John Esmonde, with writing partner Bob Larbey, made suburban disagreements worth listening to. We value the warmth and precision of The Good Life, though its readiness to forgive Tom Good sometimes tries our patience.
Fi1m perspective
In The Good Life (1975), an attractive idea belongs to an exasperating man. Tom Good's wish for independence gives John Esmonde and Bob Larbey a question worth arguing about: how much comfort should anyone give up to live on their own terms? The writers let the four central characters make a fuss without making that question seem foolish. We recommend the programme for the precision of those disagreements and the affection that survives them.
Esmonde and Larbey wrote together for more than thirty years. The partnership developed from sketches in the early 1960s, with Room at the Bottom (1967) their first television series. The Good Life brought suburban self-sufficiency to the centre of their comedy, while the later Ever Decreasing Circles (1984) gave Richard Briers a suburban fusspot to play. The partnership continued through Brush Strokes (1986) and ended with Down to Earth (1995).
Their strength is in ordinary conversation, where a difference of temperament can supply enough trouble without an elaborate plot. In The Good Life, the four leads make that writing work by keeping the domestic disagreements funny and serious at once. The wish for independence remains sympathetic even when its pursuit becomes difficult to defend. That gives the actors something more useful than a succession of practical obstacles to overcome: people whose company we enjoy, even when we object to how they behave.
The generosity does have a limit. We were exasperated by Tom Good's pursuit of independence, and irritated when the writing seemed ready to forgive him. When self-sufficiency becomes another lesson in perseverance, the characters have to keep us interested; Esmonde and Larbey are better at sustaining those competing personalities than at making every practical difficulty absorbing. Start with The Good Life for the four leads and the arguments. There is no obligation to forgive Tom quite so readily.
Biography
John Esmonde was a British television comedy writer, best known for his long partnership with Bob Larbey. Together they created and wrote a series of popular sitcoms from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Born John Gilbert Esmonde in Battersea, London, in 1937, he attended Henry Thornton School in Clapham with Larbey. The pair began writing sketches and radio material before their first television series, Room at the Bottom (1966). Their breakthrough came with Please Sir! (1968–72).
Esmonde and Larbey’s most enduring success was The Good Life (1975–78), which they created and wrote. Other credits include Get Some In! (1975–78), Ever Decreasing Circles (1984–89) and Brush Strokes (1986–91). Esmonde died in 2008.
