History Series / LoveThyNeighbour

''Love Thy Neighbour'' was a [[BritCom British sitcom]] which ran from 1972 to 1976, with [[BritishBrevity seven series]] in total. The sitcom was produced by Thames Television for the Creator/{{ITV}} network. The principal cast were actors Creator/JackSmethurst, Creator/RudolphWalker, Creator/NinaBadenSemper, and Creator/KateWilliams. In 1973, the series was adapted into a film of the same name, and a later sequel series was set in Australia. It came in at no. 68 in a popular vote for [[Series/BritainsBestSitcom Britain's Favourite Sitcom]].

''Love Thy Neighbour'' was a [[BritCom British sitcom]] which ran from 1972 to 1976, with [[BritishBrevity seven series]] in total. The sitcom was produced by Thames Television for the Creator/{{ITV}} network. The principal cast were actors Creator/JackSmethurst, Creator/RudolphWalker, Creator/NinaBadenSemper and Creator/KateWilliams. In 1973, the series was adapted into a film of the same name, and a later sequel series was set in Australia. It came in at no. 68 in a popular vote for [[Series/BritainsBestSitcom Britain's Favourite Sitcom]].

Written by Vince Powell and Harry Driver, the show was based around a suburban white working class couple in Twickenham, London[[note]] the Booths are from [[OopNorth Northern England]] and speak with Manchester accents, as do a good proportion of their workmates: this is probably a deliberate attempt to give the show an Anywhere, UK feel[[/note]], attempting to come to terms with having a black couple as next-door neighbours. ''Love Thy Neighbour'' was hugely popular at the time of its broadcast and remains popular on archive channels and Net outlets such as Website/YouTube. It should be seen as a product of its times, TheSeventies being an era in which post-Imperial Britain struggled to come to terms with its recently arrived population of black immigrants; ''Love Thy Neighbour'' exemplified this struggle. It aroused great controversy for many of the same reasons as the earlier ''Series/TillDeathUsDoPart'' had done. The appalling bigot Eddie Booth could well be seen as Creator/{{ITV}}'s answer to Alf Garnett, a southern Englishman cut from the same cloth.

Written by Vince Powell and Harry Driver, the show was based around a suburban white working class couple in Twickenham, London[[note]] the Booths are from [[OopNorth Northern England]] and speak with Manchester accents, as do a good proportion of their workmates: this is probably a deliberate attempt to give the show an Anywhere, UK feel[[/note]], attempting to come to terms with having a black couple as next-door neighbours. ''Love Thy Neighbour'' was hugely popular at the time of its broadcast and remains popular on archive channels and Net outlets such as Website/YouTube. It should be seen as a product of its times, TheSeventies being an era in which Britain struggled to come to terms with its recently arrived population of black immigrants; ''Love Thy Neighbour'' exemplified this struggle. It aroused great controversy for many of the same reasons as the earlier ''Series/TillDeathUsDoPart'' had done. The appalling bigot Eddie Booth could well be seen as Creator/{{ITV}}'s answer to Alf Garnett, a southern Englishman cut from the same cloth.

Retrospective opinion is beginning to slightly warm to this show, after its time as the butt of jokes during the 80s and 90s[[note]]Series/TheDayToday did an obvious parody of it in one episode, and it ended up being lumped in with gratuitously un-PC comics like Bernard Manning and Jim Davidson by most of the 1980s alternative comedy set - not without reason[[/note]], and there is grudging acknowledgement that - in some respects - it was intelligently funny, and that as with ''Till Death Us Do Part'', the ignorant racist was the ButtMonkey who always came off worst. Examples exist on Website/YouTube if you really want to judge for yourself.

''Love Thy Neighbour'' was a [[BritCom British sitcom]] which ran from 1972 to 1976, with [[BritishBrevity seven series]] in total. The sitcom was produced by Thames Television for the Creator/{{ITV}} network. The principal cast were actors Creator/JackSmethurst, Creator/RudolphWalker, Nina Baden-Semper and Creator/KateWilliams. In 1973, the series was adapted into a film of the same name, and a later sequel series was set in Australia. It came in at no. 68 in a popular vote for [[Series/BritainsBestSitcom Britain's Favourite Sitcom]].

''Love Thy Neighbour'' was a [[BritCom British sitcom]] which ran from 1972 to 1976, with [[BritishBrevity seven series]] in total. The sitcom was produced by Thames Television for the Creator/{{ITV}} network. The principal cast were actors Creator/JackSmethurst, Creator/RudolphWalker, Nina Baden-Semper and Kate Williams. In 1973, the series was adapted into a film of the same name, and a later sequel series was set in Australia. It came in at no. 68 in a popular vote for [[Series/BritainsBestSitcom Britain's Favourite Sitcom]].

