The Good Life was one of the most successful British sitcoms 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 US as Good Neighbors. It was written by Bob Larbey and John Esmonde and recently 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, a Christmas Special and a Royal Command Performance (see below for details). Later, there were two special episodes. The Royal Command Performance was shown in a 45 minute programme, featuring behind the scenes studio footage and the arrival of the Royal party, before and after the recording.

On his fortieth 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. With his wife Barbara they make a decision to live a sustainable, simple living 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, Margot and Jerry Leadbetter. Originally, Margot 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 works for the same company as Tom, but through cunning and good self-promotion, rather than particular talent, he has risen 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.

Margot, 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 Margot 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, Margot, 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.

- From Wikipedia