''Carry On Again Doctor'' is a 1969

British comedy In film, television, and radio, British comedy has produced some of the most renowned characters in the world. In it, satire is one of the features of British comedy. Radio comedy in Britain has been almost exclusively hosted on the BBC. History ...

film, the 18th release in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It was released in December 1969 and was the third to feature a medical theme. The film features series regulars

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a South African–British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. Noted for his distinctive laugh, he was best known for numerou ...

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was a British actor and comedian. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 ''Carry ...

, Charles Hawtrey,

Joan Sims Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress and comedienne, best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' franchise, appearing in 24 of the films (the most for any actress). On television, she is known for ...

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''.

and

Hattie Jacques Hattie Jacques (; born Josephine Edwina Jaques; 7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980) was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen. She is best known as a regular of the ''Carry On'' films, where she typically played strict, no-no ...

. This was

Jim Dale Jim Dale (born James Smith; 15 August 1935) is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre. In British ...

's last ''Carry On'' appearance for 23 years until his return in '' Carry On Columbus''. It also marks the debut of

Patsy Rowlands Patricia Amy Rowlands (19 January 1931 – 22 January 2005) was an English actress who is best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films series, as Betty Lewis in the ITV Thames sitcom '' Bless This House'', and as Alice Meredith ...

to the series in her first of 9 appearances. Alongside James, Rowlands who also appears in the ITV sitcom '' Bless This House'' from 1971 to 1976. The film was followed by ''

Carry On Up the Jungle ''Carry On Up the Jungle'' is a 1970 British adventure comedy film, the 19th release in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). The film marked Frankie Howerd's second and final appearance in the series. He stars alongside regular ...

'' in 1970.

Plot

At the Long Hampton Hospital, Dr Jimmy Nookey seems to attract trouble, beginning with an incident where he enters the women's washroom by mistake, frightening the highly-strung Miss Armitage out of her senses. Nookey's carefree manner is not to everyone's liking, with Dr. Stoppidge wanting Nookey sacked for the washroom incident. Accident-prone Nookey then quickly falls in love with a film star patient named Goldie Locks. During some misadventures with the X-ray machine, Nookey triggers a massive short circuit in the hospital's electrical system, resulting in more mayhem. With the sympathetic Matron and his moody boss Dr. Frederick Carver now watching his every move, Dr. Nookey drinks, at a staff party, a fruit punch spiked by jealous Dr. Stoppidge. The drunk Nookey, after almost getting into bed with a patient, ends up on a hospital trolley which crashes through a window. Goldie leaves him because he is not interested in marriage. Meanwhile, Carver and his rich patient Ellen Moore, dispatch the disgraced Nookey to Moore's medical mission in the Beatific Islands, where it rains for nine months of the year. Nookey discovers Gladstone Screwer, the local medicine man, who has a weight-loss serum. Nookey soon returns to England and opens a new surgery with Mrs. Moore, angering Carver. While Matron joins Dr. Nookey's clinic, Carver and Stoppidge plot to try to steal the serum. Stoppidge dresses as a female patient to effect the theft, but his luck runs out when Nookey catches him in the act. Goldie returns to take the serum, much to Nookey's chagrin. Gladstone quickly discovers that Nookey is making a fortune from his serum, and cuts off his supply to deliver the product in person and get in on the action. Nookey prevaricates, so Gladstone gives him a dose, which seems to cause sex changes. The movie ends with Nookey and Goldie getting married at the Moore-Nookey-Gladstone-Carver facility, and the rest of the staff of the Long Hampton Hospital becoming friends again.

Production notes

The original script for ''Carry On Again Doctor'' raised problems with Rank's legal adviser, who felt it was too similar to an unfilmed '

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

' script that

Talbot Rothwell Talbot Nelson Conn "Tolly" Rothwell, Order of the British Empire, OBE (12 November 1916 – 28 February 1981) was an English screenwriter. Life and career Rothwell was born in Bromley, Kent, England. He had a variety of jobs during his earl ...

, writer of ''Carry On Again Doctor'', had previously submitted to producer Betty Box. Most notably, both scenarios featured the medical mission/slimming potion idea. As Box had not taken up the option on Rothwell's 'Doctor' script, however, it was felt there were no legal problems with the use of those ideas in this film. The opening bars of the title music are the same used for Carry On Camping. During the party scene, Eric Rogers plays "Magic of Love" (from Carry On Spying), "Call Me a Cab" (from Carry On Cabby) and a rumba score which was used in Carry On Abroad. Eric Rogers arranges the theme from Steptoe and Son when Wilfrid Brambell appears, as he did with Harry H. Corbett in Carry On Screaming.

