Fifty years ago, The Good Life made its debut. Now, the nation’s favourite comedy channel U&Gold is giving this British comedy classic the celebration it deserves with a feature-length retrospective: The Good Life: Inside Out (1x120’). Produced by Double Yellow Entertainment, this one-off special is set to air on U&Gold later this year.
Dame Penelope Keith
Leading the retrospective is The Good Life star Dame Penelope Keith, who famously brought the iconic Margo Leadbetter to life. With her unique insider perspective, Dame Penelope will take viewers on an entertaining and heartfelt journey through the sitcom’s history — from its first spark of inspiration to its enduring appeal and its place in British comedy history.
Dame Penelope Keith said, “I am delighted that U&Gold has invited me to celebrate fifty years of The Good Life, a series that was important to me and is still so well loved by viewers. I have such happy memories of making The Good Life - it was a wonderful cast and we were working with excellent scripts and a first rate production team. The only thing I can’t really believe is that it’s fifty years since I first played Margo…where have the years gone?”
Packed with nostalgia, the special will revisit filming locations and reveal props and artifacts from the show’s development process such as original scripts and production notes. Double Yellow Entertainment has also painstakingly recreated Margo and Jerry Leadbetter’s drawing room as it appeared in the original programme, and will capture Dame Penelope Keith stepping back onto the set. As well as Dame Penelope Keith’s reminiscences, the special will also include rarely seen archival interviews with co-stars Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, and Paul Eddington, as well as producer director John Howard Davies.
The Good Life: Inside Out is commissioned for UKTV by Helen Nightingale, head of factual and factual entertainment, and ordered by Gerald Casey, director of programming, comedy and entertainment, and Hilary Rosen, director of commissioning. The executive producers are Kirsty Hanson, senior commissioning editor for UKTV and Mark Wells for Double Yellow Entertainment.
Helen Nightingale said, “For a show to be remembered so fondly and to be such a reference point in British everyday conversation as The Good Life after 50 years is testament to its quality, and this new retrospective with Double Yellow will explore just how and why the show has endured.”
Gerald Casey said, “The Good Life is truly British comedy heritage, and we’re honoured to be opening the vault to a wealth of new material and footage, all helmed by the wonderful Dame Penelope Keith.”
Mark Wells, creative director at Double Yellow Entertainment, said, “The Good Life is one of the crown jewels of British comedy. What a real privilege it’s been to examine it up close in the company of Dame Penelope Keith, who in Margo created one of the all-time sitcom character greats. Fans of The Good Life can look forward to a very special treat.”
The Good Life: Inside Out will air on U&Gold later this year.
For more information, please contact:
Ben Duncan, Consumer Publicity Manager, UKTV
Shannon Bulmer, Publicist, UKTV
Notes for Editors:
About U&GOLD
Dedicated to celebrating the best of British comedy, U&GOLD is the nation's favourite comedy channel.
Classic British comedy series loved by all the family sit comfortably alongside new U&Original scripted comedies crafted by some of the nation's finest comedic minds, such as Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes, Blood Actually: A Murder They Hope Mystery, The Cockfields and Sandylands.
Meanwhile U&GOLD's unscripted series reunite the stars and partnerships of the nation's best-loved shows to get to the heart of what makes them so evergreen - from passion projects such as French & Saunders: Funny Women, Billy Connolly Does..., Ricky and Ralf's Very Northern Road Trip and Alison and Larry: Billericay To Barry to the retrospective likes of Blackadder: The Lost Pilot, The Royle Family: Down The Back of the Sofa, dinnerladies diaries, Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out, The Fast Show: Just A Load of Blooming Catchphrases.
U&GOLD is the perfect tonic to make you laugh whatever the time of day.
About UKTV
UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 30 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands – U&Dave, U&DRAMA, U&W, U&YESTERDAY, U&eden, U&GOLD and U&alibi - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to UK viewers through free streaming service U, Sky, Virgin Media, NOW, Freeview, Freesat and Freely; and to Irish viewers through Sky, Virgin Media, Eir, Vodafone and NOW. Channel & content availability varies by platform. UKTV’s content is also available to UK viewers via dedicated FAST channels on Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Freevee, Pluto TV and Virgin Media. UKTV is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers. The broadcaster is part of BBC Studios, the UK's most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the world's leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.
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