The Doctor films were a series of 7 movies made between 1954 and 1970 based on the novels by Richard Gordon, showing the lives of medical students trying to become doctors or doctors getting into all sorts of scrapes and surprises. The first four films were set in St. Swithin's Hospital, while the next two moved to Hampden Cross Hospital; The final hospital from Doctor in Trouble wasn't named. All were produced by Betty Box and directed by Ralph Thomas.
The films first starred Dirk Bogarde as Dr. Simon Sparrow, a young medical student starting off in the world of medicine. Bogarde quickly grew unsatisfied with the sequels, which he viewed as inferior, and so he left the series after Doctor at Large (barring a one-off return for Doctor in Distress (1963)). The films without Bogarde instead starred Leslie Phillips, twice as Dr. Tony Burke and once as Dr. Gaston Grimsdyke.
The only actor to appear in every film was James Robertson Justice as Sir Lancelot Spratt (except in Doctor at Sea when he played Captain Wentworth Hogg). Sir Lancelot is the chief surgeon of St. Swithin's and the shared fear of medical students and doctors alike. As he said himself in Doctor at Large, "I do not growl like a bear, I roar like a lion!".
Other actors who notable appearances in the films include Donald Sinden, Muriel Pavlow, Donald Houston, Joan Sims, Noel Purcell, Brigitte Bardot, Michael Medwin, Michael Craig, Barbara Murray, Fenella Fielding, Harry Secombe, and Robert Morley.
The complete list of films in the series is as follows:
- Doctor in the House (1954) — Four medical students trying to pass their exams.
- Doctor at Sea (1955) — Dr. Sparrow working as a ship's doctor.
- Doctor at Large (1957) — Dr. Sparrow struggling to find consistent work.
- Doctor in Love (1960) — Dr. Hare struggling to run a private practice with the help of Dr. Burke.
- Doctor in Distress (1963) — Dr. Sparrow falling in love with a model, while Sir Lancelot falls in love with a physiotherapist.
- Doctor in Clover (1966) — Dr. Grimsdyke trying to look younger to romance a nurse, while Sir Lancelot clashes with the new Matron.
- Doctor in Trouble (1970) — Dr. Burke becoming a stowaway on a cruise ship.
The Doctor film series provides examples from the following tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Wendy Thomas' advances on Dr. Sparrow kick off the plot of Doctor at Sea, as he takes a job as a ship's doctor just to avoid her.
- Alliterative Name: Simon Sparrow.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: It doesn't take a lot for Sir Lancelot to go off into a blustery rage. When he begins to cool down in Doctor in Distress (1963), it is the first sign that he had fallen in love.
- Hospital Hottie:
- Nurse Joy Gibson from Doctor in the House (1954) and Doctor at Large. It takes a while for Dr. Sparrow to warm up to her but the two eventually fall in love.
- Physiotherapist Jeanine from Doctor in Clover. She's so beautiful that Dr. Grimsdyke will stop at nothing to have her.
- Putting the "Medic" in Comedic: All seven films revolve around doctors getting into humorous situations, for example Doctor in Trouble includes Dr. Burke getting into sped-up chase sequences, blown up and hit on by a butch Russian captain.
