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!)
