The Good Life co-writer dies

[Russell]

The co-writer of classic BBC sitcom The Good Life, Bob Larbey, has died at the age of 79, his agent has confirmed.The writers' other big hit in the 1980s - also running for five series - was Brush Strokes, which chronicled the adventures of ladies' man and house painter Jacko, played by Karl Howman.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.

He also penned two hugely significant TV roles for Dame Judi Dench. First the future Oscar-winner appeared alongside her husband Michael Williams in A Fine Romance from 1981 to 1984.Then she starred opposite Geoffrey Palmer in As Time Goes By, which ran for nine series and a couple of reunion specials between 1992 and 2005.