Cast

as Gladstone Screwer *

as Doctor Jimmy Nookey *

as Doctor Frederick Carver * Charles Hawtrey as Doctor Ernest Stoppidge/Lady Puddleton *

as Ellen Moore *

as Goldie Locks (real name Maud Boggins) *

as Miss Soaper, the Matron *

as Miss Fosdick *

Peter Butterworth Peter William Shorrocks Butterworth (4 February 1915Wilfrid Brambell as Mr Pullen * Elizabeth Knight as Nurse Willing * Peter Gilmore as Henry *

Alexandra Dane Alexandra Dane (born ''c''. 1940
''London Evening Standard'' (12 April 2012). Retrieved 31 ...

as Stout woman *

Pat Coombs Patricia Doreen Coombs (27 August 1926 – 25 May 2002) was an English actress. She specialised in the portrayal of the eternal downtrodden female, comically under the thumb of stronger personalities. She was known for many roles on radio, ...

as New Matron * William Mervyn as Lord Paragon *

Patricia Hayes Patricia Lawlor Hayes (22 December 1909 – 19 September 1998) was an English character actress. She is best known for playing the titular Edna in the ''Play for Today'', ''Edna, the Inebriate Woman'' (1971), for which she won the British Ac ...

as Mrs Beasley * Lucy Griffiths as Old lady in headphones * Harry Locke as Porter * Gwendolyn Watts as Night sister * Valerie Leon as Deirdre Filkington-Battermore *

Frank Singuineau Francis Ethelbert Dominic Singuineau (4 August 191311 September 1992) was a Trinidadian actor of stage and screen who worked in the United Kingdom, where he moved from Trinidad and Tobago in the 1940s.Stephen Bourne"Obituary: Frank Singuineau" ' ...

as Porter * Valerie Van Ost as Out-Patients Sister * Simon Cain as X-ray man * Elspeth March as Hospital board member Wilfred Brambell's character was a non-speaking cameo in an early scene. When he appeared, the theme from ''

Steptoe and Son ''Steptoe and Son'' is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business in 26a Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC in black a ...

'' was played over his scene.

Crew

*Screenplay –

*Music – Eric Rogers *Production manager – Jack Swinburne *Art director – John Blezard *Editor –

Alfred Roome Alfred Wallace Roome (22 December 1908 – 19 November 1997) was an English film editor and occasional film director, director. Biography Born in London, in 1908, he first worked in the film industry as a film editor on the 1932 British comed ...

*Director of photography – Ernest Steward *Camera operator – James Bawden *Assistant editor – Jack Gardner *Continuity – Susanna Merry *Make-up – Geoffrey Rodway *Assistant director – Ivor Powell *Sound recordists – Bill Daniels & Ken Barker *Hairdresser – Stella Rivers *Costume designer – Anna Duse *Dubbing editor – Colin Miller *Producer –

Peter Rogers Peter Rogers (20 February 1914 – 14 April 2009) was an English film producer. He is best known for creating the ''Carry On'' series of films. Life and career Rogers began his career as a journalist for his local paper, before graduat ...

*Director –

Gerald Thomas Gerald Thomas (10 December 1920 – 9 November 1993) was an English film director best known for the long-running ''Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' series'' of British film comedies. Early life Born in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding ...

Filming and locations

*Filming dates – 17 March – 2 May 1969 Interiors: *

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

, Buckinghamshire Exteriors: * Maidenhead, where the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

doubled for the hospital as it previously did in

Carry On Doctor ''Carry On Doctor'' is a 1967 British comedy film, the 15th in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It is the second in the series to have a medical theme. Frankie Howerd makes the first of his two appearances in the film series ...

. * Pinewood Studios. Heatherden Hall, the studio management block was used as the exterior for the Moore-Nookey Clinic * Windsor, Berkshire. Location of Dr Nookey's consulting rooms (the same location featured in Carry On Regardless as the Helping Hands Agency and in Carry On Loving as the Wedded Bliss agency).

Release

When the film was released by

American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...

in New York in February 1973, they released it under the title ''Carry on Doctor''. The sequence where Dr Nookie short circuits the hospital's electrical system and the ensuing mayhem formed introduction to the 1980s compilation show ''

Carry On Laughing ''Carry On Laughing'' is a British television comedy series produced in 1975 for ATV. Based on the '' Carry On'' films, it was an attempt to address the films' declining cinema attendance by transferring the franchise to television. Many of t ...

''.

Critical reception

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' wrote "The fast moving plot and changing locations keep the show moving, and makes this one of the more successful entries in the series."

Bibliography

* * * * *''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'' by Simon Sheridan (third edition) (2007) (Reynolds & Hearn Books) * * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carry On Again Doctor 1969 films 1969 comedy films 1960s sex comedy films Again Doctor 1960s English-language films Films directed by Gerald Thomas Films set in hospitals Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films produced by Peter Rogers Films with screenplays by Talbot Rothwell 1960s British films Films scored by Eric Rogers (composer) British sex comedy films English-language sex comedy films