Film / Doctor in Trouble

The craziest cruiser that ever put to sea.

Wendover: It's a lucky thing I've got any clothes at all. The washing machine in me stateroom's broken down.

Captain Spratt: There are no washing machines in the cabins on this ship.

Wendover: What's that round, glass door in the wall, then?

Captain Spratt: I should've thought even the meanest intelligence would've recognised that as a porthole.

— Llewellyn Wendover getting on Captain George Spratt's nerves, as usual.

Doctor in Trouble is a 1970 film and the seventh/final of the Doctor... Series. It stars Leslie Phillips, Harry Secombe, James Robertson Justice, Angela Scoular, Irene Handl, Simon Dee, Robert Morley, Freddie Jones, Joan Sims, John Le Mesurier, and Graham Stark.

Dr. Tony Burke (Phillips) is working as a duty doctor when famous TV doctor - and Dr. Burke's childhood rival - Basil Beauchamp (Dee) is admitted for what he claims to be acute appendicitis. Sir Lancelot Spratt (Justice) believes that Basil is suffering from overworking and arranges for him to go on a cruise on the Golden Horn, which his brother Captain George Spratt, RNR, (Morley) captains with help from the Master-at-Arms, Humphrey (Jones), and the Purser (Le Mesurier).

Dr. Burke accidentally becomes a stowaway on the same ship when trying to follow the lovely Ophelia O'Brien (Scoular) so he can propose to her. Other passengers are Llewellyn Wendover (Secombe) who has recently won the football pools; Mrs. Dailey (Handl), who hopes to find a husband for her daughter, Dawn (Janet Mahoney); and Roddy (Graham Chapman), the photographer for Ophelia and the other models.

The Master-at-Arms finds out that Dr. Burke is a stowaway, and after some hijinks involving Dr. Burke being Disguised in Drag as Miss Lavinia Edna Paxenbury, he is caught and ordered by Captain Spratt to serve as his personal steward, which he does so, now sharing a cabin with friendly Indian steward Satterjee (Stark). When he tricks Dr. Houston (Jimmy Thompson) into believing he has come down with Hepatitis Africonia, he is unable to work and Dr. Burke takes up the mantle of ship's doctor, meaning when a Russian Captain (Sims) requests emergency aid for a Russian trawlerman (Yuri Borienko) on the Drobny suffering from acute appendicitis, it is up to Dr. Burke to play the hero and save the day as Hilarity Ensues.

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Tropes in Trouble:

