EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS

SERIES 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Specials

SERIES 1
* Number in parentheses at end of program description is BBCWA library tape number.

1. PLOW YOUR OWN FURROW - Tom and Barbara Good decide to leave the rat race of every day life and become as nearly self-sufficient as possible without leaving their Surbiton home. Tom swaps his car for a cultivator and ploughs up his garden. (1)

2. SAY LITTLE HEN… - The Goods continue to acquire animals, including some chickens they are trying to coax to lay. Their next door neighbors, Jerry and Margo Leadbetter, try to save the Goods from themselves. (2)

3. THE WEAKER SEX - The first shoots are beginning to show in the Good’s new garden, but a cast iron stove nearly puts Barbara's fire out on the whole idea. (3)

4. PIG'S LIB - Tom now is making plans to keep some pigs. A horrified Margo Leadbetter draws the line and calls on the local residents association for help. (4)

5. THE THING IN THE CELLAR - The Goods have started a search for alternative sources of food. Tom has also rigged up a generator to make electricity from animal dung. (5)

6. THE PAGAN RITE - Bills are piling up and the Goods need a holiday. The Leadbetters try to bring Tom and Barbara back to their senses and invite them to a dinner with Tom’s ex-boss. (6)

7. BACKS TO THE WALL - On the day before harvest, Tom hurts his back and the weather goes bad, leaving Barbara three days to bring in the harvest before it rots. (7)

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SERIES 2
1. JUST MY BILL - The harvest has been safely gathered in, proving Tom and Barbara’s mettle. But they must now face the really tough problem - selling the surplus at market. (8)

2. THE GURU OF SURBITON - Two students arrive to help the Goods out, and in Tom they find their new messiah! Jerry and Margo have panicky visions of a commune. (9)

3. MR. FIX IT - The Goods are beginning to attract some favorable attention from Surbiton at large. A reporter arrives to do a story on them, and Margo schemes of ways to bask in their fame. (10)

4. THE DAY PEACE BROKE OUT - Someone has begun stealing Tom’s leeks. He decides that he will settle this matter in Frontiersman style. (11)

5. MUTINY - Jerry must choose between obeying Sir or pleasing Margo by attending her musical. Tom and Barbara help Margo with her lines. (12)

6. HOME SWEET HOME - After hearing about an ideal rural farm, Tom is all ready to leave Surbiton. Barbara doesn't want to go, but Margo might like the idea. (13)

7. GOING TO POT - The Goods decide to attend night classes to learn valuable skills while Margo schemes to outwit a new neighbor adept at painting by taking up pottery. (14)

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SERIES 3
1. THE EARLY BIRDS - After the Leadbetters have enough of the Goods' crack-of-dawn activities, the Tom and Barbara search for new ways to design their schedule. (15)

2. THE HAPPY EVENT - A four hundred percent increase in their livestock population is a source of great joy for the Goods. Their enchantment is not shared by the Leadbetters. (16)

3. A TUG OF THE FORELOCK - After Tom brainstorms an idea for revamping the cultivator into a transport vehicle, the Goods try their hand at becoming a housekeeping service to the Leadbetters to earn cash. (17)

4. I TALK TO THE TREES - The Goods decide to experiment with talking to their plants to see if they'll grow more. Margo, meanwhile, plans to run for Music Society President. (18)

5. THE WIND-BREAK WAR - Miscommunication deteriorates into a family feud when Margo's windbreak puts the Goods' fruits in the shade. (19)

6. WHOSE FLEAS ARE THESE? - It is embarrassing enough when Tom and Barbara find themselves with fleas. How can they stop these unwanted guests from catching on with Jerry and Margo? (20)

7. THE LAST POSH TRUCK - Life as an urban farmer begins to get Barbara down, particularly when a passer-by mistakes her for a boy. When Barbara rips her last fancy dress, she reaches her limit. (21)

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SERIES 4
1. AWAY FROM IT ALL - When the Goods leave for a much needed holiday in Mayfair, the Leadbetters take over their house and garden. Is this such a good idea? (22)

2. THE GREEN DOOR - When Margo sneaks uptown and enters a mysterious green door, did the Goods see something they weren't supposed to see? (23)

3. OUR SPEAKER TODAY - Barbara discovers a natural speaking talent, leaving Tom home alone. Margo simply seethes with jealousy. (24)

4. THE WEAVER'S TALE - Tom blows some cash on a loom so he and Barbara can make their own clothes. Jerry learns that he has a chance to become the new Managing Director. (25)

5. SUIT YOURSELF - The Goods find new ways to put their loom to good use while Jerry's battle for the directorship enters full swing. (26)

6. SWEET AND SOUR CHARITY - Tom schemes about oil. Jerry schemes about the open directorship. Margo holds to her morals concerning a musical play she considers smutty. (27)

7. ANNIVERSARY - Two years have now passed since the Goods became self-sufficient. Jerry still awaits Sir's decision on who will succeed him at JJM. (28)

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SPECIALS

1977 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - When Margo sends back the Leadbetters store bought Christmas gift, they are unable to entertain their high society friends. The Leadbetters go to share the holiday with the Goods.

THE GOOD LIFE ROYAL SPECIAL: WHEN I'M 65 - When Jerry takes out yet another endowment policy, the Goods begin to have misgivings about their old age plans.