As with almost all the great sitcom's, 'The Good Life's' winning central premise was as effectively simple as it was well executed. Disillusioned by the never-ending boredom and wage slavery of the nine-to-five rat race, on his 40th birthday, Tom Good, (the ever engaging Richard Briers), decides to resign from his position as a draughtsman for the JJM company where he has created cereal gifts for the majority of his adult working life, and instead concentrate on the, then radical, alternative lifestyle of home farming and all round self sufficiency. To this end, Tom, who is capable of being impulsive and at times almost child-like in his enthusiasm, embarks upon the ambitious and not altogether welcome by his neighbours, conversion of his middle class Surbiton home into what is in essence, a working farm. Many of the series plots involved he and his wife's constant struggle to adjust to life without the everyday home comforts we take for granted, as well as their various efforts to stay afloat by such means as selling home produce such as eggs and vegetables, etc.

Tom was more than ably supported by his wryly witty and wise wife Barbara (Felicity Kendal at her most impish and appealing), and superb support came in the memorable forms of the late Paul Eddington (Eddington and Kendall would be reunited in 1992, in the steamy, critically acclaimed Channel 4 adaptation of 'The Camomile Lawn'), as Tom's best friend Jerry, and especially Penelope Keith at her snobbishly imperious best as Jerry's aloof and sarcastic class conscious wife, Margo. The series was created and written by the 'Please Sir!' team of John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, and was afforded the notable accolade of a special Royal Command performance.

The real secret of the show's success, in keeping with the majority of all truly great comedy series, lay in the character interaction. The central characters possessed warmth, charm and a surprising amount of depth and subtlety, which helped endear them to the loyal and appreciative audience, which the series consistently drew.

Ahead of its time in its use of serious "Green" concerns as an underpinning for its comedy, The Good Life still holds the power to amuse and entertain as much today as it did almost three decades ago.