* SheCleansUpNicely: The normally dowdy Joan Booth is allowed a moment of glamour in Eddie's nightmare scene about being stranded on a desert island where Bill is the all-powerful native king. She looks like Mitzi Gaynor or Mary Martin in ''Theatre/SouthPacific'' and the viewer is reminded that Kate Williams was really quite attractive and was only ''playing'' a downtrodden frump. Who still, in the dream, scorns Eddie to run to Bill.

* StandardizedSitcomHousing: The Booths and the Reynoldses live in two halves of a Type Two semi-detached, seperated physically by garden fences and a dividing wall. As noted on the page, the houses in which British sitcom characters live are visual shorthand for their social class and aspirations. The Reynoldses aspire to better; the Booths are gloomily aware this is probably the best they'll ever get. This is apparent in the upkeep and decor: gloomy, shabby and slightly neglected for the Booths, sunny and well-tended for the Reynoldses.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Over the course of the seven series, the unspoken realisation sets in that Bill and Eddie might well class as this. Although both would die rather than admit it, and they keep the vitriol going out of habit and principle. It verges on WhiteDudeBlackDude at times.

''Love Thy Neighbour'' was a [[BritCom British sitcom]] which ran from 1972 to 1976, with [[BritishBrevity seven series]] in total. The sitcom was produced by Thames Television for the Creator/{{ITV}} network. The principal cast were actors Creator/JackSmethurst, Rudolph Walker, Nina Baden-Semper and Kate Williams. In 1973, the series was adapted into a film of the same name, and a later sequel series was set in Australia. It came in at no. 68 in a popular vote for [[Series/BritainsBestSitcom Britain's Favourite Sitcom]].

''Love Thy Neighbour'' was a [[BritCom British sitcom]] which ran from 1972 to 1976, with [[BritishBrevity seven series]] in total. The sitcom was produced by Thames Television for the Creator/{{ITV}} network. The principal cast were actors Jack Smethurst, Rudolph Walker, Nina Baden-Semper and Kate Williams. In 1973, the series was adapted into a film of the same name, and a later sequel series was set in Australia. It came in at no. 68 in a popular vote for [[Series/BritainsBestSitcom Britain's Favourite Sitcom]].

Retrospective opinion is beginning to be kind to this show and acknowledges that it was in some respects intelligently funny and like ''Till Death Us Do Part'', the ignorant racist was the ButtMonkey who always came off worst. Examples exist on Website/YouTube if you want to judge for yourself.

* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Bill (in reality happily married to Barbie) plays up to this stereotype and takes it UpToEleven just to spook Eddie.

''Love Thy Neighbour'' was a [[BritCom British sitcom]], which was transmitted from 1972 to 1976, with [[BritishBrevity seven series]] in total. The sitcom was produced by Thames Television for the Creator/{{ITV}} network. The principal cast were actors Jack Smethurst, Rudolph Walker, Nina Baden-Semper and Kate Williams. In 1973, the series was adapted into a film of the same name, and a later sequel series was set in Australia. It came in at no. 68 in a popular vote for [[Series/BritainsBestSitcom Britain's Favourite Sitcom]].

** Eddie: "Bloody Nora!", "Knickers!", "The subject is closed", "You bloody nig-nog!" and "Get knotted!"
** Bill: "Hey, honky!", "Cobblers!" and "You talking to me, snowflake?"
** Joan: "Don't be ridiculous!", "Don't talk rubbish!", and "May God forgive ya!"

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: Often invoked by fans of the show who fail to grasp the essential point that in this case, the "politically correct" MoralGuardians might just have a point.

Retrospective opinion is beginning to be kind to this show and acknowledges that while it can never be shown again or even remade, it was in some respects intelligently funny and like ''Till Death Us Do Part'', the ignorant racist was the ButtMonkey who always came off worst. Examples exist on Website/YouTube if you want to judge for yourself.

* SpinOff: ''Love Thy Neighbour in Australia'' was made in 1979, three years after the British series ended. Consisting of seven episodes, the series saw the character Eddie Booth transplanted to the Sydney suburb of Blacktown. The explanation given for the absence of Eddie's wife and child is Eddie has emigrated first and the family will join him after he has established himself. The antagonism between Eddie and Bill was replaced by the difficulty of Eddie adapting to Australia.

-->Theme tune, not performed by Creator/BingCrosby.