Plough Your Own Furrow

I used to visit the type of office block where Tom Good (Richard Briers) and Jerry Leadbeatter (Paul Eddington) worked in the late 1990s.

It was an absolute horrid place especially in the summer as itb had no air conditioning and opening the windows meant the noise of outside traffic.

The kind of office built in the 1960s and only fit for that decade.

No wonder Tom, a draughtsman who has just turned 40 and realises that his life is stuck in a rut.

Jerry has gone up the corporate ladder and admits he has done it through brownnosing rather than talent. Tom cannot keep a straight face when his boss speaks of his brand new idea. Toy giraffes for breakfast cereal packets.

The first episode sets up Tom's frustration and boredom. Everyone in his office is younger than him and get on life without him such as playing in the office cricket team.

Jerry who joined the firm at the same time as Tom is going upwards.

It leaves Tom with a decision to make. Opt out of the corporate rat race. Luckily wife Barbara (Felicity Kendal) is up for the idea of self sufficiency. The Goods will grown their own food and turn their house into a mini farm.

There is no getting away this is a middle class sitcom even though it tries to be daring and groundbreaking. Jerry drives a Volvo automatic. Tom might be 40, he has a big house and has already paid off his mortgage.

Paying off your mortgage before 40, something most of has can only dream about. So it really is fantasy and Tom is married to Felicity Kendal. What more proof do you need!

Tom and Barbara Good reach a decision on his fortieth Birthday, to escape the rate race, and become self sufficient.......in Surbiton.

It is a legendary comedy, one I've not seen for many years. It gets off to a cracking start, this first episode gives us a few laughs, sets the tone, and basically gives us the purpose of Tom and Barbara, and their mission for the next four years.

Plenty of laughs, now that I am forty I get the early jokes a whole lot more than I did watching this in my younger years. He's had enough, he can see his life unfolding in front of him, and he wants a change.

We hear Margot, but don't get to see her, she will become a vital part.

A glorious start, 9/10.