| Title |
Airdate |
Overview |
Original Viewing Figure |
| Plough Your Own Furrow |
4 April |
On his 40th birthday, Tom Good gets depressed at work as everyone in his office is younger than him. That evening, he stays up until the early hours, and decides to quit the rat race and his job as a draughtsman and become self-sufficient. After thinking in the garden, Barbara agrees to the idea. However, Jerry thinks they are mad. Guest starring Norman Atkyns and Martin Neil. |
5.9 million |
| Say Little Hen... |
11 April |
Barbara is converting the greenhouse into a chicken shed, which increases Margo's concern for the couple. Jerry invites his boss Andrew and his wife Felicity round for dinner with the idea that they can persuade Tom to go back to work. However, Tom quickly turns the offer down and he and Barbara then decide to prove to Margo they are a success by making a lavish dinner. |
8.2 million |
| The Weaker Sex? |
18 April |
After Tom barters for a range from the rag and bone man Sam (Tony Selby), Barbara is left to clean all the rust off it, while Tom tries to invent something to scare the birds. Soon Barbara gets fed up and goes next door to Margo and Jerry's. Guest starring Paul McDowell. |
6.5 million |
| Pig's Lib |
25 April |
Margo is horrified when Tom and Barbara buy two pigs, Pinky and Perky, and gets in the Chairman of the Residents' Association, Mr. Carter (Robert Gillespie) in the hope that he will stop them. However, he decides that as long as the pigs stay in the Goods' garden, they can keep the pigs. Soon, Pinky and Perky escape into Margo's garden and she insists the Goods get rid of them. However, Margo soon regrets this decision and Tom makes a mercy dash to try and save them from the abattoir. Guest starring Jonathan Lynn, Lionel Wheeler and John Lawrence. |
7.9 million |
| The Thing in the Cellar |
2 May |
Tom has successfully built his own generator, run by the methane from his animals' manure, but Margo is not impressed and suggests to Barbara that he should see a Psychiatrist. While Tom and Barbara go to get firewood, Jerry stays at their house to wait in for an electrician. However, the generator breaks down. Later, when Jerry has the day off, he and Tom go fishing, but Tom later discovers he can not freeze the fish due to the generator being broken. Guest starring Ray Mort. |
8 million |
| The Pagan Rite |
9 May |
Tom and Barbara are invited round to dinner after Andrew orders Jerry to invite them because he wants Tom to do some freelance work for JJM. Tom initially refuses, but after Barbara says she misses their "pagan rites", when they used to splash out and stay at a hotel for one night, he secretly does the freelance work so he and Barbara can stay at a luxury hotel for the night. Guest starring John Scott Martin. |
8.7 million |
| Backs to the Wall |
16 May |
Margo and Jerry are off to Kenya for a safari, and the Goods are meant to be getting in their harvest but Tom hurts his back and a storm then ruins the garden. They try and get help from the pub, but get nowhere, so they are relieved when the Leadbetters come home early, as Margo couldn't stand Africa, and even Margo helps out. Guest starring June Jago, Billy Milton, Pamela Manson, Frank Lester and Harry Goodier. |
7.7 million |
| Title |
Airdate |
Overview |
Original Viewing Figure |
| Just My Bill |
5 December |
Having gathered their harvest, Tom and Barbara need to try and sell their harvest. Jerry tells him that it won't be that easy, but Tom replies that he's already agreed to sell it to a restaurant called The Runcible Spoon. However, the restaurant owner isn't so obliging when he realises the Goods can only supply them once. |
9.2 million |
| The Guru of Surbiton |
12 December |
Margo and Jerry return from Amsterdam to discover that Tom and Barbara have two earnest University students called Guy (Bruce Bould) and Ruth (Irene Richard) staying for the week to help out in the garden; and when the house next to the Goods goes up for the sale, Guy, whose father owns "most" of Staffordshire, wants to buy it and turn it into a commune. |
10.5 million |
| Mr Fix-It |
19 December |
On a wet autumn evening, Margo comes round and tells Tom he is wanted on the phone by a Mr Coles, who turns out to be freelance journalist. After he does an article on the Goods and their way of life, and informs Margo that he's sold it to The Observer, Jerry manages to get them lots of free goods by letting local shops using their name in advertising. |
9 million |
| The Day Peace Broke Out |
2 January |
Tom discovers that eight leeks have been stolen from his front garden, and soon he stays up all night to catch the thief, who he then shoots with an air gun. The thief then takes Tom to court for common assault, and when Tom refuses to be bound over he's sent to prison for 28 days to reconsider. Later, the thief, who is called Harry Bennett, comes round to apologise. Guest starring James Cossins. |
9.3 million |
| Mutiny |
9 January |
While playing golf with Andrew, Jerry agrees to put a Dutch businessman for the weekend, but when he gets home is reminded that Margo is playing the lead role of Maria in The Sound of Music, but when he tells Sir he can't put the Dutch man up, he is sacked. |
11.7 million |
| Home, Sweet Home |
16 January |
Margo is delighted with the new neighbours, Mr and Mrs Weaver, but when she comes to tell Tom and Barbara the good news, she is horrified to be told that a boar is coming round to "serve" Pinky. The boar's owner, Mr May, tells them that there is a farm near where he lives that would be perfect for them, so the Goods decide to move. |
12 million |
| Going to Pot? |
23 January |
