Doctor in the House is a British television comedy series based on a set of books and a movie of the same name by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of medical students. It was produced by London Weekend Television from 1969 to 1970 and spawned numerous sequels with many of the same characters, which ran up to 1991.

The show was widely syndicated in the United States and Canada.

The show also proved to be very popular in Australia, where the series Doctor Down Under was filmed and based.

Plot

The plot revolved around the trials of medical students at St Swithin's hospital in London.

British doctors study medicine at the undergraduate level, so the characters were new to independent living and university life.

Characters

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. He is just as bright as Upton, but far less serious in his studies, although he generally does well. After Barry Evans left the show, Nedwell returned as Waring to become the focus of the show.
• Paul Collier (George Layton), a less competent student and friend of Upton and Waring.
• Dick Stuart-Clark (Geoffrey Davies), a thirtyish student who deliberately fails his courses in order to take advantage of his late aunt's will, which bequeathed him a large sum of money for each year he is in medical school.
• Lawrence Bingham (Richard O'Sullivan), a brilliant, but arrogant and irritating doctor who believes he is the best of all possible doctors. He marries the equally obnoxious Dr. Mary Parsons (Helen Fraser) in the series "Doctor in Charge". His need to continually impress her is the source of much comedy.

The main antagonist is the famous, well-respected and ill-tempered surgeon Professor Geoffrey Loftus (Ernest Clark). Most of the plot lines revolve around the students' attempts to meet his demanding expectations.

Another hospital official with whom the students have contact is the Dean (Ralph Michael), who is more interested in the hospital's Rugby union team than he is in medicine.

Other characters in the early episodes, who later reappeared for single episodes in subsequent series were:

• Danny Hooley (Jonathan Lynn), an Irish medical student who is a friend of Waring, Collier, Upton and Stuart-Clark. He later returns as an 'out-of-work doctor' in the Doctor in Charge episode "Should Auld Acquaintance be Forgot?"
• Huw Evans (Martin Shaw), a Welsh medical student, another friend of the four students. He reappears as a very nervous expectant father in the episode "Mother and Father Doing Well".

Notable guest stars throughout the run of the series and its sequels included Hattie Jacques, Mollie Sugden, Roy Kinnear, Maureen Lipman, Patricia Routledge, Graeme Garden, David Jason, John Le Mesurier, Arthur Lowe, Angela Scoular and Tessa Wyatt.

Series

• Doctor in the House — (1969-1970) — London Weekend Television (LWT)
  • First series (13 episodes) broadcast from 12 July to 4 October 1969
  • Second series (13 episodes) broadcast from 10 April to 3 July 1970
• Doctor at Large — (1971) — LWT
  • Third series (29 episodes) broadcast from 28 February to 12 September 1971
• Doctor in Charge — (1972-1973) — LWT
  • Fourth series (27 episodes) broadcast from 9 April to 8 October 1972
  • Fifth series (16 episodes) broadcast from 15 September to 29 December 1973
• Doctor at Sea — (1974) — LWT
  • Sixth series (13 episodes) broadcast from 21 April to 14 July 1974
• Doctor on the Go — (1975-1977) — LWT
  • Seventh series (13 episodes) broadcast from 27 April to 20 July 1975
  • Eighth series (13 episodes) broadcast from `6 January to 10 April 1977
• Doctor Down Under — (1979) — filmed and set in Australia by Seven Network. Dr. Duncan Waring and Dr. Dick Stuart-Clark travel to Australia and take up appointments at a Sydney hospital.
• Doctor at the Top — (1991) — BBC

Confusingly, all the LWT shows were syndicated in the United States under the title Doctor in the House and episodes from all of the series were often shown out of sequence.

Location of St. Swithin's Hospital

The building used as the fictional St. Swithin's Hospital is, in fact, the old Wanstead Hospital (based in Wanstead, London, E11). A number of years ago it was converted into a residential building and is now called Clock Court. It is a listed building based on Hermon Hill, within the London Borough of Redbridge. Before becoming a hospital it was an orphanage for children whose parents were lost at sea, and the architecture of the building depicts images of boats carved into the intricate stone. A number of celebrities are rumoured to have lived there over the years including the actor Gary Lucy (The Bill), and Heart FM radio DJ Paul Hollins.

Writers

The Doctor in the House series is well known for the writing team of Graham Chapman and John Cleese, who would go on to greater fame as writers and performers in Monty Python. The series is also well known for the writing work of Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, who would both become writers and performers in The Goodies. Both Chapman and Garden were actual doctors. Graeme Garden also appeared as a "Television Presenter" in the episode "Doctor on the Box".

While keeping mostly to the conventions of the situation comedy genre, the shows occasionally stretched the boundaries of what was seen on television. One script by Cleese called for Michael Upton to rip away a woman's dress in a single movement (she was hiding a key he needed in her cleavage). A script by Garden and Oddie included a scene played out using cartoon drawings of the performers, in the style of a teenage romance magazine, while the actors voiced their lines.

Episode writers

Doctor in the House	Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Bernard McKenna and Bill Oddie
Doctor at Large	Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna, David Yallop, George Layton (under the pseudonym of "Oliver Fry"), Geoff Rowley and Andy Baker.
Doctor in Charge	David Askey, Graham Chapman, Graeme Garden, George Layton, Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna, Bill Oddie, Phil Redmond and Gail Renard
Doctor at Sea	Richard Laing, George Layton, Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna, Gail Renard and Phil Redmond
Doctor on the Go	Douglas Adams, Rob Buckman, Richard Laing, George Layton, Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna, Steve Thorn and Paul Wolfson
Doctor Down Under	Bernard McKenna, Bernie Sharp and John Watkins
Doctor at the Top	George Layton and Bill Oddie

External links

Doctor in the House

• "Doctor in the House" - BBC Comedy Guide
• "Doctor in the House" - British TV Comedy Guide
• "Doctor in the House" at IMDb

Doctor at Large

• "Doctor at Large" - British TV Comedy Guide
• "Doctor at Large" - Nostalgia Central
• "Doctor at Large" at IMDb

Doctor in Charge

• "Doctor in Charge" - British TV Comedy Guide
• "Doctor in Charge" - Nostalgia Central
• "Doctor in Charge" at IMDb

Doctor at Sea

• "Doctor at Sea" - British TV Comedy Guide
• "Doctor at Sea" - Nostalgia Central
• "Doctor at Sea" at IMDb

Doctor on the Go

• "Doctor on the Go" - British TV Comedy Guide
• "Doctor on the Go" - Nostalgia Central
• "Doctor on the Go" at IMDb

Doctor Down Under

• "Doctor Down Under" at IMDb

Doctor at the Top

• "Doctor at the Top" - British TV Comedy Guide
• "Doctor at the Top" at IMDb