esmonde and larbey
a look at the john esmonde and bob larbey - penned sitcom ever decreasing circles .
on radio, esmonde and larbey moved into the world of television sitcom. their first effort was called
together and solo, the work of john esmonde and bob larbey has made the world of british comedy a much richer place .
the good life, 1975, written by bob larbey and john esmonde. photograph: allstar collection / bbc / sportsphoto
it was two years before esmonde and larbey collaborated on another sitcom on television. once again the series failed to score a hit and
john esmonde and bob larbey have unquestionably been responsible for some of british comedy' s best loved programmes. from the comfort of suburbia in
, starring george baker, a series that ran for 13 half - hours. that same year esmonde and larbey wrote another one - off sitcom ,
for their next sitcom esmonde and larbey referred back to their national service days. the subject had already been covered successfuly in the granada produced sitcom ,
the good life: v. 5: wind - break war by bob larbey, john esmonde (cd - audio, 2008 )
larbey' s solo successes included a fine romance and as time goes by .
the good life: v. 5: wind - break war by bob larbey, john esmonde (cd - audio, 2008) | ebay
bob larbey (author) bob larbey was a renowned sitcom and screenplay writer. for over 30 years, he was the writing partner of john esmonde and together the duo wrote several hit comedies including the good life and ever decreasing circles. larbey' s solo work included a fine romance and as time goes by. he died in 2014. john esmonde (author) john esmonde was best known as the writing partner of bob larbey. the pair were childhood friends who went to the same grammar school, and both shared an interest in radio humour. together, they created several hit sitcoms including please sir! , the good life and ever decreasing circles. john esmonde died in 2008 .
john esmonde (author) john esmonde was best known as the writing partner of bob larbey. the pair were childhood friends who went to the same grammar school, and both shared an interest in radio humour. together, they created several hit sitcoms including please sir! , the good life and ever decreasing circles. john esmonde died in 2008. bob larbey (author) bob larbey was a renowned sitcom and screenplay writer. for over 30 years, he was the writing partner of john esmonde and together the duo wrote several hit comedies including the good life and ever decreasing circles. larbey' s solo work included a fine romance and as time goes b y. he died in 2014 .
bob larbey (author) bob larbey was a renowned sitcom and screenplay writer. for over 30 years, he was the writing partner of john esmonde and together the duo wrote several hit comedies including the good life and ever decreasing circles. larbey' s solo work included a fine romance and as time goes b y. he died in 2014. john esmonde (author) john esmonde was best known as the writing partner of bob larbey. the pair were childhood friends who went to the same grammar school, and both shared an interest in radio humour. together, they created several hit sitcoms including please sir! , the good life and ever decreasing circles. john esmonde died in 2008 .
, the writers have given us some of the most memorable characters on television. but success for esmonde and larbey didn' t come easily and their story is one of how persistence and talent paid off .
, esmonde and larby wrote another series for richard briers in which he starred alongside michael gambon. in
penelope keith pays tribute to comedy writer bob larbey. he and his writing partner john esmonde wrote some of britain' s best - loved comedies, including the good life .
what do you think was the best esmonde and larbey sitcom? here' s a list of their collaborations i found on this site - (note some might not be sitcoms) .
bob larbey, right, with his writing partner john esmonde. they first met at their grammar school in clapham, south - west london. photograph: writer pictures
failed to capture the affection of the british viewing public and was deemed one of esmonde and larbey' s first failures. in 1977 the duo collaborated on a one - off sketch for diana rigg' s series
larbey and esmonde teamed up a number of times with richard briers. as well as ever decreasing circles, the good life and down to earth, they also wrote 1970s sitcom the other one for the actor .
as you may have read, bob larbey died last week. the co - creator of some of britain' s best - loved sitcoms, often alongside writing partner john esmonde, larbey helped keep the nation laughing for well over 30 years .
starring bernard holley, jill kerman and marc gilbey faired a little better extending to two series in 1983 and 1984. however, the series that followed became a big hit. it teamed esmonde and larbey up with richard briers once more .
larbey, who died on monday, was born in 1934 in south london .
born in battersea, south london, in 1937, esmonde attended the henry thornton school, in clapham, where one of his fellow pupils was bob larbey and they shared a similar schoolboy humour. after national service in the raf, esmonde worked in the offices of a paint company, then as a journalist writing about food processing and packaging, while larbey had a job in a foundry .
larbey and esmonde also created ‘brush strokes’ and ‘pleas sir! ’ while bob also experienced solo success, giving dame judi dench two of her most significant tv roles, the first in ‘a fine romance’ and the second in ‘as time goes by’ .
