The Good Life: The Complete Collection

By: John Esmonde, Bob Larbey

Narrated by: Felicity Kendal, full cast, Paul Eddington, Penelope Keith, Richard Briers

Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Meet Surbiton’s most famous residents; Tom, Barbara, Margo and Jerry.

It is Tom Good's 40th birthday and he feels thoroughly unfulfilled. If only he can discover what 'It' is, and if he can, will his wife Barbara agree to do 'It' with him?

The subsequent and sudden transformation of the Goods’ home into a smallholding causes consternation for Margo and Jerry next door, and they decide it’s their duty to interfere...

So begins The Good Life, the much loved classic sitcom starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith.

The escapades of the mismatched next-door neighbours whose friendship is constantly being tested to the limits are collected here with thirty hilarious episodes from the much loved BBC television series.

Series One: Plough Your Own Furrow, Say Little Hen, The Weaker Sex?, Pig’s Lib, The Thing In The Cellar, The Pagan Rite, Backs To The Wall. Series Two: Just My Bill, The Guru of Surbiton, Mr Fix-It, The Day Peace Broke Out, Mutiny, Home Sweet Home, Going to Pot. Series Three: The Early Birds, The Happy Event, A Tug of the Forelock, I Talk To The Trees, The Wind-Break War, Whose Fleas Are These?, The Last Posh Frock. Series Four: Away From It All, The Green Door, Our Speaker Today, The Weaver’s Tale, Suit Yourself, Sweet and Sour Charity, Anniversary. The Specials: Silly But It’s Fun…, When I’m 65.

©2019 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2019 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Witty

Loved this book. Really engaged the minds eye. Will listen again. What I disliked about this book was that it ended. Post WWII can do struggle mixed with giving up all the entrapments of corporate Britain.
Highly recommend, very funny.

In my opinion..

Loved the Audible as much as the original programs. Penelope Keith's a superb narrator always.

Great Show Even As An Audiobook

Brought back great memories of the show I watched as a child with my family. Even as a audio it made me laugh out loud

I Adore the Show & Loved the Audiobook!

This is one of my top ten favorite Britcoms and I was so happy to see it in Audible. I love that it’s audio of the show and BONUS JONAS Penelope Keith describes visuals when necessary. What a treat to listen to at work! 👏🏼👏🏼😊

WONDERFUL!

More of this type of programming please! Great choice for Britcom fans. Penelope Keith is fantastic as always.

Hilarious and great fun

BBC comedy at its best. This is basically a recording of the TV series with some narration to fill in the gaps from not having the visuals. So occasionally you loose some context, but still very easy to follow.

Earns 5+/5 Gardens of Delightful Fun!

This 1970s sit com, The Good Life, is a top favorite television show having watched it numerous times, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this audio rendition. A couple, Tom and Barbara Good, fed up with the rat race decide to give it all up to live a self-sufficient existence…in the suburbs. They throw away all the mod cons, create their own electricity, grow their own food, sell the surplus, raise chicken, pigs, and Geraldine the goat, however, their efforts usually end in a comic struggle that entangles their good friends and neighbors, Margo and Jerry Ledbetter. The series is not based on a book, so this audio isn’t a typical narration; it is actually the audio of the television episodes with the actors Richard Briers, Felicity Kendall, Penelope Keith, and Paul Eddington in their iconic roles along with all the extraneous noises and laughter from the audience. The additional narrative describing the characters’ non-verbal actions is courtesy of Dame Penelope Keith. In many ways, it’s like a radio show, but in my opinion, though, if you’ve not seen the television show, you miss some of the nuances of facial features and body language. For me, I loved it!

slightly superior to 1974 TV series

the narration was SUPERB taken on them by each of the four principals. exposition provided adds a je ne sais quoi that cannot be found in the TV series.

It’s still a Good Life

If you were a fan of the TV show you’ll enjoy this. Enjoy the 70’s again.

It’s the TV

This is literally the audio from the TV shows, with Penelope Keith (Margo) adding some voice-over to describe some on screen events so you know what’s happening.

An enjoyable result if not quite what I was expecting.