We loved the Goods!

On this fortnight on April 4, 1975, the BBC launched a new sitcom called

The Good Life.

Inspired by an increased interest in green issues at the time, the fun centred on Tom and Barbara Good (Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal) who had abandoned the rat race to become self-sufficient, while living in the suburbs of Surbiton. Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington played neighbours Margo and Jerry Leadbetter, who were alternately appalled and bemused by the Goods’ attempts to live off the land. The series of course proved an instant hit and ran for 30 episodes until 1978.