bob larbey married patricia (trish) marshall, a script - reader for lwt, who predeceased him in 2006. their son survives him. john esmonde died in 2008 .
esmonde & larbey' s last major project together was the 1995 bbc one sitcom down to earth in which richard briers played a character trying to set up a landscape gardening business. john esmonde died three years later, in august 2008, at his retirement home in spain .
it all began in 1966 with room at the bottom, a vehicle for kenneth connor 1 which lasted just one series. esmonde and larbey had learned, though, and their next foray into television would be a stunning success .
still friends, they met regularly for lunch and chatted about local revues and their favourite radio shows. as a result, esmonde and larbey started writing sketches themselves and sent them to the bbc, which eventually accepted one for a programme that included cyril fletcher and paid them a joint fee of two guineas .
bob larbey (1934 - 2014). image courtesy of the huffington post uk .
bob larbey was responsible for some of the most popular and enduring television comedies of the last half - century .
bob larbey, who was born in lambeth, south london on june 24, 1934, died, aged 79, on march 31. john esmonde died in 2008 and larbey’s wife, patricia marshall, a london weekend television script - reader, died in 2006. he is survived by his son .
( he) and co writer john esmonde would go off in a room and write another two minutes worth of comedy gold ,
she said .
i thought i would instead spend the time away from my exams and endless revision exploring the underrated gems esmonde and larbey gave us, some of which have recently been repeated such as brush strokes on the drama channel. then my good friends at the sitcom club reminded me of mr. larbey’ solo sitcom; a fine romance .
portrayed tom good, who suffers a midlife crisis and decides, with the help of his plucky wife, to turn his suburban home into a self - sufficient farm. briers worked again with larbey and esmonde on three of their later series ,
in 1995, esmonde and larbey decided to make down to earth, with briers once again, a final effort before they parted company professionally. esmonde retired to la herradura, on the southern spanish coast, with the intention of writing novels. he is survived by his wife, gina, whom he married in 1960 .
while the good life was attracting some 15 million viewers a week on the bbc, larbey and esmonde were enjoying further success on itv with their raf sitcom get some in! (1975 - 78). starring robert lindsay in his first important television role, and featuring tony selby as the drill instructor barking orders at 1950s national service “erks”, the series drew on the writers’ own experiences (larbey had been in the army, and esmonde in the raf) .
alongside the good life on the bbc, esmonde and larbey had another itv hit, the raf sitcom get some in! (1975 - 78), featuring tony selby as the drill instructor corporal marsh barking orders at national service recruits in the 1950s and based on the writers' own experiences (larbey had been in the army) .
having decided that down to earth would be their last series together, esmonde and larbey went their separate ways. esmonde retired to the coastal village of la herradura, in the granada province of spain, and concentrated on writing novels .
i haven' t had one published yet, but being rejected makes me feel young again ,
he said .
bob larbey, who has died aged 79, co - wrote with his professional partner john esmonde some of britain’s most popular television sitcoms, most memorably the good life (1975 - 78) .
friends since childhood, john esmonde and bob larbey began writing comedy material together as a means of escape from the dull routine of their office jobs. four years of effort and rejection ensued, but by 1965 a number of their jokes and sketches began to appear on bbc radio shows .
, which ended in 1992. but in 1991 larbey teamed up with his old partner again for
bob larbey, one of britain' s most prolific sitcom writers, has died aged 79 .
the youngest son of a carpenter, robert edward john larbey was born on june 24 1934 in lambeth, south london, and educated at the henry thornton school in clapham, where he was captain of tennis and became friends with john esmonde, two years his junior .
after the good life larbey and esmonde went on to write three more sitcoms for richard briers, starting with the other one, which ran from 1977 to 1979. briers also starred in ever decreasing circles (1984 - 89) and down to earth (1995) .
in larbey and esmonde’s last series together, down to earth (1995), briers played tony fairfax, an expatriate struggling to adapt after returning to britain from south america; but once again viewers did not warm to his character, and it ran for just seven episodes .
esmonde and larbey' s last series together, again starring briers, was down to earth (1995). they tried to make his character of an expat readjusting to life in britain after many years in south america interesting, and failed; it evaporated after seven episodes .
john gilbert esmonde, television scriptwriter: born london 21 march 1937; married 1960 gina barton; died 10 august 2008 .
the 1970s show about a self - sufficient couple and their suburban neighbours was among a string of hits written with john esmonde, who died in 2008 .
the times accurately but incompletely eulogized larbey as the
king of the gentle sitcom .
the program for which larbey was best known was the good life, which he wrote with john esmonde during the 1970s. i never saw that program, but for me and millions of other americans, bob larbey was the sole writer of as time goes by, which ran on bbc one in england from 1992 to 2002. it still runs weekly in the us on pbs, and i still watch it .
bob larbey, who has died aged 79, was renowned as a television sitcom and screenplay writer with his professional partner john esmonde for 30 years: they wrote the good life (starring richard briers, felicity kendal, penelope keith and paul eddington as the surbiton neighbours) and a second briers vehicle, ever decreasing circles .
