Carry on Doctor

Francis Bigger is a notorious charlatan who tours the country lecturing on the subject of mind over matter. During one of his performances he falls off the platform and is taken to the local hospital where he causes total chaos. The regular Carry On team is joined by Frankie Howerd in this 'bedpanorama of hospital life'.

The second, and most possibly my favourite Medical carry on. It has the usual gags and slapstick routines. The rooftop scene with Jim Dale had me in stitches. Frankie Howerd is a brilliant addition to the usual star cast - Hattie Jacques, Sid James, Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey - and has some good lines, but Joan Sims is a scene stealer as a dim witted lady with hearing problems. This is Carry on at its best, released at the time when series at its peak.

The Carry On gang are admitted to hospital once again for more medical mirth-making, the marvellous ensemble cast bringing to life an eclectic range of eccentric characters. Jim Dale plays bumbling Dr. Kilmore, who is forced to resign by conniving Matron (Hattie Jacques) and egotistical Dr. Tinkle (Kenneth Williams) who falsely accuse him of the sexual harassment of several nurses (including ditzy Babs Windsor and the lovely Anita Harris). Sid James, Bernard Bresslaw, Frankie Howerd, Charles Hawtree and Peter Butterworth are among the crazy patients who decide to use whatever means necessary to force a confession from the devious pair and have the wronged physician reinstated.

Not quite as ribald as the 70s movies, but not without its saucy moments, the fourteenth in the Carry On series is a delightful mixture of harmless slapstick, mild innuendo and cheap titillation. Even though I tend to prefer the period piece/genre Carry On films to the contemporary efforts, Carry On Doctor remains a firm favourite thanks to memorable performances and a sparkling script packed full of priceless moments, such as the classic 'What a lovely looking pear' gag, Harris accidentally having her skirt pulled down on the hospital roof, and a few textbook 'phwooarrrs' from a variety of randy men as Babs wiggles her way to the wards.

When the hugely popular Dr Kilmore (Jim Dale) is fired unjustly by devious superiors, the patients do something about it.

If only British hospitals were like this. The nurses look like Anita Harris and Barbara Windsor, the doctors are bonkers and the patients are having the time of their life. Yes this is a "Carry On" movie in all it's jovial glory. Thinly plotted it may be, but it's an excellent script from Talbot Rothwell that lets the true comedians in the piece showcase their worth.

Hattie Jacques as a battle-axe Matron, Kenneth Williams as snobby unscrupulous head Doctor Tinkle, Charles Hawtrey suffering a phantom pregnancy, Frankie Howerd as Francis Bigger (a man in hospital after making a living out of saying you don't need Doctor's! And then believing he only has a week to live) and the likes of Bernard Bresslaw and Sid James as rogue patients playing up. It's a marvellous set up that works a treat for visual comedy. Witness Howerd's incredulity when he is woken at 06.00, or Hawtrey's reaction when the stocking laden minx that is Barbara Windsor arrives on the ward. Great comedy moments in a great comedy film. 7.5/10

The patients of a suburban town hospital rebel against the registrar Dr Tinkle (Kenneth Williams) and the matron (Hattie Jacques) who got a popular doctor and nurse the sack.

Fairly amusing entry in the series which manages to hold up because it has the charm of an England that never was and the fact that it isn't always hilariously funny dosen't really matter. Frankie Howerd is excellent as the mind over matter charleton who goes around the country persuading people that they don't need medicines or doctors for cash and the ever reliable Syd James also carries the picture with his usual charm this time as a lazy out of work good for nothing who fakes illness just so that he can stay in hospital. Dandy Nichols also turns up as Syd's nagging wife in a funny moment where he listens to the hospital radio while pretending to listen to his wife's constant nagging and she's too busy having a go at him to notice.

I've always loved the Carry On... movies. I guess growing up in Britain, these movies were the first real movies you get to see, where they use words like 'bum', 'arse', and 'knickers', and you don't have to feel embarrased in front of your parents, because you knew that whilst there was a lot of innuendo, there's never be anything actually rude.

This one was filmed in and around my home town, and features loads of local landmarks. It is also a showcase for the cream of british comedy actors from the seventies, such as Sid James, Frankie Howard, Kenneth Williams, Charlie Hawtrey, and the very under-valued Jim Dale. The plot is simple. Two doctors in a hospital. One is popular with staff and patients, is good at his job, and is loved from afar by the pretty nurse. The other doctor is resentful, and enlists the help of the old battle-axe Matron to engineer his dismissal. Cue some saucy humour ('Oh, youve got a nice pear!') and some slapstick to match keaton, and you have the movie. You all know how it'll end, but that's OK. Just watch and enjoy.