Recently I have been watching some old British sitcoms, courtesy of the BBC's iPlayer. One which stood out, and which I felt warranted a re-appraisal, was 'The Good Life' (written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey), which was made and originally broadcast in the mid-to-late 1970s. Showing my age, I confess to having watched some of the episodes when they were first broadcast, although a lot of the subject matter rather went over my head back then.
For those who do not know, the show is set in the affluent suburb of Surbiton in southern England, and focuses on two middle-class couples, the Goods (Tom and Barbara) and the Leadbetters (Jerry and Margo) who reside in adjacent dwellings. At the outset of the series, Tom Good and Jerry Leadbetter work for the same company. However, Tom is undergoing a crisis of identity and dissatisfaction with life and career.
Tom and Barbara, who appear more liberal and free-wheeling than Jerry and Margo, decide on a radical course, proposing to drop out of the rat-race, and enter into a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. They grow and produce their own food, making their own clothes, and eschewing many of the luxuries and conveniences to which they had become accustomed. Tom resigns from his job. Despite their differing and diverging attitudes, the Goods and the Leadbetters remain close friends.
The basic "situation" of 'The Good Life' is a large part of what makes this a valuable sitcom. The writing and the snappy, sophisticated dialogue, are a cut above many of the contemporary mainstream shows, mixing the profound and the comic to sound effect. The material is intelligent and gently thought-provoking, if not as surreal as 'The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin', from the same era, which has some overlap with 'The Good Life'.
The writing, therefore, is subtle, especially in its examination of the relationship between the Goods and the Leadbetters, but I think that this comedy is also raised to different level by the quality of the acting, more specifically the performances of the four main players - Richard Briers (Tom), Felicity Kendal(Barbara), Penelope Keith (Margo) and Paul Eddington (Jerry), all of whom went on to have successful careers off the back of 'The Good Life'.
The "banter" between Tom and Barbara is a delight, and Briers and Kendal clearly had great chemistry. One can see how the Goods would have become a couple in the first place, bonded in part by a quirky sense of humour and philosophy of life. The exchanges between the two characters are therefore quite believable, as well as engaging.
Much of the "tension" in the programme arises from the interaction between Margo and the Goods. Margo's social attitudes, characterised by snobbishness and haughtiness, put her at odds with Tom and Barbara's more laid-back and irreverent world-view, although she appears to value their friendship, and retains a soft spot for Barbara. Margo's concern for the impact on Barbara of the self-sufficiency drive illustrates the subtlety of the writing; whilst Margo appears to slightly misinterpret Barbara's position, her misgivings are not wholly misplaced, given Tom's occasional flights of fancy.
In the role of Margo, Penelope Keith's presence and flair for comedy in its broadest sense are important factors. Whilst the character of Margo can be seen as an "antagonist" to some degree, and her attitudes to self-sufficiency sometimes come off as condescending and supercilious, self-interested on occasion, there are shades of grey in there, and we are not asked to unreservedly endorse the self-sufficiency project. Margo's husband Jerry is rather caught in the middle of all this, and his character is nicely ambiguous, with his views on the Goods' endeavours often complicated by his disagreements with his wife.
In amongst the comedy, there is ample realism and pathos. Tom and Barbara's constant struggles - financial, moral and emotional - are very well documented, and the scripts do not pretend that this self-sufficiency enterprise is all plain sailing or without flaw or contradiction.
The timing of 'The Good Life' is intriguing. Emerging in the mid-1970s, it followed on from the 1960s counter-culture and the hippie movement, and pre-dated the full flowering of the ecological movement. I am sure that if a similar show was made today, Tom and Barbara would be vegetarians or vegans. It is also poignant to reflect that such a departure as initiated by the Goods, at least in an urban area, would not be feasible nowadays, because of the increasing regulation and conformism of people and society.
One optimistic aspect of 'The Good Life' is that it depicts people with differing values or attitudes remaining friendly, co-operating and interacting relatively organically and genuinely. Again, one wonders whether a modern-day equivalent of the show would fall victim to the temptation to place the two couples fundamentally at odds. The cultural landscape of the 1970s perhaps permitted more finesse and pragmatism.
My sense is that the efficacy or otherwise of Tom and Barbara's "experiment" is left unresolved. We applaud their courage, vision and resourcefulness, but worry about their naivete and idealism. Perhaps the writers were simply pointing out that there is no simple answer or solution to these questions, and of course it is debatable whether the Goods were really trying to change the world at all - their actions were a personal matter,influenced by their own circumstances, and in one episode in particular Tom is keen to play down any suggestion that he is some sort of guru or social philosopher.
In its astute balancing of the salient topics, 'The Good Life' was a brave and enjoyable attempt to put these ideas and issues out there, without being too portentous.