‘the good life’ sitcom co - writer bob larbey has passed away aged 79, his agent has confirmed .
ran for just one series. at this point the duo decided to take a break - from each other. esmonde went to spend time in spain while larbey bought a new home and, suddenly strapped with a hefty mortgage, found himself in need of some cash. the result was that bob larbey wrote his first solo project, and what' s more it proved to be a huge success .
above all, esmonde and larbey wrote funny lines. they had that precious knack of translating how they spoke and what they heard into comic dialogue and entertaining characters. they weren' t tom stoppard, and they weren' t alan ayckbourn (whose 1973 trilogy the norman conquests provided a template for the good life), but they were very good indeed .
many of larbey' s shows are still big hits in america. as time goes by, the sitcom starring judi dench and geoffrey palmer, which larbey wrote as a solo effort from 1992 to 2002, is still regularly repeated on pbs stations .
though esmonde was the younger by two years, the pair remained firm friends and, on leaving school, found jobs in the same firm of block - makers. esmonde did his national service in the raf, worked in the offices of a paint company and made a start in trade journalism, without much success .
the good life: volume five: the wind - break war: win... by esmonde, john cd - audio
how interesting it is that so much of our postwar television comedy writing originated from male professional couples with deep cultural ties and friendships: david croft and jimmy perry (dad' s army), dick clement and ian la frenais (the likely lads), ray galton and alan simpson (steptoe and son). esmonde and larbey met at school, remained friends all their lives and tried their luck in bbc radio comedy because they loved listening to it .
in between, esmonde and larbey enjoyed success with brush strokes (1986 - 91), starring karl howman as a womanising painter and decorator, and gary waldhorn as his boss. howman also took the title role in mulberry (1992 - 93), playing the manservant of the crotchety old spinster miss farnaby (geraldine mcewan) .
on his own, and with his long - time writing partner john esmonde, he was a near - permanent presence on british screens, from their early 1960s’ debut writing sketches for radio and television’s the dick emery show to the finale of larbey’s self - scripted, judi dench and geoffrey palmer vehicle as time goes by in 2005 .
after their even bigger success with the good life, larbey and esmonde created a string of comedy series which ran for varying lengths of time. they twice teamed up again with good life star richard briers, for five series of ever decreasing circles in the 1980s and one series of down to earth in 1995
he and school friend esmonde started out writing scripts for bbc radio shows, such as i' m sorry, i' ll read that again and contributing tv sketches to the dick emery show .
he teamed with esmonde again for television’s ever decreasing circles (1984 - 89), brush strokes (1986 - 91) and mulberry (1992 - 93) .
the good life: volume five: the wind - break war: wind - break war v. 5: urltoken bob larbey, john esmonde, felicity kendal, full cast, paul eddington, penelope keith, richard briers: 9781405688871: books
larbey and esmonde switched to a more traditional domestic setting for their other big success, the good life (1975 - 78), but gave it a twist by making one of the two featured middle - class couples self - sufficient, with allotments of fruit and vegetables, as well as chickens, pigs, a goat and a cockerel .
, briers plays tony fairfax, an oxford graduate who, upon leaving university, immediately goes to work as a cultural adviser in south america. but a military coup leaves him exiled and penniless and forced to return to a britain he barely recognises. it was to be john esmonde and bob larbey' s last collaboration. in 1995 esmonde and larbey decided to call their partnership quits. it was entirely amicable, due mainly to esmonde' s desire to spend more time in spain. he still lives there and concentrates on writing novels .
it was totally amicable .
says bob larbey of the split .
we were kind of headed in different directions in our personal lives. john had bought a house in spain, and wanted to cut down on the work and spend more time there - maybe spend six months here and six months in spain, which was fine by me. some years afterward john and i just came naturally to the end of our writing together. the last series we tried was a series called
i also really like on the up, which was bob larbey on his own. even better, a fine romance and as time goes by .
with his life - long friend john esmonde, he created classic comedy series including the good life, please sir! , ever decreasing circles, brush strokes and mulberry .
john esmonde, who has died at the age of 71, was half of a partnership with bob larbey, who together came up with popular series including please, sir! and the good life, but they were not established writers who had teamed up because that was the best modus operandi for sitcom - writing. they had known each other since childhood, having both been born and raised in south london - esmonde came from battersea - and been schoolboy mates at henry thornton grammar school in clapham .