Tom and Barbara decide to enrol in evening classes, they both do house maintenance, and Tom does weaving while Margo joins Barbara doing pottery. Before they even attend a class, Jerry buys Margo a "studio" to do her pottery as an early birthday present. But after her first class, she leaves the evening class, and Tom and Barbara swap evening classes after failing at their own. Soon Tom uses Margo's studio when Mrs Weaver likes his pottery and commissions him to make her some. |
12.2 million |
| Title |
Airdate |
Overview |
Original Viewing Figure |
| The Early Birds |
10 September |
The Goods and the Leadbetters fall out after Tom and Barbara make too much noise while working in their garden early in the morning. However, they soon apologise and they then decide to change their sleeping pattern by going to bed early and getting up early, buts it turns out to be more difficult than it sounds. |
13.1 million |
| The Happy Event |
17 September |
Pinky is expecting, and she goes in labour in the middle of the night. Margo and Jerry are called into help, but the eighth piglet is a runt. In an attempt to save it, Jerry and Barbara rush to the hospital to get some oxygen, but are stopped by a policeman for speeding, while Margo helps Tom. |
15.4 million |
| A Tug of the Forelock |
24 September |
When Mr and Mrs Pearson, Margo's domestics, go on holiday for a month to Canada, Tom and Barbara need money for a new mode of transport, so they decide to fill their place. However, after a week they are sacked for their behaviour. |
16.4 million |
| I Talk to the Trees |
1 October |
While at their allotment, Tom and Barbara come across Mr Wakeling talking to his plants and he claims that it helps them grow. Tom then decides to do an experiment to see whether he is right. Meanwhile, Margo is trying to become President of the Music Society. |
16.7 million |
| The Windbreak War |
8 October |
Following her election as President of the Music Society, Margo decides to build an arbour in her garden, complete with a windbreak. However, this threatens to shadow Tom and Barbara's crops, so they ask her round to move the windbreak. She agrees but after an argument, the windbreak is not moved, but once the confusion is cleared up, they all have dinner together and share some of the Goods homemade wine. Guest starring Timothy Bateson. |
15.8 million |
| Whose Fleas are These? |
15 October |
Tom and Barbara's chimney, having not been swept for some time, sweeps itself and they get covered in soot. As the soot also put the fire out, they go to Margo and Jerry's for a hot bath, but when they get home they release they've got fleas. Mr Bustrode (Michael Robbins), the council official who comes round to deal with the fleas, says they came from a dog. Meanwhile, Margo has been asked to become actively involved with the Conservative Party at the next general election. |
17.7 million |
| The Last Posh Frock |
21 October |
Barbara feels she has lost her femininity, and after she rips her last posh frock, Tom's initial lack of sympathy frustrates her. However, he decides to organise a dinner party, with Margo, Jerry and Barbara's old school friend Eileen, but the evening goes badly when Tom spends the whole time looking at Eileen. |
14.7 million |
| Title |
Airdate |
Overview |
Original Viewing Figure |
| Away from It All |
10 April |
Tom and Barbara are depressed because their latest crop is a letdown, and so when they go to Margo and Jerry's for dinner, they are not in the best of moods. The Leadbetters manage to persuade them to stay in a Mayfair flat that belongs to a friend of Jerry's for the weekend, and while they are away Margo and Jerry have to look after their animals. |
7.5 million |
| The Green Door |
17 April |
Tom and Barbara are in desperate need of manure, and they get the idea to go to Margo's pony club and ask them. Margo forbids them from doing so, but they go anyway. While Margo told them she goes riding weekly, Mrs Holman, the stable owner, tells them Margo hasn't gone riding for months. The Goods then see her going into a building in the town, and they think she is having an affair. |
15 million |
| Our Speaker Today... |
24 April |
Margo asks Barbara to give a talk on self-sufficiency to the Townswomen's Guild in front of Lady Truscott (Angela Thorne). After her talk is a success, Lady Truscott then gets Barbara to give a succession of talks to other groups. Meanwhile, Tom tries to put up a new chicken shed on his own while Margo sends Jerry to Fortnum & Mason to buy a hamper so they can entertain Lady Truscott. Guest starring Robert Lindsay. |
14.1 million |
| The Weaver's Tale |
1 May |
After a successful crop of soft fruits, Tom and Barbara have a float of £10, and when on a visit to Dorking with Margo, Tom spends all of this buying a second-hand loom. Meanwhile, Jerry seeks Barbara's advice about Margo's spending, which leads to him then refusing to pay for her spinning wheel, so she leaves him. |
14.6 million |
| Suit Yourself |
8 May |
Tom and Barbara are busy making a suit for Tom using sheep's wool and dye for stinging nettles, while Margo and Jerry are preparing for a dinner where Andrew will announce his retirement and Jerry's written a proposal on how he would take forward JJM. |
12.5 million |
| Sweet and Sour Charity |
15 May |
Mrs Weaver has moved to Esher, and Tom wants to take the oil from her tank so he can swap it for some straw. Meanwhile, Jerry is trying to discredit Snetterton in the race to replace Andrew and Margo is asked to play the lead role in Sweet Charity. |
15 million |
| Anniversary |
22 May |
Due to the oil leak caused by Mrs Weaver's tank, much of the Good's garden is unusable, and Geraldine isn't producing any milk. These problems mean Tom is not in the mood to celebrate both his 42nd birthday and the second anniversary of self-sufficiency, but after Jerry succeeds Andrew at JJM, all four celebrate. However, when they go back to Tom and Barbara's they discover the living room has been vandalised. |
12 million |
