Good Neighbors - The Complete Series 4

Good Neighbors: The Complete Series 4 plus Royal Command Performance (DVD)On Tom Good's fortieth birthday, he decides to escape the rat race for a life of self-sufficiency with his wife, Barbara. Soon they're plowing a field in their suburban yard and tending to a goat and pigs, much to the dismay of their upwardly mobile neighbors and friends the Leadbetters. In this final season, the hilarity continues, especially when the Goods take a holiday, leaving the Leadbetters in charge! This series, known as The Good Life in the UK, was so popular the queen requested a viewing, and the Royal Command Performance is featured here, including footage of Her Royal Highness meeting the cast.]]> Better known as The Good Life in its native England, the much-beloved 1970s Britcom Good Neighbors wrapped up its delightful run during a fourth season, which was capped by a visit from Queen Elizabeth herself. Led by the incomparable Richard Briers (Monarch of the Glen), the perfect cast of Good Neighbors continues the story of Tom (Briers) and Barbara (Felicity Kendal) Good, a middle-class, suburban couple who gave up their jobs, possessions, and creature comforts (such as electricity) to promote "self-sufficiency." Turning their gardens into farmland, the pair raise pigs, goats, and chickens, grow their own produce, and even take a whack at making their own clothes. Their neighbors and best friends, Jerry (Paul Eddington) and Margo (Penelope Keith) Leadbetter, remain mystified at the Goods' embrace of hard living and are themselves fully committed to luxury and (especially in Margo's case) rubbing elbows with aristocracy. Good Neighbors: The Complete Series 4 includes eight choice episodes, including "Away from It All," in which Tom and Barbara take a small vacation from their threadbare life, nervously leaving their agrarian routines in Jerry and Margo's inexperienced hands. "Our Speaker Today" concerns a distraction for Barbara when she becomes a popular guest lecturer to different groups, speaking on the subject of self-sufficiency. Neither she nor Tom is particularly enthusiastic about the endeavor, especially when Barbara is invited to speak to a crowd of libidinous, misfit teen boys. "Anniversary" is the memorable show that more or less ended the series with a crisis faced by Barbara and Tom, but "When I'm 65" is the official closer here. For good reason: the episode celebrates the enormous popularity of the series in Britain with a visit to the show's set by the queen. It's a little startling but unique to see. --Tom Keogh

Browse Our Catalog.

View More In Performing Arts.