bob worked with his old schoolfriend john esmonde, who passed away in 2008, throughout his career and their ‘70s creation ‘the good life’ was one of their most phenomenal successes .
so ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, i hope you will join me in saying a huge thank you to the one and only mr. bob larbey for everything he has given to the sitcom universe. thank sir, and may you rest in peace .
larbey was born in lambeth, south london, the son of a carpenter. he attended the henry thornton school, clapham, where esmonde was a friend – two years his junior – who shared his sense of humour. on leaving, larbey worked as a printing - block maker, then in an insurance office, before doing national service in the royal army educational corps in germany .
item 2 the good life: volume five: the wind - break war: win... by esmonde, john cd - audio -
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item 5 the good life: volume five: the wind - break war: win... by esmonde, john cd - audio -
by then, larbey and esmonde were comedy royalty, the zeitgeist - catching the good life having just ended its three - season run. however, their follow - up, the other one (1977 - 79), which also starred richard briers, was a surprising damp squib for the duo .
amiable and easy - going, larbey was at school with esmonde in south london just after the war. the pair sought escape from their humdrum jobs by spending their evenings and weekends writing comedy scripts. by the early 1960s they had enjoyed modest success with sketches for radio programmes such as i’m sorry, i’ll read that again and, for television, the dick emery show .
, a comedy which, as its title suggests, is about a policeman. the series lasted two seasons and in the process esmonde and larbey learned a lot about how to structure thirty minutes of comedy as opposed to the short skits they' d been doing. they also learned a lot about how to create well - rounded sitcom characters .
bob larbey, the co - writer of bbc sitcom the good life, has died aged 79, his agent has confirmed .
larbey’s longest - running solo sitcom was as time goes by (1992 - 2005), from an idea by colin bostock - smith. judi dench and geoffrey palmer played two old flames, jean and lionel, reunited after 38 years apart. as with a fine romance, larbey’s scripts shone with intelligence and poignancy. the sitcom also proved popular in the united states .
larbey was quintessentially experimental. he and esmonde were late bloomers. they began writing the good life when they were turning 40 :
it' s one of those' oh, god, what am i doing with my life times.'
when a producer first saw one of their scripts and was surprised by the absence of gags, larbey responded ,
we go for character. we can' t write jokes. never could .
larbey was never confident in his work :
i don' t have an inkling as to what will be a success: there is no magic formula .
the 1970s hit show about two neighbouring suburban couples was one of the prolific scriptwriter’s many successes with co - writer john esmonde, who died in 2008 .
the death of bob larbey last week received little if any attention on english television; it was overwhelmed by such trivial stories as the downfall of yet another sleazy politician, and the first foreign trip of a royal infant. bob larbey deserved better, because he was an artist who helped transform television .
larbey married patricia (trish) marshall, a scriptwriter for lwt, who died in 2006. he is survived by their son .
after the good life, larbey and esmonde wrote three further series for richard briers, starting with the other one (1977 - 79), in which the central character could not have been more different. perhaps because briers was cast as a compulsive and unscrupulous liar, the show failed to generate any of the affection viewers had felt for the wholesome goods, and it was cancelled after only two series .
starring tom bell, holly aird and eamon boland. the series ran for two seasons but was not seen as a great success. unlike larbey' s next solo project ,
larbey, who died on monday, was born in south london in 1934. he attended school in the area, which was where he first met esmonde. the pair began working together on comedy scripts and by the early 1960s they had enjoyed modest success with sketches for radio programmes such as i’m sorry, i’ll read that again and television shows including the dick emery show .
comedy writers and actors have paid tribute. writer and creator of reginald perrin, david nobbs said :
imagine if bob larbey had never been born. how much less rich british tv comedy would have been .
the good life, which the bbc accepted for production in 1975, featured richard briers and felicity kendal as a suburban couple resolved to practise self - sufficiency and live off the land without leaving surbiton, much to the scorn of their neighbours, played by paul eddington and penelope keith. again esmonde and larbey succeeded in sustaining genial life - like comedy without elaborate plot contrivances on the one hand or drifting into sitcharm, rather than sitcom, on the other .
just like any larbey (with or without esmonde) comedy, a fine romance boasts three dimensional characters that are charming at times, prone to flying off the handle (i’m thinking more of laura here), not afraid to show their emotion when things don’t go to plan and pumped with an infectious joy when the occasion calls for it .
after down to earth, the writers ended their partnership and esmonde retired to spain. larbey had already branched out on his own with a fine romance and on the up (1990 - 91), teaming dennis waterman’s self - made millionaire with the socially superior wife played by judy buxton, as well as writing the first four episodes (1991) of the darling buds of may .
