When Celebrities Go Nuts (Part Two)

It is not just TV cops who suffer delusions - screen medics are equally likely to confuse fact and fiction. Many British TV viewers will doubtless fondly remember ITV’s Doctor in the House series and its many sequels during the 1970s. However, few will be aware that their star, the late Robin Nedwell, became so immersed in his role that he actually believed himself to be a doctor! He would frequently stroll into London hospitals wearing a white coat and carrying his prop stethoscope and examine unsuspecting patients. Suspicions were aroused in 1975 when three young women complained that they had been subjected to full gynaecological examinations at St George’s Hospital in Chiswick, despite only having visited the Accident and Emergency department with sprained ankles. “I thought a cold compress and elasticated bandage would be the best treatment”, commented one. “But he insisted that it was vital that he poured yoghurt into my vagina. Of course I agreed - he was a doctor!” Nedwell apparently also participated in several operations before his subterfuge was discovered. Fearing adverse publicity, the medical authorities hushed up his activities and confiscated his surgical tools.

Undeterred, the confused thespian promptly set up his own health clinic, where he used a home-made set of medical apparatus to treat private patients. It was finally closed down in 1977 after Nedwell inadvertently removed a patient’s healthy left testicle whilst performing an appendectomy with converted potato peeler. Staff at the clinic were amazed to learn that their boss had no formal medical training. “Of course we thought he was a doctor - he had a certificate saying he’d graduated from medical school”, said one nurse. “Although I suppose we should have been suspicious of the fact that the X-ray machine looked suspiciously like a photocopier. In the wake of this scandal other bizarre facts emerged - Nedwell had once treated a man for venereal disease by boiling his genitals in vinegar, for instance. He had also used a tin-opener to make surgical incisions, used craft-knives instead of scalpels and used a desktop stapler to close wounds.