mydailybet This is far from being racist and I remember this series as an adolescent in Sydney Australia. It was such a popular show it was discussed in school and role plays created. I would love to see something like this now with a typical Muslim family and white Christian family. Something that is in your face and not politically correct. This type of shows destroys the myths that keep people apart in the first place.Look at the problems around the world now because people are afraid of what they do not understand.This was a great show and a great message.Most of these PC fools are worse than Nazis.

sprinkle89 I recently began watching this series at school for media. Though it is hard to watch this from a modern (2007) point of view, you have to remember that lots of things that we see as being politically and socially incorrect for this day and age, taken back 30 years, would have been considered the norm. Eddie Booth, the predominant white male, is a comical representation of the (then) typical, white union member. Joan Booth is the typical white housewife, bending to her husband's every need by having dinner on the table when he gets home and having the house tidy. (Remember this was before the Feminist movement in the UK.) Bill Reynolds, the predominant black male, is a representation of the incoming black community of the early 1970's. Barbie Reynolds is very much seen in the same way as Joan, as a typical housewife, though is presented as being more sexual that Joan, who sees sex as being a chore every Wednesday and Saturday night. I originally had a problem watching this series because of all the racist slurs etc. but then, I took a step back and instead of watching it from a 2007 p.o.v, watched it as though I was living in the time. After you realise that, in the early 70's this would not have been seen as racist, it was just showing the dominant social value of the time, this programme is much more enjoyable...Even if you do eventually have to do an exam on it...

ShadeGrenade '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.

kliq316 A controversial, yet classic sitcom from the 70's. Based around the lives of Eddie (the proud British unionist), his wife Joan, Bill (the proud black ethnic tory)and his lovely wife Barbie. Often stereotyped by those who have never really watched the series as 'racist', Love Thy Neighbour was far removed from such a stereotype. Looking at the lighter side of the attitudes at the time, Eddie's and Bill's disagreements were perfectly balanced with friendship (who could forget the episode when Eddie drags Bill out on the town?!).Eddie and Bill's characters are presented as equals, and both have different views on life (whether it'd be labour, tory, or black power!) but more often than not, when they argue and bicker, both come out looking as bad as each other. Anybody faulting Love Thy Neigbhour for it's views should take a closer look at the series first. A show that positioned Bill (Rudolph Walker) in such a prominant powerful role, and presented him as such a strong upstanding character was way ahead of it's time (when other shows were still presenting ethnic minorities as 'comedy' characters).