• Abhorrent Admirer:
  • Roddy is to Dr. Burke and Basil, who are heterosexual and want nothing to do with his advances.
  • The Russian Captain is also one to Dr. Burke, who feels threatened by how forward she is with him.
• Adaptation Distillation: The film cuts out a subplot about Sir Lancelot's autobiography that had been present in Doctor on Toast.
• Adaptation Name Change: While the film's main character is Dr. Burke, Doctor on Toast had focused on Dr. Grimsdyke. However, Leslie Phillips had previously played both characters (who were basically the same with a different name) in Doctor in Love and Doctor in Clover, so the change wasn't too jarring to watch.
• Adaptation Title Change: The novel the film was loosely based on was called Doctor on Toast.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Wendover calls Captain Spratt "Whiskers", a name that causes great annoyance to him.
  • Ophelia and Satterjee call Dr. Burke "Burkey".
  • Dr. Burke calls Basil "Baz".
  • Mrs. Dailey calls Dawn "Dawny", "Poopsie", and "Bubba".
  • When Disguised in Drag as Lavinia, Dr. Burke tries to get the Master-at-Arms to give him one to help sell the illusion that he is a woman:
    Dr. Burke: If you like, you can call me "Lav" for short.
    Master-at-Arms: Er, I'd just like to ask you one or two questions, if you don't mind, er... Lav. Er, purely in the line of duty, of course.
    Dr. Burke: What's your name, Captain?
    Master-at-Arms: "Humphrey". (Beat) But if you like, you can call me... "Hum", for short.
    Dr. Burke: It's a good job your name isn't "Bumfrey", isn't it?
• Afraid of Needles: When Dr. Burke shows the sick Russian the needle he'll be using to put him to sleep with, the Russian panics and refuses the injection, so his Captain knocks him out herself with a punch.
• Agony of the Feet: When the Master-at-Arms catches Dr. Burke without his shoes on, he lies that he left them in his cabin as they were killing him.
• Alliterative Name:
  • Basil Beauchamp.
  • Ophelia O'Brien.
  • Dawn Dailey.
• All There in the Script: Some characters' names aren't given in the film:
  • Captain Spratt's first name is "George".
  • Thomas and Mélisse's surname is "Relph", and additionally Thomas is a Sir.
• Always Someone Better: Basil to Dr. Burke. He was always better than him in school, and now Dr. Burke is jealous of the fame he receives as an actor.
• Ambiguously Bi: When giving Captain Spratt advice to relieve his constipation, Dr. Burke tells him he is not to have any women, before pausing and telling him he is not to have any men, either.
• Ambiguously Gay: Satterjee doesn't show any interest in women throughout the film, but admires Dr. Burke's legs, and says they go all the way up to his bottom when helping to make him a Julius Caesar costume.
• As Long as It Sounds Foreign: The Indian steward is called "Satterjee". This isn't a real name, the closest Hindu name is "Chatterjee".
• Ash Face: After Dr. Burke is caught in an explosion in an air pipe, he is covered from head to toe in thick black ash.
• Attractive Bent-Gender: When Dr. Burke is Disguised in Drag as Lavinia, the Master-at-Arms can't keep his eyes off him and even tries to flirt with him.
• Authority Sounds Deep: Captain Spratt has a deep, booming voice which helps ensure he gets respect from all of his crew.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • The film begins with Sir Richard, a doctor, collapsing during an intense surgery before it is revealed to only be a show being watched by Dr. Burke and several nurses.
  • The Master-at-Arms hears male and female giggling coming from a lifeboat and he (and the audience) assume something kinky is going on until he pulls back the tarp to reveal Wendover showing Dawn how to do the football pools.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • When Ophelia falls overboard, everyone clamors over the railing to see her, and Dr. Burke is knocked overboard too. As Dr. Burke is unable to swim, Ophelia comes to his rescue and manages to get them both back on the ship, where she attempts to give him the kiss of life.
  • When a Russian trawlerman on the Drobny requires a lifesaving appendicectomy, Dr. Burke is sent over to the ship risking his own life travelling via breeches buoy despite the fact he cannot swim, and performs the operation to great success.
• Big Fun: Wendover is a rather stout man and consistently manages to be the most fun-loving passenger on the Golden Horn, which causes lots of irritation for Captain Spratt and the other passengers:
  Wendover: Avast behind!
  Fat Woman: Cheeky!
