'Love Thy Neighbour' has become a byword for all that was bad about British television comedy of the '70's. When B.B.C.-2 screened 'I Love 1972' in 2000 ( as part of its ongoing 'I Love The '70's' series ), presenter David Cassidy prefaced an item on the show with the words: "Watch...and cringe!". Viewers were being instructed to hate the show before they had seen so much as a clip. I think its sad that 'Neighbour' has been so misunderstood. People who were not even alive in the '70's will tell you with absolute authority that it was 'racist' and 'should never be shown again'. How many of them have actually seen an episode?
'Neighbour' was about a racist - Eddie Booth - but it was no more an endorsement of his ridiculous views than 'Fawlty Towers' a televisual guidebook on hotel management. It was written and created by Vince Powell and Harry Driver ( then by Powell alone following Driver's death ). It drew heavily on an earlier show they created - A.T.V.'s 'George & The Dragon' which starred Sid James and Peggy Mount as warring domestic staff. The writers decided to replicate the formula, but added a new ( potentially explosive ) ingredient - racial tension. Eddie ( Jack Smethurst ) and Joan Booth ( Kate Williams ) live in Maple Terrace, Twickenham - he is a chain-smoking, beer-swilling slob, she an overworked housewife. Into the house next door move a young, upwardly mobile black couple, Bill ( Rudolph Walker ) and Barbie Reynolds ( Nina Baden-Semper ). Immediately there is conflict. Bill gets a job at the same factory Eddie works in, and joins the same Social Club. In addition to the childish name calling, there is also rivalry going on. In one episode, Bill buys a car, so Eddie follows suit. When Eddie tries to purchase a bedroom suite, Bill also wants it. Their hatred formed the core of the comedy.
Occasionally, they were seen drifting towards friendship ( such as the episode where they went out on a double date with two local girls ), but something always happened to restore the natural balance. There would have been no show otherwise.
'Neighbour' was a smash hit, running to seven seasons, a movie version, and a stage play. Australia even made a spin-off featuring Eddie starting a new life Down Under.
Jack Smethurst was superb as 'Booth', a walking contradiction of a man who purports to be socialistic, yet his attitudes are pure Enoch Powell. Likewise Rudolph Walker made 'Bill' sympathetic. Kate Williams replaced Gwendolyn Watts as 'Joan', and her rows with Eddie were often the best part of the show. Nina Baden-Semper's 'Barbie' complemented the cast perfectly ( she even recorded a vocal version of the title theme! ). Also popular in their own right were Eddie's drinking pals 'Arthur' ( the late Tommy Godfrey ) and the slow thinking 'Jacko' ( Keith Marsh ), whose catchphrase 'I'll have 'arf!' caught the public imagination.
The show became a victim of the Political Correctness trend, meaning it has not had the repeats it deserves. Thankfully, it is all out on D.V.D. so we can make our own minds up. I used to live in a neighbourhood where there were many West Indian families, and you should have heard the laughter coming out of their houses when the show was on. Before condemning it outright, critics should take the trouble to watch it and see who comes out on top every week. It certainly isn't Eddie. If anyone was foolish enough to laugh along with him, that was their fault, not the show's.
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