Leslie Philips graduates from veterinary college after ten years, when they run the same exam as seven years earlier. He buys a moribund practice where everyone wants him to put down unwanted pets. His love of animals brings him unusual patients like a lion, and a chimp belonging to showgirl Peggy Cummins (in her last big-screen role). Meanwhile, unscrupulous fellow vet James Booth seduces the ladies, works out advertising and quackery, and gets Phillips involved in an unlicensed scheme to ship horses to France for butchering.
It's one of those British comedies that came into popularity with the DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE series about various professionals and their humorous tribulations. All it lacks is James Robertson Justice as the curmudgeonly authority figure. Certainly, with all the animals, it runs more to the slapstick than that series. Although I began watching it with a weary expectation, I found the combination of cute animals and Phillips' befuddled, sympathetic nature made it enjoyable.
