The first episode of The Good Life was screened on 4 April 1975. The sitcom was about a middle class couple who abandon the rat race in order to become self-sufficient, while remaining in Surbiton. It was written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, and gave star billing to Richard Briers. However its success brought fame to the other principals.
Briers played Tom Good and Felicity Kendal was his wife Barbara. Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington played neighbours Margo and Jerry Leadbetter, alternately appalled and bemused by the Goods’ attempts to live off the land.
The Good Life was inspired by the increased interest in green issues at the time. The suburban setting allowed Esmonde and Larbey to poke gentle fun at middle class values and environmentalists and attracted a large audience of the very people they were satirising. The series ran for 30 episodes until 1978 and repeats remain popular to this day.
Esmonde and Larbey went on to create Ever Decreasing Circles, with another great part for Briers. Kendal became an enduring sex symbol and went on to great acclaim in the theatre. Keith and Eddington separately went on to create characters that became bigger than the Leadbetters, in To the Manor Born and Yes, Minister.
April anniversaries
Radiophonic Workshop founded
1 April 1958
The Boat Race first televised
2 April 1927
The Family first episode
3 April 1974
The Good Life
4 April 1975
