Carry On Doctor – 1967 | 94 mins | Comedy | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Carry On Doctor is full of low-brow humour aimed at the nether regions, phantom pregnancies and bedpans, horrendous visitors and sexy nurses in the shape of bubbly Barbara Windsor and a wide-eyed Anita Harris. The handsome doctor who causes Anita’s pulse to race is the ideal vehicle for Jim Dale, his manic ‘roof top drama’ involving sexual misunderstanding is a highlight. It is the eccentricities of the hospital environment that cause the most merriment, with the roguish man-of-the-world of Sid James smoking under the bedclothes, drinking whiskey and over-heating the thermometer when he first catches sight of Nurse Windsor. Peter Butterworth, as the representative for the everyman audience, tellingly called Smith, moans and groans at his wife’s insistence at bringing the hated grapes but revels in the army-like community of the men’s ward.

Charles Hawtrey whimpers and whines throughout the proceedings with his morning sickness and pre-natal classes. Hattie Jacques injects a touch of love-struck compassion into her over-powering tyrant of a Matron and Kenneth Williams, minces around in a daze with flowers and hallucinations. As a backdrop to this huge collection of comic individuals, a loose but effective plot which includes corruption in high places, the ousting of likeable doctor, Jim Dale, the reinstatement of likeable doctor, Jim Dale, the demotion of disliked doctor, Kenneth Williams, and a happy ending for the battling patients.

Review© Robert Ross: Carry On Companion.