bob larbey enjoyed 30 years as half of one of television’s most successful and prolific sitcom - writing partnerships. he and john esmonde had their first major hit with please sir! (1968 - 72), set in fenn street secondary modern school, with john alderton as bernard hedges, the fledgling teacher trying to keep order among the unruly pupils of class 5c, who call him “privet” .
between the good life and down to earth (their last series together) esmonde and larbey created nine further sitcoms. two of the most popular of these, brush strokes (bbc, 1986 - 91) and mulberry (bbc, 1992 - 93), starred karl howman (who had also appeared in get some in !) - as a womanising house painter in the former, and as an assistant to the grim reaper, albeit with a sentimental streak, in the latter .
robert edward john larbey was born on the 24th june 1934 in lambeth. he and esmonde met at the henry thornton school in clapham and, after national service in the army, the pair were soon writing comedy scripts together in their spare time. by the 1960s they had found jobs working on bbc radio, contributing to programmes such as i' m sorry, i' ll read that again .
on television, larbey and esmonde had already been writing sketches for the dick emery show when room at the bottom was given a try - out in the “comedy playhouse” slot in 1966. given the green light for a full series the following year, it featured kenneth connor leading a factory’s maintenance workers against deryck guyler’s personnel director – but it failed to catch on .
the co - writer of classic bbc sitcom the good life, bob larbey, has died at the age of 79, his agent has confirmed .
their neighbours are the henpecked jerry and margot leadbetter (paul eddington and penelope keith) .
larbey had no theatrical background, but his first stage play, a month of sundays, won the evening standard best comedy of the year award when it played at the duchess theatre in the west end in 1986, starring george cole. the play was set in a retirement home and won praise for its humour, delicacy and humane consideration of growing older, qualities evident in all of his, and esmonde' s, television writing, even the knockabout stuff .
when the good life was nearing its end, they wrote the other one (1977 - 79), again starring richard briers, this time with michael gambon, playing two loners dependent on each other' s friendship. despite esmonde and larbey' s fondness for it, viewers were not so enthusiastic, perhaps feeling uncomfortable with briers in the role of an unscrupulous character .
feet first (1979), just liz (1980) and don’t rock the boat (1982) were other turkeys, but now and then (1983 - 84), starring bernard holley, ran to two series. larbey and esmonde were on a roll again with brush strokes (1986 - 91), featuring karl howman as a womanising decorator. then, in mulberry (1992 - 93), howman starred as the manservant to geraldine mcewan’s crotchety old spinster .
on leaving school larbey took a job in an insurance office in soho, then did national service with the army, stationed in germany with the education corps .
as larbey celebrated his 40th birthday, he and esmonde devised their most popular and successful series, the good life. in the first episode, screened in 1975, tom good, a draughtsman for a plastics company (played by richard briers), himself turned 40, seizing this occasion to drop out of the rat - race by jacking in his job in favour of suburban self - sufficiency with his wife barbara (felicity kendal) .
john challis, boycie in only fools and horses, paid tribute :
first john sullivan & now bob larbey who wrote please sir, good life & ever decreasing circles. will anyone match them ?
larbey wrote as time goes by by himself, after esmonde' s retirement. most viewers would probably attribute the show' s success to superb ensemble acting, and the brilliance of judi dench in the lead role. but the unobtrusiveness of the scripts should not be taken for unimportance, as is often done with excellent experimental art. the actors themselves would never make this mistake. as geoffrey palmer, who starred opposite judi dench, concluded ,
you can find hundreds of actors, but you don' t get many writers like bob larbey .
having built up a rapport with briers on the good life, esmonde and larbey recombined with the actor on three further sitcoms: the underrated the other one (bbc, 1977 - 79), with briers and michael gambon as two loners dependent on each other' s friendship; ever decreasing circles (bbc, 1984 - 89), with briers as the know - it - all do - gooder of his suburban neighbourhood; and down to earth (bbc, 1995), in which briers played an expatriate returning to live in britain and finding his new situation strange and bewildering .
judi dench, british actress known for her numerous and varied stage roles and for her work in television and in a variety of films. …
this original idea evolved from the writers' own thoughts about turning 40 and they saw the urban setting, rather than a rural smallholding, as crucial .
placing them in the avenue, where a number of margos and jerrys lived up and down the road, not just next door, provided the abrasiveness ,
explained esmonde .
