User Reviews

Duncan Waring and Dick Stuart Clark were yet again taken out of St. Swithin's for another spin-off, only this time they were down under. Indeed, 'Down Under' was the name for this spin-off. Duncan and Dick transferred from St. Swithin's to St. Barnabas in Australia.

Truth to tell, there was very little in the way of plots, just Duncan trying vainly to seduce the local 'Sheilas' and Dick trying to find ways of making easy money. It was more of less the same as what happened at St. Swithin's, only with not as funny results.

In place of Professor Loftus, we had Professor Norman Beaumont ( played by Frank Wilson ), whilst in place of Bingham ( or possibly Gasgoine from 'Doctor On The Go' ) we had John Derum as Dr. Maurice Griffin. Neither of those characters garnered the same affection as their British counterparts.

On the plus side, the theme music was given a far better reworking, far superior to the horrible one used on 'At Large', ''In Charge' and 'On The Go'. The late William G. Stewart ( later the host for '15 To 1' ) was in charge on production. Bernard McKenna was among the scriptwriters.

'Doctor Down Under' was screened in the UK in 1980 but was not well received and has been virtually forgotten. In 1991, however, Duncan and Dick were back in Britain, along with Paul Collier and Professor Loftus, for the superior 'Doctor At The Top', though sadly that too failed to catch on.

'Doctor In The House' began in 1969, ran for nine years ( under various titles ), and ended when it was still popular. Two years later, Robin Nedwell and Geoffrey Davies reunited for this short-lived spin off/sequel for Australia's Network 7.

Waring and Stuart-Clark have once again burned their bridges at St. Swithins. And fled Blighty for pastures new. The set-up at St. Barnabas was indeed similar, even down to some of the supporting characters. 'Professor Norman Beaumont' and 'Dr. Maurice Griffin' were obviously based on 'Professor Sir Geoffrey Loftus' and 'Dr. Lawrence Bingham'. Frank Wilson was good as the crabby 'Beaumont', but John Derum played 'Griffin' in an irritating one-note style. As 'Linda Franklin', Duncan's sexy secretary, Jennifer Mellet bore a striking physical resemblance to Jacquie-Ann Carr of 'Doctor On The Go'.

Predictably, there was an abundance of pretty young 'Sheilas' for the lads to work their charm on. A wall map of Australia had coloured pins stuck into it every time they 'scored'.

William G. Stewart, producer of 'Bless This House', took charge. As for the writers, only Bernard McKenna worked on the original. Jon Watkins wrote or co-wrote most of the episodes, his other credits include the L. W. T. Series 'The Fosters'. Most of the plots concerned Dick's latest money-making scam or Duncan's attempts to have his way with a pretty doctor. There were production difficulties. Nedwell later said: "I cringe whenever I see it. We had problems with scripts, and I'm sure the experience will haunt me for years to come.".

Alan Tew's theme was given a new, softer arrangement, more or less indistinguishable from the one employed on 'Doctor In The House'. I personally prefer the more powerful one used on 'At Large','In Charge', and 'On The Go'.

'Under' is generally disliked by 'Doctor' fans. The weak scripts, the absence of guest-stars of the calibre of Arthur Lowe, Freddie Jones and Henry McGee, and the fact that little of Australia was seen outside of St. Barnabas and Duncan's flat combined to sink the show.

I. T. V. Screened 'Under' in 1980-81, mostly in afternoon or early evening slots. Many stations chose not to play the full run of thirteen episodes.

By rights it should have been the end for Duncan and Dick, but in 1991, they returned in the even less-successful 'Doctor At The Top'.