The misadventures of the medical students of St. Swithin’s were first introduced to the public in 1952 with the publication of Richard Gordon’s comic novel DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE. Inspired by his own time as a student at Cambridge University and St Bartholemew’s Hospital in the 1940s, Gordon’s tale was written during an idle period at sea while working as a ship’s surgeon. “I had nothing to do except drink gin with the chief engineer,” he later explained. “To save myself from developing cirrhosis of the liver, I wrote about my experiences as a medical student.” The novel was a great success, selling over three million copies and being translated into nearly twenty languages. Over the next thirty years, Richard Gordon wrote a further seventeen novels in the DOCTOR series. He also wrote a number of non-fiction books, a textbook on anaesthesiology, and was a regular contributor to Punch magazine.

The success of DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE soon attracted the attention of the Rank Organisation. The film adaptation, starring Dirk Bogarde as naïve medical student Simon Sparrow and James Robertson Justice as irascible surgeon Sir Lancelot Spratt, was the number one movie at the British box office in 1954. Five sequels followed; DOCTOR AT SEA (1955), DOCTOR AT LARGE (1957), DOCTOR IN LOVE (1960), DOCTOR IN DISTRESS (1963), DOCTOR IN CLOVER (1966), and DOCTOR IN TROUBLE (1970). A popular stage adaptation of DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE was first performed in 1956 and has been a regular attraction for many professional and amateur theatre companies ever since. A 13-episode BBC radio adaptation of DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE also appeared in 1968, starring Richard Briers as Simon Sparrow and Geoffrey Sumner as Sir Lancelot Spratt. DOCTOR AT LARGE followed for a further 13 episodes the following year.

In 1969, LWT launched a new television adaptation of DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE with scripts by John Cleese and Graham Chapman, Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden, and Barry Cryer. The series saw the characters and situations updated for a more liberal age. Barry Evans starred as student Michael Upton, alongside Robin Nedwell as Duncan Waring, Geoffrey Davies as Dick Stuart-Clark, George Layton as Paul Collier, and Ernest Clark as Professor Loftus. DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE ran for 26 episodes over two hugely popular series. It was followed by DOCTOR IN LARGE (29 episodes, 1971), DOCTOR IN CHARGE (43 episodes, 1972-73), DOCTOR AT SEA (13 episodes, 1974), and DOCTOR ON THE GO (26 episodes, 1975-77). Further sequels followed with DOCTOR DOWN UNDER in Australia (13 episodes, 1979) and a switch of channels for DOCTOR AT THE TOP on BBC1 (7 episodes, 1991).

It is with great pleasure to announce that we will be returning to St. Swithin’s! DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE is a new audio sitcom updating Richard Gordon’s classic story of misbehaving medical students for a new generation. Reflecting the changes in medical education and the daily lives of students, and tackling wider issues within the NHS and beyond, this modern adaptation is in keeping with the spirit of the original with a contemporary edge. The first series features 6 x 40 minute episodes and will be released at Christmas 2025.

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