in the hit or miss world of tv comedy, everything starts with the script. in america, the most successful sitcom series have used vast armies of writers, but in britain it has traditionally been a one - or two - man (or very occasionally woman) operation, and the writers have often become household names, almost as much as the performers. examples include galton and simpson, carla lane, marks and gran, and richard curtis. one duo, however, produced consistently highly - rated and high - quality series for more than 20 years without gaining that same level of public adulation: john esmonde and bob larbey .
bob larbey died on monday 31st march 2014, aged 79. his comedy legacy includes beloved titles such as please sir! , ever decreasing circles, the good life, as time goes by, brush strokes, on the up, a fine romance, the other one, mulberry, get some in! and many more. his writing partner for many series, john esmonde, died in 2008 .
between these series, larbey went solo on a fine romance for dench and her husband michael williams, a four - series saga (1981 - 84) of on / off social intimacy with ups and downs and looming elderly parents played by the unforgettable duo of richard pearson and lally bowers. and he rallied to the great actor again with as time goes by (1992 - 2002, with
reunion
specials in 2005) as dench' s jean hardcastle re - animated a long lost affair with geoffrey palmer' s ex - army officer; her casual brilliance and comic timing in these larbey scripts undoubtedly led to her indian summer in british films and hollywood .
robert edward john larbey, writer: born london 24 june 1934; married 1973 patricia marshall (died 2006; one son); died london 31 march 2014 .
actress jackie lye, who played sandra the secretary, described how larbey would write extra scenes for the show if their script read - through came in under time .
they were both south london boys. larbey was the youngest son of a carpenter who attended the henry thornton grammar school in clapham where he met esmonde, two years his junior, and was captain of cricket. he worked as a printing - block maker, then in an insurance office in soho, and did his national service with the education corps in germany. three years of after - hours writing with esmonde yielded a bbc joint fee of two guineas in 1965. sketches for the comedian dick emery led to their first radio sitcom, spare a copper, starring kenneth connor (of carry on films fame) as a hopeless policeman and, in 1969, just perfick, adapted from he bates' s stories about the larkin family; 20 years later, larbey dramatised the first television series adapted from the same source, the darling buds of may .
all four of the leads from the good life went on to their own series, and deservedly so. kendal starred in carla lane' s solo alongside stephen moore 3. eddington saw his finest hour in lynn and jay' s yes minister and later yes, prime minister, reputed to be margaret thatcher' s favourite tv programme. keith took her snobbish persona even further upmarket as audrey fforbes - hamilton in peter spence' s to the manor born. only briers, however, had a follow - up also from the esmonde and larbey stable .
i don' t know how many co - authored books are genuine collaborations. certainly it' s possible to write as a partnership (galton & simpson, larbey & esmonde, perry & croft) but those are from tv where you can easily divide up the scenes; it' s harder with a novel. jamie and i co - plot the dirk lloyd and starship captain books, and leo has input into the storyline for mirabilis, but the bulk of the writing is just done by one person .
the two writers continued to work together, meeting daily in a rented office in dorking, surrey, midway between their homes, larbey still in london, esmonde now settled on the sussex coast. success continued to come their way, notably with get some in! (thames, 1975 - 78), which drew on their national service days in the 50s .
larbey struck out on his own with a fine romance (1981 - 84), starring judi dench in her first television sitcom, alongside her real - life husband, michael williams. “from first to last, ” one critic noted, “bob larbey’s scripts were well - written, providing not only laughs but also an underlying intelligence. ”
reunited larbey with judy dench. the idea for the series was brought to larbey by the theatre of comedy production company and they asked him to see what he could do with it. the premise - of two former lovers reuniting after almost forty years - was right up larbey' s street and the dream casting of judi dench as jean pargetter and geoffrey palmer turned the show into a hit on both sides of the atlantic enjoying considerable success in the usa. for the first few seasons, the plot revolved around whether or not lionel and jean would get back together .
you can do just so much with two people sort of dancing around each other - and the audience knowing that the outcome was going to be a happy one .
said larbey .
i think the reason that i went on was that they were all so good in it and enjoyed it, and i liked the characters that i' d written. it was a happy time, and we said let' s go on, let' s make it a character comedy .
the show concluded in 2002 with the wedding of judith and alistair .
other series followed, including just perfick (1969), from the larkins stories by he bates, which would not reach the tv screen as the darling buds of may for another 22 years, and then not written by esmonde and larbey. they made their television debut in 1967 with room at the bottom (for the bbc), a cheery low - life series about a crew of maintenance workers - the title was a playful twist on john braine' s hugely popular novel and movie, room at the top .
the pair first met at grammar school in clapham, where larbey was three years ahead of esmonde. in spite of the age difference the two shared a school trip to switzerland where they discovered that they shared a similar sense of humour, and it was based on this that they forged their long - lasting friendship. after military service they drifted back into a humdrum civilian life and took mundane, unfulfilling jobs just to make ends meet. they would often meet up for lunch and complain about their dead - end jobs and dream of forging a better way to make a living .
