''Dr Willoughby'' is a

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. British sitcoms have predominantly been recorded on studio sets, while some include an element of location filming. Live audiences and multi-camera ...

broadcast on ITV from 14 November – 13 December 1999. The show was set on the set of a fictional

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

, also called Dr Willoughby and followed the often over dramatic storylines and the personal lives of the cast and crew.

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...

plays Donna Sinclair, who plays the fictional part of Dr Willoughby. Donna is less than popular with her co-stars and her producer and gets less fanmail than anyone else, including new cast member Crystal and long standing co-star Ralph Whatman. Ralph Whatman is the male lead in Dr Willoughby and whenever Donna Sinclair has bad publicity or is heading for a fall he wastes no time in trying to make the show his own. Emma Goodliffe is the shows producer, unable to cope with the stress she is begging to be removed from the show. She is even heard in one episode to be applying for a job in a supermarket only to be told she is over qualified. Crystal is the new girl, she is receiving more fan mail than Donna after just two weeks on the show, something which Donna cannot stand. She demands that producer Emma remove her from the show but her request is rejected leading to Donna to advise Crystal not to wear a bra in order to put off her male fans. Andy is the shows runner, he is at the beck and call of Donna. When Donna takes a shine to a new actor, she is furious when she walks into a store cupboard only to find that Andy is in there with him. Dr Willoughby was originally broadcast in 1999 on ITV in the UK, it lasted for just one series of 6 episodes. It was produced by

WitzEnd Productions Allan McKeown (born John McKeown; 21 May 1946 – 24 December 2013) was a British television, film, and stage producer. Early life McKeown was born in Ealing, London on 21 May 1946. His parents Edith Mabel (née Humphries) and Albert Victor McK ...

. It was written and created by Laurie Rowley, produced by Tony Charles and directed by David Skinner.

Cast

Several episodes are available on YouTube and the following cast credits are taken from this. *

– Donna Sinclair * Brian Protheroe – Ralph Whatman * Isobel Middleton – Emma Goodliffe * Paula Bacon – Crystal Reynolds * Ian Puleston-Davies – Steve Lipton *

Gillian Barge Gillian Betty Merrison (born 27 May 1940 – 19 November 2003), better known by her stage name Gillian Barge was an English stage, television and film actress. She was born in Hastings, Sussex. She started acting at the age of 17, training ...

– Mrs Ajax *

Tanya Moodie Tanya Moodie (born 16 April 1972) is a British-Canadian actor and producer, best known for her work on ''Motherland'', ''Silo'', and her many stage credits, which include productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatr ...

– Geraldine * Ursula Holden-Gill – Gill * Scott Hickman – Andy * Michelle Joseph – Kelly *

Fritha Goodey Fritha Jane Goodey (23 October 1972 – 7 September 2004) was a British stage, radio and film actress known for her performance in the film '' About a Boy'' (2002), in which she played one of Hugh Grant's character's former girlfriends. Early l ...

– Moira Gatewood

Episodes

All episodes were broadcast at 22:00 on ITV every Monday apart from the first episode which aired on a Sunday. * 1. Fan Mail (14 November 1999) * 2. Young Pretender (15 November 1999) * 3. Family Wedding (22 November 1999) * 4. Speculation (29 November 1999) * 5. Scandal (6 December 1999) * 6. Awards (13 December 1999)

DVD release

The series is available on DVD in both the UK and USA.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Willoughby 1999 British television series debuts 1999 British television series endings 1990s British sitcoms ITV sitcoms 1990s British medical television series Television series by Fremantle (company) British English-language television shows