Love Thy Neighbour

This excellent, cleverly written sitcom was first aired when I was 6 & even as a child I adored it. Sadly it has been panned by accusations of racism, over the years, mostly by (I feel) people who have never really watched it or even understood it. Here we have Eddie (Jack Smethurst) who is a white British, progressive, socialist, he is bigoted & rather dim, & most of the comedy is from the stupidity of his character. Bill (Rudolph Walker) is an educated black conservative who moved next door with his beautiful wife Barbie, who Eddie actually lusts after. Eddie's long suffering wife is Joan puts up with him, however she is good friends with Barbie & between the three (Bill, Barbie & Joan) they often set Eddie up to expose his bigoted attitude & narrow mindedness, with some comedy gold situations. The thing I think people need to remember with this, it was quite ground breaking for it's time, (early 70's) when there were very few black people on British TV, yet this show has a surprizingly lovely level of diversity with many other black characters & Rudolph Walker went on to become one of Britian best loved character actors starring in TV & film, & he ha always defended his starring in "Love Thy Neighbour" saying... "These days we can't take the p**s out of each other & just have a laugh" (2003)

Yes there are racial slurrs on both sides, with sayings like "white honkey" & "sambo" but this IS a SITCOM, & not a detailed social study into critical race theory & white fragillity! & lets face it no one uses these words today & the whole point of this sitcom is just having a laugh at Bill & Eddies antics of one up-man-ship which always gives Bills character the upper hand. This funny series is certainly worth another look with eyes that are not clouded by cultural Marxism & though a lens of non discrimination & just enjoy. At the end of the first ever episode (not the pilot) we laugh at Eddie when he says he wants to move. Joan his wife asks why, is it because Bill is black, Eddie retorts "It's not that he is black. He's a BLOODY CONSERVATIVE!

I think with the previeling globalist socialist attitudes today which obviously lean left, they really don't like this series because the series pokes fun at white progressive "Eddie" who is a dim witted socialist, rather than being racist. This is the REAL reason.

This is a simply comedy from a more innocent time & it deserves to be enjoyed, again!

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.

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).

Remembering this as a kid, I seem to recall finding it very funny with strong characters and a memorable them tune. From an age when situation comedy was far funnier than its modern counterparts.

Listening to people talking about it today, you would think it was racist - the main complaint that you laughed with Eddie Booth rather than at him. However, i always remember his black neighbour coming out on top most of the time. So I'm not so sure it really did reinforce those stereotypes. At least it was a depiction of how some white working class people felt at the time.

Maybe it was a little over the top and certainly wouldn't be shown in our present PC times. But you've got to take it as a period piece. For me it was very memorable and at least broke one mould for me in having the first black actress I fancied in the shape of Nina- Bade Semper - She was gorgeous.

It would be interesting to see a couple of episodes again to see if it really was that offensive and perhaps to gauge how we have moved on as regards to race relations.

A fun enjoyable comedy, good for forgetting your troubles to. It has a bad reputation these days as a racist show. And it's true that racial tension is the main theme, and racist slurs are often used.

However, this is not a show that a white supremacist would write. A black guy (Bill) and a white guy (Eddie) have petty conflicts, and Bill usually wins. The white guy in most episodes makes a total idiot of himself.

Neither do they really hate each other. One episode has Eddie dance naked round a tree to release a voodoo curse he believes he's put on Bill. It's basically macho posturing between the two guys which leads to them falling out and making.

So while it does have racist language, its underlying message is far more "woke" than is often imagined. It never punches down at the black characters. And it's genuinely funny.