The Good Life
"I think it just struck a chord with people." Bob Larbey is trying to explain the appeal of his classic sitcom The Good Life. It’s not something he can readily explain – but he’s got a few ideas why, some 35 years after the show debuted on the BBC, it’s still so popular.
"It was a brilliant cast," suggests Bob. "That certainly helped. If you write situation comedy, you can’t write for individual styles, you just write for good actors and boy did we have good actors.
"But I think it just struck a chord, not in terms of making everybody wanting to be self sufficient, but it just fed that little bit of all of us that wants to opt out, to become independent." He chuckles softly. "It was about a revolution – just one without violence or shouting."
Intriguingly, the subject matter – growing your own, self-sufficiency, etc – has become more popular, making Bob and his late writing partner John Esmonde look almost prescient, although it’s a notion Bob laughs off good naturedly. It’s even more remarkable when you consider how society moving forward has dated so many other 1975 comedies such as – ahem – Love Thy Neighbour.
"It never was of its time," agrees Bob. "In fact, the only thing that looks dated now is Paul Eddington’s trousers... I think it’s that little bit of independence that touches all of us," he adds, still considering the long-term appeal of the situation. "That’s what makes it universal and, perhaps, timeless."
Indeed, it was thoughts of independence – "and age" - that inspired the original story. That and meeting Richard Briers who, remarkably, was the only one of the four in place from Day One.
"James Gilbert, the Head of Comedy at the BBC, was looking for something for Richard. He’s a super actor and he hadn’t done a sitcom for some time and they wanted him back, so they asked us if we could think of something for him. So we met him and got on instantly.
"I was approaching my 40th birthday, and so was Richard, and John and I got talking about 40th birthdays. For no good reason it’s one of those milestone ages for men. You get to 40 and suddenly it becomes 'oh God, what have I done with my life?' Or 'oh God, what am I going to do with the rest of it?!'
"That was the premise. A man who’s turned 40 who’s not happy with things, so what does he do about it? We just tacked on self-sufficiency as a way out."
The arrival of Paul Eddington, Penelope Keith and Felicity Kendal also helped of course, and Bob has fond memories of the first time he heard them perform his and John's lines.
"It was wonderful. Up to then, John and I had only read it to each other. You can’t imagine how it’s going to sound in the mouths of good actors, what they’ll do with the lines. When I heard them read it, I thought 'oh my word, the script’s better than I thought!'"
"You just hope that it’s funny, and that it’s going to work," explains Bob. "And it did. But if I knew the secret why this one stayed so popular for 35 years, I’d be a multi-millionaire!"
The Good Life Season On is out on DVD from March 29, priced £19.99. Seasons Two, Three and Four will follow later this year.
First published April 8, 2010