• Blowing a Raspberry: Dr. Burke blows one at a departing Stedman Green as payback for being called a "weirdy".
• Bratty Half-Pint: A boy finds Dr. Burke hiding in a lifeboat and immediately tries to get him in trouble with Captain Spratt for being a stowaway.
• Brick Joke: At luncheon, Captain Spratt tells Wendover to only wear a black tie at dinner. Much later at dinner, Wendover instead turns up wearing nothing but a black tie, having mistaken Captain Spratt's instructions.
• Brits Love Tea: When Dr. Burke requests hot water to clean his instrument with, the Russian Captain initially assumes he just wants to make tea.
• Brownface: Saterjee is played by Graham Stark, covered in brown makeup.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: When Dawn first starts to chat up Wendover, he takes note of her two beautiful breasts.
• Camp Gay:
  • Roddy, the sassy photographer working with Ophelia and the other models, who flirts with Dr. Burke.
  • Maurice, a camply-dressed man who asks for Basil's autograph and blows him a kiss.
• The Casanova:
  • Basil uses his fame appearing on TV as Dr. Dare to keep girls obsessing over him on the daily.
  • While Dr. Burke wishes to marry Ophelia, he still takes time to appreciate any woman he can:
    Eve: Oh, hi, Tony. I'm Eve.
    Jean: Hi, Tony. I'm Jean.
    Audrey: Hi, Tony. I'm freezing.
    Dr. Burke: Hi, girls. I'm available.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Satterjee when Wendover tells him about fighting at Dunkirk:
    Wendover: I was at Dunkirk, mate.
    Satterjee: Oh, very good ferry service at Dunkirk. British Railway. Most excellent.
    Wendover: I was talkin' about the beaches.
    Satterjee: Oh, very sandy. The beaches.
    Wendover: I' wasn't when I was there. I' was full o' bomb 'oles.
    Satterjee: Oh, yes. The-the sunbathing was very good, also.
    Wendover: I said "bomb 'oles", not-
  • And again, when talking to a seasick Basil:
    Basil: Tell the Captain to go to hell.
    Satterjee: I'm afraid that is not possible, sir. Our first port of call will be Marseilles.
  • Dr. Burke does so when trying to pretend that he is Basil's personal doctor.
    Dr. Burke: I'm Basil's personal doctor.
    Satterjee: Which doctor?
    Dr. Burke: No, I'm not a witch doctor. I'm-I'm-I'm his physician.
  • When Wendover wants an apology from Captain Spratt:
    Wendover: So, under the circumstances, you'll be wantin' apologise!
    Captain Spratt: I apologise to you?!
    Wendover: Thank you very much.
• Covers Always Lie: One of the posters depicts Ophelia travelling via breeches boy alongside Dr. Burke, when only he makes the journey in the film.
• Creepy Crossdresser: After finding a shoeless Dr. Burke in Ophelia's cabin with a dress wrapped around his neck and a pair of women's shoes on the floor, the Master-at-Arms gets the wrong idea and assumes he's "one of them".
• Crossdresser: The Master-at-Arms claims that the Golden Horn gets a few female impersonators onboard.
• Crossover: Although unnamed in the film, the doctor who Dr. Burke chats to early on at the hospital is supposed to be Dick Stuart-Clark from Doctor in the House. Furthering the connection to the series, Yutte Stensgaard (Eve) played Helga in a few episodes, while Graham Chapman (Roddy) was one of the writers.
• Curse Cut Short: When trying to explain what fighting on the beaches of Dunkirk was like to Satterjee, Wendover stops himself before he can say "bumholes".
• Denser and Wackier: While Doctor in Clover had begun the Doctor... Series' descent into more physical comedy, this film has a much different tone to the earlier films such as Doctor in the House (1954), feeling almost like a Carry On film with jokes about scantily clad women, female impersonators, and Undercranked sequences.
• Disguised in Drag: Ophelia disguises Dr. Burke as "Miss Lavinia Edna Paxenbury" to help him hide from the Master-at-Arms.
• Distracted by the Sexy: When the Master-at-Arms is chasing after Dr. Burke, he briefly stops to admire Eve in a bikini.
• Dope Slap: Mrs. Relph hits Thomas in the head with her spear for enjoying Dawn's striptease performance too much.
• Double Entendre:
  • Ophelia asks Dr. Burke if he'll "do" her. She means to zip up her dress, he thinks she means having it off.
  • When the Master-at-Arms catches Wendover teaching Dawn how to do the football pools, this is how he explains himself:
    Wendover: I was just showing Dawn how to get her draws down.
  • When Wendover cops a feel of Audrey (who is dressed like Cleopatra VII) while dancing at Captain Spratt's fancy dress ball:
    Audrey: Take your cold hands off my asp.
