Doctor in The House (TV) - Writers

Writers

Unusually for a British situation comedy series Doctor in the House did not depend on a single writer or partnership to write the scripts. The writers who worked on the series are often better known for their other work. Monty Python's Graham Chapman and John Cleese and The Goodies Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie were among the regular writers. Chapman and Garden both trained as doctors. Graeme Garden also appeared as a "Television Presenter" in the episode "Doctor on the Box".

While keeping mostly to the conventions of the situation comedy genre, the shows occasionally stretched the boundaries of what was seen on television. One script by Cleese called for Michael Upton to rip away a woman's dress in a single movement (she was hiding a key he needed in her cleavage). A script by Garden and Oddie included a scene played out using cartoon drawings of the performers, in the style of a teenage romance magazine, while the actors voiced their lines.

Title of series
Number of
episodes
Writers
'Doctor in the House'
26
Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Bernard McKenna and Bill Oddie
'Doctor at Large'
29
Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna,
David Yallop, George Layton (under the pseudonym of "Oliver Fry"), Geoff Rowley and Andy Baker.
'Doctor in Charge'
43
David Askey, Graham Chapman, Graeme Garden, George Layton, Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna,
Bill Oddie, Phil Redmond and Gail Renard
'Doctor at Sea'
13
Richard Laing, George Layton, Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna, Gail Renard and Phil Redmond
'Doctor on the Go'
26
Douglas Adams, Rob Buckman, Richard Laing, George Layton, Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna,
Steve Thorn and Paul Wolfson
'Doctor Down Under'
13
Bernard McKenna, Bernie Sharp and Jon Watkins
'Doctor at the Top'
7
George Layton and Bill Oddie

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