Risky drinking is a growing problem among those in their fifties, sixties and seventies, and the public health implications are often under-estimated

When you think about a problem drinker, the image that comes to mind probably isn’t Tom or Barbara from 70s British sitcom The Good Life – or indeed their snobbish neighbours Margo and Jerry. Yet the Goods and the Leadbetters were constantly reaching for the gin and tonic or heading to the pub for a pint, and who could forget the Christmas 1977 episode where all four got sloshed on home-made peapod burgundy?