'Doctor In The House' was the first of Richard Gordon's series of books to be adapted not only to the cinema screen but also to television, where it was broadcast by London Weekend Television. It was also the first sitcom by London Weekend to be broadcast in colour ( not Johnny Speight's 'Curry & Chips' as television critic Mark Lewison wrongly stated in his 'Radio Times Guide To TV Comedy' book ). Barry Evans took on the role of Mike Upton ( a role which was originally intended for Robin Askwith ), a nervous young medical student who wishes to follow in the medical profession as his father is a doctor. Starring alongside him were Robin Nedwell as outspoken Duncan Waring, Geoffrey Davies as jack-the-lad Dick Stuart Clark and George Layton as ladies man Paul Collier.
Teaching these group of young scallywags is Professor Loftus ( played excellently by Ernest Clark ), who is known to all as 'the ogre of St. Swithin's ( the hospital in which they are training to be doctors for ). The first series featured Martin Shaw ( the future Doyle of 'The Professionals' ) as Welsh Huw Evans and Simon Cuff as Dave Briddock. Jonathan Lynn replaced Shaw in series two as Irish student Danny Hooley.
With a fresh faced but talented cast, well written scripts with a fair amount of nurse chasing and cheeky innuendo ( supplied by Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Barry Cryer and Bernard McKenna ), 'Doctor In The House' resulted in being one of ITV's most popular sitcoms of all time. Barry Evans became so popular he later landed the role in another LWT sitcom 'Mind Your Language' ( written by Vince Powell ). Sadly, he left the acting profession to become a taxi driver. He died in 1997 of alcohol poisoning.
The second series ( which contained my favourite episode 'It's All In The Little Blue Book' ) was the best of the two, not least because it saw the departure of Martin Shaw and his annoyingly unconvincing Welsh accent but also because it ended on a high with Upton passing his finals and becoming a doctor, which led onto the sequel 'Doctor At Large'.
Good saucy fun, not for the faint hearted. Look out for a couple of appearances by a then-unknown David Jason.
Teaching these group of young scallywags is Professor Loftus ( played excellently by Ernest Clark ), who is known to all as 'the ogre of St. Swithin's ( the hospital in which they are training to be doctors for ). The first series featured Martin Shaw ( the future Doyle of 'The Professionals' ) as Welsh Huw Evans and Simon Cuff as Dave Briddock. Jonathan Lynn replaced Shaw in series two as Irish student Danny Hooley.
With a fresh faced but talented cast, well written scripts with a fair amount of nurse chasing and cheeky innuendo ( supplied by Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Barry Cryer and Bernard McKenna ), 'Doctor In The House' resulted in being one of ITV's most popular sitcoms of all time. Barry Evans became so popular he later landed the role in another LWT sitcom 'Mind Your Language' ( written by Vince Powell ). Sadly, he left the acting profession to become a taxi driver. He died in 1997 of alcohol poisoning.
The second series ( which contained my favourite episode 'It's All In The Little Blue Book' ) was the best of the two, not least because it saw the departure of Martin Shaw and his annoyingly unconvincing Welsh accent but also because it ended on a high with Upton passing his finals and becoming a doctor, which led onto the sequel 'Doctor At Large'.
Good saucy fun, not for the faint hearted. Look out for a couple of appearances by a then-unknown David Jason.