• Downer Ending: Dr. Burke loses Ophelia to Dr. Houston, and to rub salt in his wounds has to share a crowded taxi home with a common Cockney family.
• Embarrassing First Name: When Dr. Burke lies that his name is "Ophelia", the Master-at-Arms takes pity on him and calls it a shame.
• Embarrassing Nickname:
  • Captain Spratt doesn't like when Wendover calls him "Whiskers".
  • When the Master-at-Arms (whose first name is Humphrey) tells Dr. Burke (in disguise as Lavinia) to call him "Hum" for short, Dr. Burke remarks it's a good thing his name isn't "Bumfrey", as that would be "Bum" for short.
• Erotic Eating: Wendover mistakes the way Mélisse eats her grapefruit at breakfast for an attempt to flirt with him.
• Exact Words: When Captain Spratt tells Wendover to only wear a black tie at dinner, meaning dinner is the only time the wearing of a black tie is required, Wendover instead turns up to dinner wearing nothing but a black tie, much to his embarrassment.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When Dr. Burke is trying to propose to Ophelia:
  Ophelia: Well, now, doctor man, who are we gonna get t'marry you?
  Dr. Burke: I was just come to that, Ophelia. Look, I know I've played aroun' a bit in the past, but-
  Ophelia: What are they doin' with those bells?!
  Dr. Burke: Oh, it just means the ship's sinking, you see. I want to ask you. Will you be my- THE SHIP'S SINKING!
• Expy: Captain Spratt is one to Captain Hogg from Doctor at Sea. The fact that James Robertson Justice was hoped to play the former only heightens the similarities.
• Faint in Shock:
  • When complaining about how Basil isn't a real doctor, Dr. Burke remarks he'd faint if he saw as much as a cut finger.
  • When learning that Wendover isn't as rich as he seems only after he marries her daughter, Dawn, Mrs. Dailey faints and has to be carried away by the two.
• Fake Faint: Ophelia pretends to faint when fawning over Basil.
• The Film of the Book: The film is loosely based on Richard Gordon's 1961 novel Doctor on Toast.
• Forceful Kiss: The Russian Captain gives one to Dr. Burke, forcing him onto a stairway after he saves the life of one of her trawlermen.
• Funny Foreigner:
  • Satterjee, an Indian steward who has a tendency to comically miss the point.
  • The Russian Captain is an amusingly butch woman who puts off Dr. Burke with her advances and speaks in You No Take Candle.
• Gasshole: Basil's believed appendicitis turns out to be wind, as discovered when he loudly burps in front of Sir Lancelot.
• Gender-Blender Name: When lying to the Master-at-Arms as to why he is in Ophelia's cabin, Dr. Burke pretends that "Ophelia" is his name:
  Master-at-Arms: And your name would be?
  Dr. Burke: "O'Brien". O. O'Brien.
  Master-at-Arms: "O"?
  Dr. Burke: "O".
  Master-at-Arms: "O" for... "Oswald"?
  Dr. Burke: No, no, no. "Ophelia". (Beat) Er... Mother wanted a girl, you see.
• Gold Digger:
  • Dawn isn't interested in Wendover until she learns he has recently come into money after winning the football pools:
    Dawn: You must be careful, Wendover, dear. There are so many scheming women around, who would absolutely do anything to marry money.
  • Mrs. Dailey, however, would prefer for her to marry Captain Spratt.
    Mrs. Dailey: No, the one for you is the Captain, obviously. I mean, not only is he a 'ighly eligible bachelor, but he makes over 5,000 nickers a year. 'E must 'ave a bomb in the bank.
• Gory Discretion Shot: As Dr. Burke is about to make his first incision in the sick Russian, the camera pans away from his body to the interested expressions of his Captain and fellow crewmembers.
• Gratuitous Russian: The Russian Captain peppers her speech with a few Russian words such as "da" and "nyet". Dr. Burke picks up on it too.
• Help, I'm Stuck!: After hiding in an air pipe to avoid the Master-at-Arms, Dr. Burke becomes stuck inside and needs Ophelia to help him get out.
• Hypochondria:
  • Dr. Burke tries to claim Basil is a hypochondriac as he believes he is only in the hospital for publicity reasons.
  • When Dr. Burke tells Dr. Houston that he's suffering from Hepatitis Africonia, he believes him and begins to break out in spots.
• Hypocritical Humour: When the passengers believe the Golden Horn is sinking, Basil chews out Dr. Burke (who can't swim) for taking the only lifejacket, only to snatch it for himself once Dr. Burke takes it off.
• Incompatible Orientation:
  • Roddy seems quite fond of Dr. Burke, which comes as a great embarrassment to the lady-killer doctor.
  • Roddy also flirts with Basil, much to his shock.
