Doctor In The House (TV series)
From Freepedia
Doctor in the House was a British television comedy series produced by London Weekend Television from 1969-1970. It spawned the longer-running sequel Doctor at Large with many of the same characters. It was based on a series of books and a movie of the same name by Richard Gordon. The show was widely syndicated in North America.
The plot revolved around the trials of medical students at St Swithin's hospital in London, England. Unlike the United States, British doctors study medicine at the undergraduate level, so the characters were new to independent living and university life. The major protagonists were:
- Michael Upton (Barry Evans) - An easy-going, serious and somewhat anxious son of a doctor who is essentially following in his father's footsteps.
- Duncan Waring (Robin Nedwell) - Michael's best friend and roommate, who although just as bright was far less serious in his studies, although he generally did well.
- Paul Collier (George Layton) - A less competent student who was a friend of Upton and Waring.
- Dick Stuart-Clark (Geoffrey Davies) - A thirtyish student who consistently failed his courses in order to take advantage of his late aunt's will that bequeathed him a large sum of money for every year he was in medical school.
- Lawrence Bingham (Richard O'Sullivan) - A brilliant, but arrogant and irritating doctor who was of the opinion that he was the best of all possible doctors.
The main antagonist was the famous, well-respected and ill-tempered surgeon Professor Geoffrey Loftus (Ernest Clark). Most of the plot lines revolved around the students' attempts to meet Professor Loftus's demanding expectations.
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Sequel series
The sequel series were syndicated to the United States under the title of the first series, Doctor in the House. The sequel series were as follows:
- Doctor at Large
- Doctor in Charge
- Doctor at Sea
- Doctor on the Go
- Doctor Down Under (filmed in Australia)
- Doctor at the Top (made by the BBC)
The authors of the TV series
The Doctor in the House series is well known for the writing work of Graham Chapman and John Cleese, who would both later go on to become writer/performer members of Monty Python. The series is also well known for the writing work of Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, who would both later go on to become writer/performer members of The Goodies. Both of these two writing teams featured genuine medical doctors - Graham Chapman (in the co-writing team of Graham Chapman and John Cleese), and Graeme Garden (in the co-writing team of Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie). Graeme Garden also appeared as a Television Presenter in the episode Doctor on the Box.
Other writers of episodes for the TV series included Barry Cryer, Bernard McKenna and Douglas Adams.
See also
External links
- Doctor in the House BBC Comedy Guide
- Doctor in the House British TV Comedy Guide
- Doctor in the House Epguides Episode Guide
