Braincell actually appeared twice in the issue in which he made his debut - on Friday he produced a copy of The Mystery Comic from his little black bag, and he was outside the cinema as Cheeky and pals exited the Saturday morning pictures. In neither of these appearances was he named.
| Braincell's debut Art: Barrie Appleby |
However, when the daffy Doctor next appeared in Cheeky Weekly (25 March 1978), he was given a namecheck by the toothy funster as Doctor Brain-Cell.
| The Doctor's first namecheck Art: Barrie Appleby |
The 20 May 1978 issue saw the jolly GP feature in 9 Cheeky's Week elements, as Cheeky engaged in a multiplicity of medical mirth.
On the cover of the 27 May 1978 comic we witnessed a comical consultation as Cheeky sought advice from Braincell in the What a Cheek strip. This was the only strip in which the Doctor was seen in his surgery (although a later Pin-Up Pal poster would depict a surgery scene - see below), and it was also the first of Braincell's 9 cover appearances - 6 times in the cover strips (What A Cheek and Cheeky's Week) and, after the cover strips came to an end in the 30 June 1979 issue, a further 3 times in the main cover pic.
| 2038: Geriatric GP meets toothless funster Cheeky Weekly 19 August 1978 Art: Frank McDiarmid |
On every occasion where we saw the nameplate outside his front door, the merry medic's name was spelled Braincell (except in the 08 September 1979 comic), and in 13 January 1979's Burpo Special, wherein the funny physician was the subject of Burpo's infantile interrogation, his surname was again missing its hyphen. Although the Brain-Cell spelling is more common, I have adopted the unhyphenated version in this blog, as;
(A) It's the name shown (with one exception) by his front door, and he should know how to spell it
and
(B) it's marginally funnier.
The playful pill peddler often sported a sticking plaster on his head, and something on his Adam's apple which was either a pimple or some sort of dressing, possibly on the site of a shaving accident. He was evidently afflicted by a chronic conk condition, as his proboscis was permanently bandaged.
(A) It's the name shown (with one exception) by his front door, and he should know how to spell it
and
(B) it's marginally funnier.
| 08 September 1979 - I suspect the hyphenated spelling on the nameplate is the result of it being squeezed into the frame Art: Frank McDiarmid |
| 19 May 1979 - both spellings of the Doctor's name in a single gag Art: Frank McDiarmid |
The playful pill peddler often sported a sticking plaster on his head, and something on his Adam's apple which was either a pimple or some sort of dressing, possibly on the site of a shaving accident. He was evidently afflicted by a chronic conk condition, as his proboscis was permanently bandaged.
The scatty stethoscope-user was seen frantically searching through his medical text books while attempting to diagnose Cheeky's sore digit on the Pin-Up Pal poster in the 24 February 1979 issue. The poster can be seen on Bruce's blog. Cheeky's Cut-Out Comedy Catalogue of Doctor Jokes appeared in the 01 December 1979 issue. Braincell never appeared in Cheeky's strip in Krazy.
Count of elements by artist
| Character | Total Issues | First Appearance | Final Appearance |
| Doctor Braincell | 93 | 11-Mar-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Count of elements by artist
| Character | Artist | Total Elements |
| Doctor Braincell | Frank McDiarmid | 50 |
| Doctor Braincell | Mike Lacey | 19 |
| Doctor Braincell | Barrie Appleby | 16 |
| Doctor Braincell | Frank McDiarmid pencils | 16 |
| Doctor Braincell | Jim Watson | 4 |
| Doctor Braincell | Dick Millington | 4 |
| Doctor Braincell | Unknown Cheeky Artist 1 | 1 |