• Incredibly Conspicuous Drag: "Lavinia" is clearly just Dr. Burke in a dress doing an effeminate voice, but it somehow manages to fool the Master-at-Arms for a while.
• Jump Cut: When spots break out on Dr. Houston, it is clear that the film has been cut in places to allow for spots to be applied to Jimmy Thompson's face.
• Laser-Guided Karma: If Dr. Burke never got Dr. Houston to believe that he had come down with Hepatitis Africonia, it means that Dr. Houston would've still been fit to work and be the one sent over to the Drobny, meaning that he wouldn't have been able to marry Ophelia before Dr. Burke.
• Love Triangle:
  • Both Dr. Burke and Basil would do anything to end up with Ophelia and try to win her before the other can.
  • Wendover has a thing for Dawn, only for Dawn to chase after Captain Spratt.
• Marilyn Maneuver: Mélisse struggles as the wind blows her dress up, exposing her knickers to Wendover and Dr. Burke.
• Mistaken for Gay:
  • When the Master-at-Arms sees Dr. Burke with Ophelia's clothes, he assumes he is "one of them". Dr. Burke catches on and pretends to be interested in him to get him to leave before he realises he is a stowaway.
  • When Dr. Burke is caught hiding in a lifeboat by a boy, he lies he is playing hide and seek with his friend as to not let the boy catch on that he is a stowaway. When he tries to claim he is playing with Roddy, Roddy believes he is flirting with him.
• Mistaken Identity:
  • Apon their first meeting, Wendover mistakes Basil for both an actor who played a lodger in Coronation Street and an actor who appeared in a false teeth advert.
  • When claiming Thomas shouldn't try to pick up Mélisse as he's old enough to be her father, he pointedly replies that he is her father, much to Wendover's embarrassment.
• Modesty Towel: When Ophelia leaves her bathroom to ask Dr. Burke out to dinner, she is wearing nothing but a white towel with pink flowers.
• Mondegreen Gag: After Wendover says, "bomb holes", Satterjee mistakenly believes he said "bumholes".
• Mythology Gag: Dr. Burke is insecure about being 35 years old, just as Dr. Grimsdyke (also played by Leslie Phillips) was in Doctor in Clover.
• Naked People Are Funny: After misinterpreting Captain Spratt's instructions on what meal to wear a black tie to, Wendover shows up to dinner wearing one... and nothing else!
• The Name Is Bond, James Bond:
  • When lying to the Master-at-Arms, Dr. Burke claims his name is "'O'Brien'. O. O'Brien".
  • Wendover introduces himself to Dawn in this manner:
    Wendover: I'm Wendover. Llewellyn Wendover, the pools winner.
• No Full Name Given:
  • We don't get to know Humphrey, Roddy, Eve, Audrey, Jean, Maurice, Sir Richard, Bonzo, or Jamie's last names.
  • The same can be said for Mrs. Dailey, Satterjee, Dr. Houston, Mr. Fleming, and Mr. Sergeant's first names.
• Non-Fatal Explosions: Dr. Burke is inside an air pipe when a fiery explosion erupts from it, only for him to suffer no ill effects aside from becoming covered with ash.
• Non Sequitur, *Thud*: When Dr. Burke awakens after his Tap on the Head:
  Dr. Burke: Oh, my head. I c- I, uh- Taxi...? Where's me Taxi? Taxi?
• One-Steve Limit:
  • Wendover shares his surname with the irritable patient Tarquin Wendover from Doctor in Clover.
  • Mrs. Dailey's daughter's name is "Dawn", which was also the name of one of the strippers in Doctor in Love.
• Out of Focus: This film has the least screen time for Sir Lancelot in the entire Doctor... Series, as he stays behind at the hospital while Dr. Burke goes off on the Golden Horn. James Robertson Justice was originally supposed to be Acting for Two as both Sir Lancelot and Captain Hogg to give him more to do, but after a nasty stroke, he was no longer well enough to play both parts and only barely had enough strength to film the few scenes he was in.
• Perverse Sexual Lust: All of the nurses at the hospital lust over the fictional TV doctor, Dr. Dare.
• Pie in the Face: During Captain Spratt's fancy dress ball, Dr. Burke shoves Basil out of the way so he can dance with Ophelia. Basil is knocked into a chef carrying a large pink cake, who falls over and sends it into Roddy's face, covering him with cream.
• Plot Hole: Basil's clothes fit Dr. Burke with no problems, despite Simon Dee being a few inches taller than Leslie Phillips.
• Potty Emergency: When the passengers believe the Golden Horn is sinking, Wendover (who has unknowingly drunk Captain Spratt's constipation cure) remarks it'll have to sink without him and dashes for the gents' toilets.
• Pretty in Mink: When disembarking the Golden Horn, all of the models are wearing beautiful (and enormous) fur coats.
