

Blackadder mastermind John Lloyd has insisted that his iconic sitcom will not follow the likes of Porridge, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Are You Being Served? in being remade by the BBC.

Shaun Kitchener, The Daily Express, 21st March 2016

Penelope Keith's comic triumph on The Good Life

Who can forget Penelope Keith as Margo Leadbetter, wearing a tangerine kaftan, vigorously plumping the cushions of her three-piece suite on The Good Life?

Charlotte McDougall, The Guardian, 8th July 2015

Why the 'Jerry from the Good Life' look is back

Move over Tom Ford and David Beckham - the latest fashion icon is Jerry from The Good Life, godfather of 'athleisurewear'. Harry Wallop visited Surbiton Golf Club to try out the 'sport luxe' look.

Harry Wallop, The Telegraph, 25th April 2015

Fashion lessons from The Good Life

The Good Life turns 40 this month, but its style is as fresh as ever. Here is what Tom, Barbara, Margo and Jerry can teach us about dressing for spring 2015.

Imogen Fox, The Guardian, 20th April 2015

PM's promise of The Good Life invites taunts

Shouldn't the prime minister have thought of a more appropriate sitcom to repeatedly reference during his manifesto launch - given that Richard Briers also starred in Ever Decreasing Circles.

Stuart Heritage, The Guardian, 14th April 2015

The Good Life at 40: Britain's finest sitcom?

No doubt history will remember 4 April, 1975 as the day Microsoft was founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico. But for some of us, it was the day The Good Life began in Surbiton.

Russell Davies, The Telegraph, 4th April 2015

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