Review by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Penelope Keith,
Paul Eddington | Written by John Esmonde & Bob Larbey
UK certification PG | UK RRP £19.99 | Runtime 196 minutes | Directed by John Howard Davies
Thanks to Vyvyan and The Young Ones, this classic British sitcom has, for years, been uncool – or simply "too bloody nice", as Vyvyan says. Well bugger you, Vyv, I don't mind being uncool ... I loved The Good Life when I saw it as a kid, and watching it again now, it's stood the test of time incredibly well.
It's 35 years since its original broadcast, but now the first series of this British TV comedy classic has finally made its way onto DVD – digitally remastered, of course. Now we can once again enjoy the gently amusing and, yes, nice suburban antics of the Goods and the Leadbetters.
On his 40th birthday Tom Good (Briers) decides he’s had enough of the daily grind. He packs in his job as a designer of the little plastic toys thet go into cereal boxes (who even knew those things needed to be designed?) and convinces his wife Barbara (Kendal) that they should become self-sufficient. Overnight they convert their suburban garden into a farm for organic living, complete with crops, pigs and chickens and homemade beer, much to the disapproval of their snooty neighbour Margo (Keith) and her henpecked husband Jerry (Eddington).
The Good Life has always been popular, both here in the UK and in Australia, where I watched it as a kid. It was once even voted ninth best sitcom of all time in a BBC poll. It's genuinely funny, with some of the best casting ever seen in a TV show – it's impossible to imagine anyone else playing Tom and Barbara, let alone Margo and Jerry. And as much as we all love the sweet and good-natured Goods (and man, the young Kendal was an utter hottie), it was Keith's sublime performance as the arch snob with a heart of gold Margo that stole just about every scene she was in. The Good Life is a timeless show that has excellent repeat value, which makes this DVD a must-buy for your collection – and the Good news is that the other three seasons of the show are also getting a DVD release this year.
EXTRAS ★ Just an interview with co-creator and co-writer Bob Larbey – let's hope they do better with the next three series.