• Pun: Dr. Burke calls Satterjee's Indian music "Top of the Poppadoms", making a joke out of the music programme Top of the Pops and the Indian food, poppadoms.
• Punny Name: When Disguised in Drag, Dr. Burke goes by "Lavinia", or "Lav" for short, which is amusing as it is also short for "lavatory" or "toilet".
• Putting the "Medic" in Comedic: Most of the film's comedy comes from Dr. Burke making a fool of himself, such as when he is Disguised in Drag to hide from the Master-at-Arms.
• Repeat After Me: Satterjee copies a record to try and improve his English accent:
  Record: The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.
  Satterjee: The rain in Spain is staying mainly in the plain.
  Record: In Hertford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly happen.
  Satterjee: In Hertford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes are hardly ever happening.
• Rhymes on a Dime:
  • When the Master-at-Arms discovers that Lavinia is actually Dr. Burke Disguised in Drag:
    Master-at-Arms: Well, Lavinia... darlin'... I think you and I had better go and have a chat, with Captain Spratt.
  • When Mrs. Dailey tells Wendover she doesn't want him chasing after her daughter, Dawn:
    Mrs. Dailey: My daughter an' I happen to be ladies. Therefore, riffraff like yourself could not possibly be of any interest to us. Not even if you was rolled in gold.
• Rich Language, Poor Language: The fact that Wendover and Captain Spratt use different words for the midday meal causes Wendover to embarrass himself:
  Wendover: You told me to dress for dinner, so I put me dinner tot on, an' now I'm the only one!
  Captain Spratt: We're not having "dinner", Mr. Wendover. We're having "luncheon".
  Wendover: What time is it?
  Captain Spratt: 12:55.
  Wendover: Well, that's dinnertime where I come from.
• The Rival: Basil is to Dr. Burke, who resents him for all of his fame and success.
• Rule of Pool: When Captain Spratt tries to announce a lifeboat drill, Wendover is trying to undo Dawn's bra at the same time. Captain Spratt tells Wendover to cut out the horseplay, so he shoves him, and he bumps into Dawn, who lurches forward but is pulled back by the elastic of her bra strap (still being held by Wendover) and bumps into Wendover, who in turn knocks into Captain Spratt and sends him falling into the pool. Basil and Roddy try to pull him out until they hear the emergency bell. Because Captain Spratt never got to announce it was only a drill, they (and all the other passengers) panic and drop Captain Spratt into the pool again. Satterjee then tries to help him out but isn't strong enough and Captain Spratt is dropped in once again, while Satterjee follows shortly after when Basil takes him down with him after he loses a scuffle with Dr. Burke over who gets the only lifejacket.
• Rule of Three:
  • Wendover turning up for a meal in the wrong outfit three times.
  • Captain Spratt gets submerged in the pool three times.
• Running Gag: Wendover turning up for meals in the wrong outfit, first in his pyjamas, then in his finest dinner clothes... at lunch, and finally in nothing but a black tie.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Wendover bribes a member of the crew for one of Captain Spratt's spare uniforms to wear to the fancy dress ball.
• Sensual Slavs: When the Russian Captain is assuring Dr. Burke there are women onboard the Drobny, she shows him the two Ugly Slavic Women who do the cooking, and then tells him that she is for the loving:
  Russian Captain: Oh, we have girls here. Look. They are for the cookings... and I... am for the lovings. You take care of the patient... and I take care of the doctor. Da?
• "Shaggy Dog" Story:
  • Despite all the humiliation and hard labour Dr. Burke goes through to try and propose to Ophelia, she ends up married to Dr. Houston.
  • After trying to land a rich husband the entire cruise, Dawn finally thinks she has found her happily ever after in Wendover... until she realises just how little the money he won on the pools actually was.
• Shirtless Scene:
  • Wendover has one when he shows up for dinner naked, and another when he goes to enjoy the pool.
  • When Roddy gets the models to pose on the stairway, he is wearing nothing shorts, as is Basil, who also has a scarf around his neck.
• Shout-Out:
  • The doctor Basil plays on TV, Dr. Dare, is based on Dr. Kildare.
  • Wendover mistakes Basil for an actor who played a lodger in Coronation Street.
  • A woman at the Captain's table remarks she likes that nice Scottish doctor, referring to Dr. Finlay from Dr. Finlay's Casebook.
