Some time ago I wrote reviews about the complete boxed set of every episode of the seventies comedy The Good Life and then detailed reviews of series one and two.
I thought it was about time I got round to reviewing series three.
The DVD on its own currently costs £17.98 from Amazon.
I ... Read review
Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith star in this classic ... more
comedy series. When Tom Good, a 40-year-old draughtsman, and his wife Barbara, drop out of the rat race and become self-sufficient they change their lives for ever....
The Good Lifehas proven an enduring jewel in the BBC's mainstream comedy archive. More ... more
than 25 years after it first appeared in our living rooms, nostalgia must be a major reason for its appeal. A whole generation of young men--and their fathers--found the weekly sight of Felicity Kendal as Barbara Good, pert in denim dungarees, irresistible. But it's the quality of the playing that has really stood the test of time and triumphs over a premise--self-sufficiency in Surbiton--that now seems naïve. Even in 1975, a Tom Good (a masterpiece of comic eccentricity from Richard Briers) quitting the rat race would probably have sold up his semi and chanced his luck as a small holder somewhere more remote than suburban Surrey.Comic tensions arise not just from the Goods' daily struggle to beat the system on their own terms, but also from the relationship with their incredulous, often horrified, but usually supportive neighbours. Penelope Keith's Margo Leadbetter remains one of the great comic creations in British sitcom history--a simmering volcano of conservatism waging her own battle against creeping mediocrity in all aspects of life, whose human frailty somehow keeps her loveable. Paul Eddington as Jerry, her long-suffering husband, spars splendidly. Happy memories indeed. --Piers Ford
Postage & Packaging:£2.69 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Advantages: VERY funny! Disadvantages: None at all
...ago I wrote reviews about the complete boxed set of every episode of the seventies comedy The Good Life and then detailed reviews of series one and two.
I thought it was about time I got round to reviewing series three.
The DVD on its own currently costs £17.98 from Amazon.
I won't go into the set up too much here as I would be repeating what I said in the initial review and that wouldn't be fair on you ... ...me twice for the same information, so I will just give a very brief synopsis.
All the programmes are brilliantly written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey.
Tom and Barbara Good live in a posh part of Surbiton and have decided to become self sufficient. This entails planting both their front and back gardens with vegetables and keeping pigs, chickens and even a goat!
The next door neighbours are Margot and Jerry ... more
Some time ago I wrote reviews about the complete boxed set of every episode of the seventies comedy The Good Life and then detailed reviews of series one and two.
I thought it was about time I got round to reviewing series three.
The DVD on its own currently costs £17.98 from Amazon.
I won't go into the set up too much here as I would be repeating what I said in the initial review and that wouldn't be fair on you as the reader or on Ciao who would be paying me twice for the same information, so I will just give a very brief synopsis. All the programmes are brilliantly written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey.
Tom and Barbara Good live in a posh part of Surbiton and have decided to become self sufficient. This entails planting both their front and back gardens with vegetables and keeping pigs, chickens and even a goat!
The next door neighbours are Margot and Jerry Leadbetter who are good friends with Tom and Barbara. However Margot is a snob and is horrified at a set up that she thinks devalues the area right next door to her.
The sit com is then a series of various events and their consequences to all parties concerned.
So the third DVD in the boxed set has the six episodes of Series Three which were originally broadcast in 1976.
The Early Birds
This is the episode where Tom decides that it would make more sense for him and Barbara to get up at dawn and go to bed when it gets dark irrespective of the actual time. The idea is that this will maximise the time available to work in the garden.
As usual the theory is great but the practice doesn't quite work! Going to bed so early means that Tom and Barbara can't sleep and they end up playing various games and naming their 100 favourite films to try and make themselves tired!
The Happy Event
This has to be on of my favourite episodes where the pig gives birth. Tom and Barbara enlist the help of Margot and Jerry during and after the birth with hilarious consequences!
The birth goes well but there is a runt in the litter and Tom originally intends to allow nature to take its course until Barbara steps in and then everyone, including the local police, pulls together to save the little piglet.
A Tug of the Forelock
In this one Margot's gardener and daily help go on holiday and Tom and Barbara step in to do the work in order to earn some money to finance the running of their new vehicle made from the rotary cultivator.
Whilst Margot can separate the working relationship from the friendship and treat each differently Tom in particular finds this difficult and keeps teasing Margot and acting the fool much to her annoyance!
I Talk to the Trees
Tom and Barbara meet a man at the allotments who talks to his tomatoes they decide to try it with their plants to see if it will enhance their growth.
Unfortunately Tom decides to play his music rather loudly as Margot is hosting a meeting of the Music Society in her lounge! She is NOT impressed.
Whose Fleas are These
Tom and Barbara realise that they have fleas and naturally assume they are from the animals. The first and biggest problem is to tell Margot and Jerry as they will probably be infected too.
The man from the pest control comes to sort out the 'little offenders' as he calls them, but he finds that they don't originate from Tom and Barbara's animals and Margot is in for a shock!
The Last Posh Frock
This is another of my favourites beginning with Barbara tearing her one remaining frock and Tom being practical and reminding her that she doesn't need it anyway. Then Tom and Barbara play host to one of Barbara's old school friends who turns out to be a stunner!
Typically Tom doesn't notice Barbara's distress as he flirts outrageously with her friend.
This time Jerry steps in and gives Tom a good talking to - but does he listen?
So there you are - the third DVD - and another six episodes of great laughs!
The DVD does have a PG certificate but for the life of me I can't fathom out why!
Also on the DVD there is also an interview with Bob Larbey, some scriptwriters' biographies, filmographies and some production notes. This isn't really of any interest to me as I just want to watch the programmes!
All six episodes of the third series of the self-sufficiency comedy which finds Tom Good a former draughtsman and his wife Barbara continuing to surprise suburbia with their garden of vegetables and their menagerie consisting of goats, hens and pigs.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
ACORN MEDIA; ARVATO SERVICES
Release date
12/07/2004
No of Discs
2
Catalogue No
AV 9206
Barcode
5036193092060
Languages
Main Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Production Notes, Filmographies, Scene Indexing
DVD Description
Series 3 of the classic 1970s sitcom about an eccentric middle-class couple who decide to leave behind the empty promises of the rat race and live off their land--without leaving the suburbs. Tom and Barbara Good (Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal), much to the horror of their conservative neighbours, the Leadbetters (Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith), decide to turn their suburban home into a self-sufficient utopian garden, with hilarious results. Includes the episodes: "The Early Birds"; "The Happy Event"; "A Tug of the Forelock"; "I Talk to the Trees"; "Whose Fleas are These
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