Doctor Down Under

Australian TV sitcom (1979–80)

For the "Doctor" television series, see Doctor in the House (franchise).

Doctor Down Under

Starring|

* Robin Nedwell
* Geoffrey Davies
* Frank Wilson
* John Derum
* Jennifer Mellet

Country of origin| Australia
Original language| English
No. of series| 1
No. of episodes| 13
Production
Running time| 25 minutes
Original release
Network| Seven Network
Release| 12 February 1979 (1979-02-12) –
10 May 1980 (1980-05-10)
Related

* Doctor on the Go
* Doctor at the Top

Doctor Down Under is a 1979 13-episode Australian television comedy series. It was the sixth of seven series in an otherwise British TV franchise that began with Doctor in the House and was inspired by the "Doctor" books by Richard Gordon. [1] [2] The series follows directly from its predecessor Doctor on the Go, and was commissioned by the Seven Network in association with the Paul Dainty organization based on the popularity in Australia of the previous five series in the franchise. [3]

Writers for the Doctor Down Under episodes were Bernard McKenna, Jon Watkins, and Bernie Sharp.[4] The episodes were directed by William G. Stewart and John Eastway; all episodes were produced by Stewart.[5]

## Plot

[edit]

Dr Duncan Waring and Dr Dick Stuart-Clark relocate to Australia after losing their positions at St. Swithin's hospital in London. They take up positions at St. Barnabas hospital in Sydney, where they wreak havoc on the local medical staff, especially Professor Beaumont, who is Professor of Surgery, and Dr Maurice Griffin, a surgeon with whom they share their office. Some of the nurses at the hospital, however, find Drs Waring and Stuart-Clark charming, as the two English doctors continue their pursuit of women, often involving a rivalry between the two.

## Cast

[edit]

### Main / regular

[edit]

* Robin Nedwell as Dr Duncan Waring
* Geoffrey Davies as Dr Dick Stuart-Clark
* Frank Wilson as Dr Beaumont
* John Derum as Dr Maurice Griffin
* Jennifer Mellet as Linda Franklin, Duncan's medical secretary
* Joan Bruce as Sister Cummings
* Ken Wayne as Professor Wilkinson, Professor of Anaesthesia

### Guest stars

[edit]

* Chantal Contouri as Dr Wainwright (1 episode)
* Deborah Kennedy as Sister Fletcher (1 episode)
* David Foster as Dr Travers
* John Bluthal as 'Chalky' White (1 episode: "I Gotta Horse")
* John Clayton as Mr Frears (1 episode)
* Lorna Lesley Nurse Pettigrew (1 episode)
* Mary Ann Severne as Sister Potts (1 episode)
* Roger Ward as Mr Phillips (1 episode)
* Sheila Kennelly as Mrs Ellis (1 episode)

## Episode list

[edit]

1. "Thanks for the Memory" -- written by Bernard McKenna and Jon Watkins
2. "If a Job's Worth Doing" -- written by Bernard McKenna
3. "A Bird in the Hand" -- written by Jon Watkins
4. "I Gotta Horse" -- written by Bernie Sharp
5. "The Hawaiian Operation" -- written by Jon Watkins
6. "The More We Are Together" -- written by Jon Watkins
7. "It's All in the Mind" -- written by Bernie Sharp
8. "If You Can't Beat Em..." -- written by Jon Watkins
9. "Alias Clark and Waring" -- written by Jon Watkins
10. "Impatients" -- written by Bernard McKenna
11. "The Sydney Surprise" -- written by Jon Watkins
12. "The Name of the Game" -- written by Bernard McKenna
13. "Identity Crisis" -- written by Bernard McKenna

## Location of St Barnabas Hospital

[edit]

The building used as the fictional St Barnabas Hospital is Hornsby Hospital, in Hornsby, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

## UK broadcast

[edit]

Doctor Down Under aired in the United Kingdom on ITV during 1980-1981.[4]

* Granada Television was the first ITV region to broadcast the series from 5 January 1980
* Southern Television was the second to start the series from 12 February 1980.
* Anglia Television started the series from April, airing in a mid-afternoon timeslot.

Nearly all the other ITV stations picked up the series during between June and July 1980, but it was not fully networked:

* ATV and Westward aired it at 5.15pm, following children's programmes.
* Yorkshire Television aired it after News at Ten.
* Border, Grampian, Granada, HTV, STV, and Southern aired it in a peak-time slot at 7.30pm.

The last ITV region to screen the series was in London - London Weekend Television, which produced the previous series in the Doctor franchise, screened Doctor Down Under from January 1981.

## DVD release

[edit]

All 13 episodes of Doctor Down Under have been released as a two Disc DVD set by Umbrella Entertainment in Australia (2007).

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Barker, Dennis (15 August 2017). "Richard Gordon obituary". The Guardian - via www.theguardian.com.
2. ^ Barker, Dennis (15 August 2017). "Richard Gordon obituary" - via www.theguardian.com.
3. ^ Albert Moran, Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series, AFTRS 1993 p 149
4. ^ a b "Doctor Down Under (Channel 7 1979-1980, Robin Nedwell, Geoffrey Davies)". 26 May 2017.
5. ^ "Doctor down Under". BFI.[dead link‍]

## External links

[edit]

* Doctor Down Under at IMDb
* Doctor Down Under opening titles
* Doctor Down Under -- featured in "Memorable TV Australian Shows"

* v
* t
* e

Richard Gordon's Doctor series

Books|

* Doctor in the House (1952)
* Doctor at Sea (1953)
* Doctor at Large (1955)
* Doctor in Love (1957)
* Doctor and Son (1959)
* Doctor in Clover (1960)
* Doctor on Toast (1961)
* Doctor in the Swim (1962)
* The Summer of Sir Lancelot (1963)
* Love and Sir Lancelot (1965)
* Doctor on the Boil (1970)
* Doctor on the Brain (1972)
* Doctor in the Nude (1973)
* Doctor on the Job (1976)
* Doctor in the Nest (1979)
* Doctor's Daughters (1981)
* Doctor on the Ball (1985)
* Doctor in the Soup (1986)
* The Last of Sir Lancelot (1999)

Radio|

* Doctor in the House (1968)
* Doctor at Large (1969)

Films|

* Doctor in the House (1954)
* Doctor at Sea (1955)
* Doctor at Large (1957)
* Doctor in Love (1960)
* Doctor in Distress (1963)
* Doctor in Clover (1966)
* Doctor in Trouble (1970)

Television|

* Doctor in the House (1969–70)
* Doctor at Large (1971)
* Doctor in Charge (1972–73)
* Doctor at Sea (1974)
* Doctor on the Go (1975–77)
* Doctor Down Under (1979)
* Doctors' Daughters (1981)
* Doctor at the Top (1991)

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