Carry on Doctor

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.

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.

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.

I find it truly difficult to review Carry on Doctor, a film that has been there when I've needed it, it's helped with exams, tragedies and all sorts. The humour even now is loud, brash, bawdy, saucy and just plain old fashioned funny. I find it difficult to understand how on earth someone could watch it and not find it funny, it provides uplifting fun, gag after gag, and an innocence that has long since past. The performances all around are just sensational. Frankie Howerd, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Sid James in particular are all magical. Nurse had previously shown that the medical format worked extremely well, as would the later hospital based films, but Doctor will always be the pick of the bunch. Still shown on TV, DVD and download sales aplenty, hard!y surprising, Carry on Doctor is a gem, a true British institution.

Thinly plotted but funny hospital comedy.

My favourite part is the early sequence depicting Frankie Howerd's first morning in the ward. Bernard Bresslaw's character is also funny and involved in a cute romance with a woman patient, Dilys Laye.

The main story has the matron (Hattie Jacques) and a doctor (Kenneth Williams) engineer the expulsion of young Doctor Kilmore (Jim Dale). This story is a bit more mean-spirited than usual for a Carry On but this doesn't kill the film. Jacques later has a great scene where she double-crosses Williams.

With such a large cast many have reduced screen time. So Sid James (as a malingering patient), Barbara Windsor, Peter Butterworth and Charles Hawtrey are very much in support roles. They're good, but it seems weird to have James and Windsor in smaller roles.

The biggest disappointment is having Joan Sims in not only a support role but as a dull spinster besotted with Howerd's character.