Doctor in the House

I accidentally came across this article tonight and was reminded of the show that probably got more laughs out of me, my family, and my friends than any other sit-com ever. For its time, it was extremely outrageous, and pushed the limits. In my late teens and early twenties when watching it, I fell absolutely in love with all of the guys in each episode. I never realized before tonight that John Cleese and Eric Idle had anything to do with the series. It all makes sense now (or nonsense).

Over the years I've searched for any mention of the show, but have never found a trace on TV or in video stores. I wonder why nobody ever brought it back. I thought I might find it in PBS catalogs or something, but nada.

At the moment, I recall holding my sides laughing at the episode with the hearse mixup (the boys owned a hearse for their own use, but someone thought it was a real hearse and deposited an occupied casket into the back of it, which wasn't discovered until after one of them, George Layton I think, was driving down the road, and every time he drove over a bump, the body's feet went up into the air.) I also recall the episode in which one of the boys (I think Upton) was trying to learn how to deliver a baby by practising on a chair with a doll or teddy bear. Then there was the episode where the boys got the obnoxious Lawrence Marwood Bingham drunk before he was scheduled to play the organ at a funeral. Bingham ended up singing "On the Sunny Side of the Street" and making an ass of himself, much to the delight of the boys and the audience. I wish the episodes were listed in the IMDb.

Ah, those were the days. It would be great if someone dug up those old episodes and either put them back on TV or sold them as videos--say, three or four episodes per video.

I wonder what happened to the members of the cast. The only two names I've ever seen outside the series are Jonathan Lynn and Helen Fraser. Lynn's name made it to the bigtime, but I haven't heard of Fraser in any movies in years (since "Start the Revolution Without Me" starring Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland).

The episode I always remember is the one where Duncan and Michael find out that the pompous and appropriately named Dick is trying to get into an exclusive club whose members include Dr. Loftus as well as several other high ranking Doctors. since he's waiting to receive an invitation they send him one to a bogus ceremony of their own making.

Dick shows up to what turns out to be a deserted area with a formation of candles on the floor where he is led by men dressed in red tunics & hoods that cover their faces so he can't see who they are. Just as he's starting to ge really freaked out, the "leader" comes out (face also covered) carrying an unconcious woman for what appears to be a human sacrifice. Dick looks at this guy and utters in disbelief "Dr. Loftus?" right before finally flipping out and running away.

Later, when he realized his friends were playing a joke on him he pretends to be ok with it and invites them to a party he's throwing. Thinking it's a trap but not wanting to miss out on one of Dick's wild parties, they discuss whether or not to go and finally decide to just tell the police there's an obscene gathering there so that way they won't actually be missing out on a great party since the police will break it up. when the police get there, they find it's the actual meeting of the elite club Dr. Loftus is in and since it's a group of grown men dressed in suit jackets, short shorts and funny hats, they arrest everyone there.

All througout college, any time I tried to come up with a practical joke on a friend or a funny fraternity stunt, this episode of Dr. In The House is what first came to mind. Absolutely hilarious.

It's strange how so many TV series that were popular in their day fade from view and this is one of them. This series and its sequels amassed 137 episodes over an 8 year run (1969-1977) and the series just gets better with every series.

Also, RaspberryLucozade is incorrect to state that this was the first London Weekend Television sitcom to be broadcast in colour. The first series of DITH was the first to be recorded in colour, but it ended a few months before ITV formally began colour transmissions on 15th November 1969. This makes Curry and Chips the first LWT sitcom to be broadcast completely in colour (with series 2 of Please Sir straddling the switch).

I was 16 years-old or so when I watched 'Doctor in the House' in the 1970s -- it was one of those Britcoms that PBS would air around telethon time. I found the show to be TRULY hilarious. The first episode was written by Monty Python members John Cleese and Graham Chapman.

The show was about young doctors at St. Swithins, a teaching hospital. The doctors were obsessed with partying, girls and pranks -- but they had to be wary of the chief surgeon, the wonderfully stuffy Professor Loftus.

My favorite season: One of the season arcs had Professor Loftus in line for a possible knighthood. He was very keen to ensure this happened and of course, the antics of the young doctors might jeopardize this, so this made him even more imperious, strict and intolerant -- the tension really upped the ante on the humor. I really, really miss this show. If you get a chance to watch it, I highly recommend it.

'Doctor in the House' must have been immensely popular in its day as the series was survived by several successive shows such as 'Doctor on the Go', 'Doctor in Charge' and 'Doctor at Sea.' These shows tried to retain a few members from the original series, but sadly, the successive iterations paled in comparison to the original series and the 'franchise' eventually sputtered out. It should be noted that the 'Doctor in the House' TV series was based on a series of British movie comedies from the 1950s.

Somebody please put this series on DVD!

P.S. - American viewers must have been amazed to see there was actually a bar (pub) within the hospital and that the young surgeons were frequently down there guzzling down pints of ale. (Let's hope they weren't on call!)

The Picture of this show is one of DIRK BOGARD the actor, who starred in the earlier movies. The Movie collection has no relation to the TV series which did star Barry Evans, among others. The TV series was released in the 1970's on VCR, maybe 6 episodes from the first season. (It was wildly popular on PBS stations here in the USA but not as popular in the UK where it was produced by the wonderful London Weekend Television). So if you are looking for the Barry Evans TV series, written by some Monty Pythoners, & extremely funny, be aware of the difference. Unless you want the Movie Collection starring Dirk Bogard, I do not believe at present you can get a DVD of the Barry Evans TV series.