he rejoined esmonde to create another popular and long - running vehicle for richard briers in ever decreasing circles (1984 - 89), in which the star returned to suburbia as martin bryce, an anally - retentive fusspot and do - gooder, with penelope wilton as his long - suffering wife, ann .
when the writers john esmonde and bob larbey came up with the idea for the good life, they were looking for a vehicle for briers, who’d just turned 40. he was well established but not quite famous — the other three actors even less so. felicity kendal and penelope keith were cast on the strength of their performances in an ayckbourn play. paul eddington was a ‘first eleven light - comedy actor’ (as briers put it) but he was hardly a household name. in the opening credits, briers’s name was above the title, the other three were below it. briers’s tom good was the lead; kendal was ensured a decent role as his wife, barbara, but jerry and margo leadbetter were initially conceived as supporting characters. however, paul eddington and penelope keith were so good that after the first few episodes, briers implored esmonde and larbey to write them up. the two writers needed no prompting. the good life became a quartet — a comedy of manners with a surprising political subtext .
the idea came to larbey when he was approaching his 40th birthday and recognised it as a time for people to reassess their lives – what has been and what might follow. he and esmonde had been asked to find a vehicle for richard briers, so they cast him as tom good, who gives up his job as a draughtsman at a company making plastic toys for cereal packets to go self - sufficient with his wife, barbara (felicity kendal), at their house in surbiton. the goods’ antics test to the limits their friendship with neighbours jerry leadbetter and his toffee - nosed wife, margo (paul eddington and penelope keith) .
larbey and his wife, trish marshall, moved from london to a thatched cottage in the surrey village of ockley in 1989 and promptly got involved with the local amateurs, the ockley drama society. though larbey never repeated the success of a month of sundays, his theatre output continued and is often revived in repertory theatres and amateur companies around the world: a small affair (1990) charts the romantic perils of tv rehearsal rooms; building blocks (1992) was written from the heart about family traumas during a domestic building extension; and sand castles (2001) is a seaside comedy of beach - hut politics .
bob larbey has also had several solo projects worthy of note over the years - he wrote the screenplays for some episodes of the darling buds of may, and had individual sitcom successes with a fine romance, in which judi dench and her real - life husband michael williams starred as a middle - aged couple with an on - off relationship. in larbey' s as time goes by, judi dench stars again, this time opposite geoffrey palmer. a mature couple who had fallen in love during the war, but were separated by circumstance, are reunited when lionel (palmer) retires back to england after a lifetime growing coffee in kenya. as time goes by is still running, and has become an enduring worldwide success - including a successful debut season on pbs in the usa in 2000 - thanks to its gentle, mature intelligence. however, it is surely for his work with esmonde that larbey will be most fondly remembered .
larbey trod his own path with a fine romance (1981 - 84), which starred judi dench in her first ever television sitcom, alongside her real - life husband, michael williams .
in 30 years as half of a writing duo with bob larbey, john esmonde shared in creating more than a dozen television sitcoms. the most popular was the good life (1975 - 78), which went beyond the bland, archetypal domestic setting of many such programmes by adding the twist of its leading characters opting out of the rat race to seek self - sufficiency in their middle - class, suburban home .
by then, esmonde and larbey had established themselves in television, having begun with sketches for the dick emery show, which started in 1963. they landed their own series with room at the bottom (1967), which followed a bbc
comedy playhouse
pilot the previous year. set among the maintenance workers at saracens manufacturing company, the comedy revolved around the confrontations between their leader, gus fogg (kenneth connor), and the company' s personnel director (deryck guyler), but it did not prove a success .
unlike the relatively abrasive comedy to be found in these series (the writers' get some in! (itv, 1975 - 78), based around the experiences of national servicemen in the 1950s, can also be bracketed among this group), the comedy of esmonde and larbey is popularly characterised as being good humoured, gentle and tasteful, populated by characters that generally match the same description. no series better embodies these characteristics than the one that saw their return to the bbc, the good life (1975 - 78) .
on demob, he had a job at a foundry while esmonde was a journalist. in their spare time, the pair submitted comedy sketches to the bbc. eventually, one was accepted for a radio programme that included cyril fletcher – and they jointly earned two guineas (£2. 10) .
larbey also enjoyed great success with his solo projects, which included writing the screenplays for the first four episodes of the darling buds of may from a novel by h. e. bates. it was a massive ratings hit for itv and provided sir david jason with his first major success away from only fools and horses .
