Doctor Down Under is an Australian television comedy series based on a set of books by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of doctors.[1] The series follows directly from its predecessor Doctor on the Go, and was produced by the Seven Network in association with the Paul Dainty organization and broadcast in 1979.[2]

Doctor Down Under
Starring
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes13
Production
Running time25 minutes
Original release
NetworkSeven Network
Release12 February 1979 (1979-02-12) –
10 May 1980 (1980-05-10)
Related

Writers for the Doctor Down Under episodes were Bernard McKenna, Jon Watkins, and Bernie Sharp.[3] The episodes were directed by William G. Stewart and John Eastway; all episodes were produced by Stewart.[4]

Plot

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When Dr Duncan Waring and Dr Dick Stuart-Clark take up positions at St. Barnabas hospital in Sydney, they wreak havoc for the local medical staff, especially for Professor Beaumont, who is Professor of Surgery, and Dr Maurice Griffin, a surgeon with whom they share their office. The nurses at the hospital, however, find Dr Waring and Dr Stuart-Clark charming, as the two English doctors continue their pursuit of women.

Cast

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Main / regular

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Guest stars

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Episode list

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  1. "Thanks for the Memory" — written by Bernard McKenna and Jon Watkins
  2. "If a Job's Worth Doing" — written by Bernard McKenna
  3. "A Bird in the Hand" — written by Jon Watkins
  4. "I Gotta Horse" — written by Bernie Sharp
  5. "The Hawaiian Operation" — written by Jon Watkins
  6. "The More We Are Together" — written by Jon Watkins
  7. "It's All in the Mind" — written by Bernie Sharp
  8. "If You Can't Beat Em..." — written by Jon Watkins
  9. "Alias Clark and Waring" — written by Jon Watkins
  10. "Impatients" — written by Bernard McKenna
  11. "The Sydney Surprise" — written by Jon Watkins
  12. "The Name of the Game" — written by Bernard McKenna
  13. "Identity Crisis" — written by Bernard McKenna

Location of St Barnabas Hospital

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The building used as the fictional St Barnabas Hospital is Hornsby Hospital, in Hornsby, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

UK broadcast

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Doctor Down Under aired in the United Kingdom on ITV during 1980-1981.[3]

Nearly all the other ITV stations picked up the series during between June and July 1980, but it was not fully networked:

The last ITV region to screen the series was in London - London Weekend Television, which produced the previous series in the Doctor franchise, screened Doctor Down Under from January 1981.

DVD release

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All 13 episodes of Doctor Down Under have been released as a two Disc DVD set by Umbrella Entertainment in Australia (2007).

References

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  1. ^ "1979: February 17-23". 15 February 2009.
  2. ^ Albert Moran, Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series, AFTRS 1993 p 149
  3. ^ a b "Doctor Down Under (Channel 7 1979-1980, Robin Nedwell, Geoffrey Davies)". 26 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Doctor down Under". BFI.[dead link]
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