The Good Life

Dec 26, 1977

The Goods have an entirely self-made Christmas (except for the balloons), while the Leadbetters order theirs from a department store. When there's a hiccup in the delivery, the Leadbetters are invited round to the Goods for some homemade food, drink and entertainment.

Jun 10, 1978

Tom worries that they haven't made provision for their old age, when they'll be too infirm to follow their self-sufficient lifestyle. Concerned about their old age, the Leadbetters take out a 14th life policy on Jerry, and take up keep-fit. When Tom boasts that his digging and gardening keeps him fitter than Jerry's jogging and rowing machine, they end up having a long-distance race.

Dec 28, 2010

The programme explores the enduring appeal of the classic sitcom. With contributions from, amongst others, Richard Briers, Penelope Keith, Monty Don, Brian Sewell and John O'Farrell, All About The Good Life goes behind the scenes and reveals all you ever wanted to know about the series from choosing outfits for Margo to the iconic title sequence.

Oct 12, 2001

Recorded 12 October 2001

Mar 05, 2010

Backstage at London's National Theatre

Apr 04, 1975

After he has celebrated his 40th birthday Tom decides that he is unhappy with his life style so he packs his job in, farms his large garden and becomes self sufficient.

Apr 11, 1975

The Goods install the first chickens in their chicken coop, but they prove slow to lay their first eggs. Incensed by the condescension of the Leadbetters when they are invited to dinner together with Tom's former boss & his wife, the Goods decide to sacrifice one of the chickens to make a show of their not being as poor as the Leadbetters think.

Apr 18, 1975

Tom buys an old-fashioned range for their kitchen from a passing rag-and-bone man, but Barbara becomes irate when she ends up doing most of the hard work to get it ready for use, while he tries to make a system for scaring the birds off their crops.

Apr 25, 1975

The Goods continue their bartering with local suppliers, but Barbara has a misunderstanding while negotiating with the window-cleaner. They then add a pair of pigs in a sty to their back garden, at which Margo is so appalled she brings in the chairman of the local residents' association to persuade them out of it, but is unsuccessful. However, when one escapes into the Leadbetter's garden, she can only be mollified by getting rid of it.

May 02, 1975

Tom puts the finishing touches to their own electricity generator in the cellar, which runs on their animals' waste. He then goes fishing with Jerry, and decides to store the surplus in the freezer, until the generator plays up...

May 09, 1975

In order to pay for a treat for Barbara, Tom takes a short contract from his old firm, and tries to keep it a secret from her - but his plan is foiled when he fails to account for Margo's nosiness.

May 16, 1975

While starting the harvest, Tom injures his back digging,and since Margo and Jerry are on holiday Barbara is left to look after the farm all on her own. A storm then adds to their problems by turning their garden into a mud bath.

Dec 05, 1975

The Goods are faced with paying their rates bill (local property tax). They try to sell their harvest surplus to raise money, but it proves more difficult than Tom imagines.

Dec 12, 1975

The Goods take in a student couple for a week, to help them with the work on the smallholding. The couple rapidly become infatuated with the Goods and their way of life. When they decide to buy the other house next door, to start a commune with similar aims, Margo becomes incensed.

Dec 19, 1975

A journalist writes a freelance article on the Goods and their way of life. Margo tries to muscle in to promote her forthcoming amateur dramatics production. Jerry obtains quantities of free merchandise for the Goods, on the grounds that the article is to appear in a national Sunday newspaper.

Jan 02, 1976

Leeks start to go missing from the front garden, and Tom initially suspects Margo. When he discovers the real culprit, he takes the law into his own hands, but ends up in deeper trouble than the thief.

Jan 09, 1976

Jerry refuses to put up a foreign businessman visiting the company, as it would interfere with Margo's performances as Maria in a local amateur production of The Sound of Music, and he is consequently sacked. The Goods try to get him reinstated.

Jan 16, 1976

A boar-walker visits the Goods' remaining pig, and recommends they move to a larger smallholding that he knows is for sale. Neither Tom nor Barbara can think of a good reason not to go, but neither really wants to.

Jan 23, 1976

Tom's inability to repair the roof decides the Goods on joining evening classes in practical subjects, Barbara taking pottery and Tom taking weaving. Both do badly and decide to swap subjects. Tom achieves outstanding results, resulting in the temptation to go commercial.

Sep 10, 1976

The pressure of work sowing the new season's crops requires the Goods to make the most of the daylight hours. The disturbance of their early morning work sours their friendship with the Leadbetters, and their attempts to go to bed early meet with a variety of frustrations.

Sep 17, 1976

Perky gives birth to her litter, which includes a runt, in the middle of the night, observed by the Goods & Leadbetters. Sentimentality overcomes practicality, and they decide to try to help the runt survive. Jerry is stopped for speeding on the way to hospital to obtain some oxygen.

Sep 24, 1976

The need for some means of transport to replace the broken trolley causes Tom to modify the rotavator. To pay for its fuel, the Goods decide to take temporary work as domestic staff... with the Leadbetters.

Oct 01, 1976

A fellow allotment holder claims that talking and playing music to his plants gives better yields, so Tom decides to do a scientific experiment, enlisting Barbara's help. Unfortunately, playing music to the crops in the back garden threatens to sour their relationship with Margo, who is standing for election as president of the local amateur operatic society.

Oct 08, 1976

The Goods are furious when they learn that Margo is planning to put up a large wind-break that will shade their new fruit patch. Mix-ups occur when they ask her to site it elsewhere. To repair their friendship, they have dinner accompanied by bottles of the Goods' Peapod Burgundy, causing them to regain their sense of humour.

Oct 15, 1976

The Goods find they have fleas, which they initially believe are from their animals. Then they remember that they have just been next door to the Leadbetters.

Oct 22, 1976

Various people mistake Barbara for a man, causing her to doubt her femininity, and when she accidentally tears her last good dress, she becomes distraught. Tom compounds things by fawning over an elegantly dressed dinner guest, but then tries to make up by buying her another dress.

Apr 10, 1977

When the poor harvest and other tribulations of life get to the Goods, the Leadbetters suggest they go away on a short break, and volunteer to look after things while they're away. But can they be trusted?

Apr 17, 1977

The Goods need some fertiliser for their land in preparation for sowing the new season's crops. When they try getting it from the pony club that Margo belongs to, they find that although she pretends to, she hasn't been going recently. The Goods wonder where she's been going instead.

Apr 24, 1977

When Margo's society's guest speaker pulls out at short notice, Barbara agrees to give a talk about self-sufficiency. She's so good that Lady Truscott asks her to do several other talks, but it interferes with maintaining the animals & crops.

May 01, 1977

When Margo buys a spinning wheel, Tom buys a loom so that the Goods can borrow the spinning wheel and make their own clothes. However, Barbara has just convinced Jerry to forbid Margo to spend any more money, and the spinning wheel purchase is canceled. It looks like the loom is a white elephant.

May 08, 1977

The Goods obtain some sheep fleeces, make their own vegetable dyes, and start making their own clothes using their loom. Jerry's boss decides to retire, and invites three potential successors to dinner to choose who to appoint.

May 15, 1977

Tom sets his eye on the contents of the other neighbors' heating oil tank when they move out. Barbara just manages to convince him that it would be stealing. Then they get permission to take it.

May 22, 1977

Although troubles beset them, the Goods are still glad that they've followed the path of self-sufficiency. Jerry thinks he's failed to succeed Andy as head of JJM. Margo installs a burglar alarm system, but the Goods think they've no need of one, as they've nothing left to steal.