Doctor in the House

First in the Doctor series spawned by Richard Gordon's novels, a steady slog through the medical student joke-and-jape book, made bearable by the amiable (if somewhat over-age) cast. The sequel, Doctor at Sea, took Dr Simon Sparrow (Bogarde) on his first job as medical officer on a cargo steamer, starting the steady degeneration into mechanical farce that accelerated as the series progressed. Basically a slightly more sophisticated variation on the Carry On films, subtler in innuendo but even more predictable in situations, the series produced five more films up to 1970 (Doctor at Large, Doctor in Love, Doctor in Distress, Doctor in Clover, Doctor in Trouble), but found a more welcome refuge as a TV sitcom.