Doctor on the Slide

We're on the final leg of Rewind TV's repeat run of London Weekend's 'Doctor' series, derived from the Richard Gordon novels with Doctor on the Go.  (Unless they are going to show the Australian spin-off series, Doctor Down Under or the brief BBC revival Doctor at the Top, as well).  Doctor on the Go, which ran from 1975-77, was the fifth incarnation of the series, which had debuted in 1969 with Doctor in the House.  By this time, only three of the original cast of characters were left - Robin Nedwell as Dr Waring, Geoffrey Davies as Dr Stuart-Clarke and Ernest Clarke as Professor Loftus - with original star Barry Evans having left to do sex comedies after Doctor at Large, while George Layton had departed at the end of Doctor in Charge (although he continued to write for subsequent series) as had Richard O'Sullivan, who went onto TV sitcom superstardom with Man About the House.  Consequently, Doctor on the Go feels a pale shadow of previous incarnations, despite its attempt to return the series to its origins with a hospital setting and medically based gags after the eccentric digression of Doctor at Sea.  The trouble was that, by this time, they'd already used up the best medical gags in earlier series (not to mention the preceding series of films derived from the novels), so it all feels more than a little bit repetitive.  Moreover, by this time, the main characters look and feel far too old to be engaging in the kind of shenanigans which had seemed amusing when they were medical students, but now, with them as qualified and experienced doctors, just seem utterly irresponsible.  You can't help but sympathise with  Professor Loftus as he bawls them out and threatens to sack them on a weekly basis.

As a result, it is far more difficult to sympathise with either of the leads.  Indeed, by Doctor on the Go, you find yourself praying that Stuart-Clarke is going to get struck off, so incompetent and dangerous to patients he has become.  He was bad enough in Doctor at Sea - lazy, crooked and disloyal - but by Doctor on the Go he is insufferable.  Watching seventies sitcoms is, more often than not, a disconcerting experience, so different were the attitudes and humour displayed in them, compared to today, a sobering reminder of how radically things can change over a relatively short period of time.  Sexism, racism and bigotry of all kinds are treated as the norm, with all manner of misogynistic and racist terms happily bandied about without consequence.  But even as the seventies progressed, things began to change and Doctor on the Go, even in 1975 seemed somewhat old-fashioned in its humour - by 1977 it seemed positively prehistoric.   Which is something that reverberates down the decades when you see it again now - whereas the earlier series, despite their problematic, by modern standards, aspects, are actually still amusing and entertaining to watch - Doctor on the Go just seems tired, a cynical attempt to wring some more mileage out of the format.  Doctor in Charge, which showed from 1972-73, probably represented the series at its peak, reflected in its ratings at the time, despite its relatively crude (by modern standards) production values, still retains a degree of freshness and manic energy, both of which Doctor on the Go lacks.  Even Stuart-Clark isn't quite insufferable, despite his incompetence.  Maybe I'm biased because Doctor in Charge is the first of the 'Doctor' series I have a clear memory of watching, but I can't help but feel that it was all downhill for the format after that.