  • When he mistakenly believes Mélisse was flirting with him at breakfast, Wendover remarks he's seen "that Tom Jones film".
  • Satterjee tries to improve his English accent by repeating "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plains" and "In Hertford, Hereford, Hampshire, hurricanes hardly happen".
  • After hearing the Indian music Satterjee plays, Dr. Burke calls it "Top of the Poppadoms".
  • At Captain Spratt's fancy dress ball, Dr. Burke dresses up as Julius Caesar, Audrey dresses up as Cleopatra VII and a background passenger can be seen dressed as Pagliacci.
  • When talking about Dawn's dancing, Mrs. Dailey mentions that she's very good at "the Victor Sylvester bit".
  • A picture of Vladimir Lenin is visible when Dr. Burke is about to operate on the sick Russian.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Wendover is to Captain Spratt, always popping up to annoy him, embarrass him, or somehow cause irritation to him.
• Slippery Skid: When inspecting the floor Dr. Burke had just polished, Captain Spratt slips on it and goes flying onto his back.
• Slobs Versus Snobs: Wendover clashes with Captain Spratt throughout the film. Wendover believes it's because Captain Spratt thinks he's common, while Captain Spratt only hates him as he finds him irritating.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Wendover wins only a small amount of money on the pools yet believes himself to be one of the most important passengers on the Golden Horn.
• Soap Within a Show: Basil stars in one as Dr. Dare. All the nurses love the show, but Dr. Burke finds it to be a waste of time.
• Speak in Unison: When Dr. Burke claims to be 35, all the nurses in the room say "Liar" at the same time.
• Stuff Blowing Up: When Dr. Burke slips down an air pipe while trying to hide from the Master-at-Arms, a fiery explosion erupts from it.
• Suicide Dare: One nurse has no time for Dr. Burke's complaining:
  Dr. Burke: If I cut my finger, he'd faint. Then what would you do, then, eh? Applaud?
  Nurse: Well, make it y'throat and we'll cheer.
• Tagline: "IT'S HIGH HILARITY when that well-known DOCTOR TEAM makes a maiden voyage... and almost makes out with every maiden aboard - and overboard!".
• Take That!: After seeing Dr. Burke's Julius Caesar costume, Basil scoffs and asks if he's supposed to be Twiggy.
• Talk to the Fist: When the sick Russian refuses to have an anesthetic injection, his Captain decides to put him to sleep herself with a swift crack from her fist.
• Tap on the Head: Dr. Burke is knocked unconscious when a closing door knocks him into a stack of boxes but suffers no ill effects once he awakes apart from having a sore head.
• Time Skip: After Dr. Burke finds out he'll have to stay on the Drobny, the film cuts ahead by two weeks to his return to England.
• Ugly Slavic Women: After finding out he'll be stuck on the Drobny for two weeks, Dr. Burke bemoans the fact that Ophelia is still on the Golden Horn. To make matters worse, the Russian Captain assures him that there are women on the Drobny too, showing him the two haggard, heavyset women who do the cooking.
• Undercrank: This film technique is Played for Laughs a few times:
  • When Dr. Burke arrives at Simon's house.
  • When the Master-at-Arms runs down to Roddy and the models from an upper deck to try and catch Dr. Burke.
  • When Dr. Burke sprints away from the Master-at-Arms in a scene set to a tinkly piano variant of the film's theme.
  • When Dr. Burke escapes from the Master-at-Arms in his vest and Y-fronts before climbing into an air pipe to hide.
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal: After flirting with "Lavinia", the Master-at-Arms catches sight of "her" without a wig and discovers that it is Dr. Burke in disguise and is outraged.
• Unusual Euphemism: When talking about how Captain Spratt plans to steal Dawn from him, Wendover calls Captain Spratt's penis his "compass".
• Verbal Backspace: When Wendover explains the football pools to Dawn, he begins to talk about her breasts before catching himself and getting back on topic.
• Vomit Discretion Shot: When Basil pukes, it is in his sink so the audience cannot see it.
• V-Sign: A livid Dr. Burke flicks one at Basil as he leaves his private hospital room.
• Wardrobe Malfunction: A gust of wind blows Mélisse's dress up several times and repeatedly exposes her knickers, much to Wendover's delight.
• You No Take Candle: The Russian Captain speaks in this manner due to her limited knowledge of the English language:
  Russian Captain: Him patient. You operate. Da?

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