. drawing on personal experience yet again, esmonde and larbey remembered the days when they were stuck in a dead - end job with few prospects to escape the hum - drum of everyday life .
i think it was a good idea .
said bob larbey in an interview .
we started with the premise of somebody reaching his fortieth birthday. people think of it as one of those milestone ages, the
oh, god, what have i done with my life? what do i do about it ?
that was the premise. in their original draft tom good was going to build a yacht and sail around the world, but they then hit on a subject that was far more trendy at that time .
we added the self - sufficiency, which seemed a good idea. it started slowly - - bad reviews and low audiences, and then somewhere in the second series it just took off and flew. and it sort of passed into legend for some reason .
when he and esmonde started writing sketches, working together at nights and weekends, they submitted a few to the bbc, which eventually accepted one for a programme starring the comedian cyril fletcher, earning them a joint fee of two guineas. having saved money from their day jobs, they gave themselves three months to make a go of writing full - time .
, briers played the awful martin bryce, an anally retentive, interfering control freak who tries the patience of all his neighbours and acquaintances but non more so than his long suffering wife, anne. penelope wilton starred alongside briers as his wife and peter egan was the next door neighbour who anne should have run off with - but never did. martin wants to help his community and in his zeal heads up about every conceivable local committee. yet his singular focus on doing good causes martin to become an incredible bore. when anne wants to go to see a famed pianist martin prefers his meetings. anne may not have heard her music but the series hit the right notes with the british public and it stayed on bbc for four series and a 80 - minute special. but esmonde and larbey were not finished with successful sitcoms yet, and had another hit in 1986 with
before the good life ended, larbey and esmonde wrote the first of three more series for richard briers. the other one (1977 - 79), featuring him as a compulsive liar, was not popular, but the role of do - gooder martin bryce, with penelope wilton as his wife, in ever decreasing circles (1984 - 9), had writers and star back on track. later came down to earth (1995), but briers’s unsympathetic character, an expatriate struggling to adapt after returning to britain from south america, was again shunned by viewers .
their breakthrough came with the idea for a radio sitcom, spare a copper (1965 - 66), featuring the carry on film star kenneth connor as a bungling policeman – and enabled them to become full - time writers, although at times esmonde was kept afloat only by his wife gina' s job selling books in offices and door - to - door .
get some in! didn' t set the world alight, but it achieved respectable popularity and a five - series run, even surviving lindsay' s departure to star in john sullivan' s citizen smith, in which he once again played a loudmouth called smith with a sidekick called ken. it was, however, another esmonde and larbey creation from the same period which was to guarantee their place in the comedy firmament, taking them to the bbc and its middle - class world from the more working - class situations of itv. the series that launched a million daydreams about felicity kendal' s bottom was the good life .
one of the reasons the series passed into legend as larbey puts it is thanks to a brilliant ensemble cast of richard briers, felicity kendal, penelope keith and paul eddington. the show may have been intended as a starring vehicle for briers, but it was penelope keith who was soon taking all the plaudits .
margo (played by penelope keith) became hugely popular as a character .
said larbey .
it was always intended as a foursome, because you needed that. the goods were perfectly funny on their own and while we needed other strong characters, margo just grew and grew.
john gilbert esmonde ( 21 march 1937 – 10 august 2008 ) and robert edward " bob " larbey ( 24 june 1934 – 31 march 2014 ) , better known as esmonde and larbey , were a successful british television comedy scriptwriting duo from the 1960s to the 1990s , creating popular sitcoms and hit comedy shows , such as please sir ! ( 1968 – 72 ) , the good life ( 1975 – 78 ) , get some in ! ( 1975 – 78 ) , ever decreasing circles ( 1984-89 ) and brush strokes ( 1986 – 91 ) . 
john gilbert esmonde (21 march 1937 – 10 august 2008) and robert edward " bob " larbey (24 june 1934 – 31 march 2014), better known as esmonde and larbey, were a successful british television comedy scriptwriting duo from the 1960s to the 1990s, creating popular sitcoms and hit comedy shows, such as please sir! ( 1968 – 72), the good life (1975 – 78), get some in! ( 1975 – 78), ever decreasing circles (1984-89) and brush strokes (1986 – 91).
john gilbert esmonde (21 march 1937 – 10 august 2008) and robert edward " bob " larbey (24 june 1934 – 31 march 2014), better known as esmonde and larbey, were a successful british television comedy scriptwriting duo from the 1960s to the 1990s, creating popular sitcoms and hit comedy shows, such as please sir! ( 1968 – 72), the good life (1975 – 78), get some in! ( 1975 – 78), ever decreasing circles (1984-89) and brush strokes (1986 – 91).