Doctor in the House (TV series)

Doctor in the House was a British television comedy series produced by London Weekend Television from 1969 to 1970.

Doctor in the House spawned the following sequels — Doctor at Large (1971), Doctor in Charge (1972-1973), Doctor at Sea (1974), Doctor on the Go (1975-1977), Doctor Down Under (1979), and Doctor at the Top (1991), with many of the same characters. The series was based on a set of books and a movie of the same name by Richard Gordon. The show was widely syndicated in the United States.

The Doctor TV series also proved to be very popular in Australia, where the series Doctor Down Under was filmed, and based. In Doctor Down Under, Dr. Duncan Waring and Dr. Dick Stuart-Clark travel to Australia and take up appointments at a Sydney Hospital.

"Doctor in the House" and its sequels ran from 1969 to 1991.

Plot

The plot revolved around the trials of medical students at St Swithin's hospital in London. Unlike in the United States, 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 was just as bright as Upton, but 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.

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 was a friend of Duncan Waring, Paul Collier, Michael Upton and Dick Stuart-Clark. He later returned, 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, who was also a friend of Duncan Waring, Paul Collier, Michael Upton and Dick Stuart-Clark. He later returned, as a very nervous expectant father, in the Doctor at Large episode "Mother and Father Doing Well".

The main antagonist was the famous, well-respected and ill-tempered surgeon Professor Geoffrey Loftus (Ernest Clark).

Another hospital official with whom the students had contact was the Dean (Ralph Michael) who was more interested in the hospital's Rugby team, than he was in medicine. A prank played by the students was to park the Dean's car on the roof of one of the hospital buildings.

Most of the plot lines revolved around the students' attempts to meet Professor Loftus's demanding expectations.

"Doctor in the House" and its sequels

Doctor in the House — (1969-1970) — (LWT)
Doctor at Large — (1971) — (LWT)
Doctor in Charge — (1972-1973) — (LWT)
Doctor at Sea — (1974) — (LWT)
Doctor on the Go — (1975-1977) — (LWT)
Doctor Down Under — (1979) — (filmed, and set, in Australia)
Doctor at the Top — (1991) — BBC

Confusingly, these shows were all 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.

The writers 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".

Writers of episodes - of all seven of the Doctor TV series

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, George Layton (as "Oliver Fry"), Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna, Bill Oddie and David Yallop
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