''Doctor Down Under'' was an Australian television comedy series based on a set of books by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of doctors. The series follows directly from its predecessor '' Doctor on the Go'', and was produced by the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

in association with the Paul Dainty organization and broadcast in 1979.Albert Moran, ''Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series'', AFTRS 1993 p 149 Writers for the ''Doctor Down Under'' episodes were Bernard McKenna, Jon Watkins, and Bernie Sharp. The episodes were directed by William G. Stewart and John Eastway; all episodes were produced by Stewart.

Plot

When Dr Duncan Waring and Dr Dick Stuart-Clark take up positions at St. Barnabas hospital in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, 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

Robin Nedwell Robin Courteney Nedwell (27 September 1946 – 1 February 1999) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his role as Duncan Waring in the television comedy series ''Doctor in the House'' and its sequels; he also featured in other televisio ...

as Dr Duncan Waring *

Geoffrey Davies Geoffrey Davies (born 15 December 1942 in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actor. Biography The son of an accountant, Davies was educated at grammar school and studied at art college to be a commercial artist before becoming an ...

as Dr Dick Stuart-Clark * Frank Wilson as Dr Beaumont *

John Derum John Bernard Derum (born 9 January 1946) is an Australian stage, film and television actor. He has also directed and produced for theatre companies throughout Australia and for television. Career Theatre Derum walked in on Wal Cherry's ...

as Dr Maurice Griffin * Jennifer Mellet as Linda Franklin, Duncan's medical secretary * Joan Bruce as Sister Cummings * Ken Wayne as Professor Wilkinson, Professor of Anaesthesia

Guest stars

John Bluthal John Bluthal (born Isaac Bluthal; 12 August 1929 – 15 November 2018) was a Polish-born Australian actor and comedian, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. He started his career ...

, who guest-starred in the episode "I Gotta Horse" *

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

as Dr Travers *

Roger Ward Roger Ward (born 1936) is an Australian actor who has had a considerable career in film and television, noted for "tough guy" roles in which he often did his own stunts. Biography Ward was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1936. His car ...

as Mr Phillips *

Sheila Kennelly Sheila Kennelly (born 28 December 1936Willingham, Margot "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Australian Showbiz"Oram, James "Home and Away" Behind the Scene's'' published by Angus and Robertson also credited as Sheila Kenneally, is a British-born ...

as Mrs Ellis

Episode list

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

Location of St Barnabas Hospital

The building used as the fictional St Barnabas Hospital is Hornsby Hospital, in Hornsby,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia.

UK broadcast

''Doctor Down Under'' aired in the United Kingdom on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

during 1980-1981. *

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

was the first ITV region to broadcast the series on Saturday 5 January. *

Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...

was the second to start the series from Tuesday 12 February 1980. *

Anglia Television ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

started the series from April broadcasting at 15.15 slot. Nearly all the other ITV stations picked up the series during between June and July 1980, but it was not fully networked: * ATV and Westward broadcast it 17.15 *

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

broadcast it 10.30 *

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

Grampian Grampian ( gd, Roinn a' Mhonaidh) was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The region to ...

, Granada, HTV, STV, and Southern broadcast it 19.30. Last ITV area to broadcast the series was London:

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...

, which produced the previous series in the ''Doctor'' franchise, screened ''Doctor Down Under'' from January 1981.

DVD release

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

References

External links

*
''Doctor Down Under'' opening titles

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Down Under (Tv Series) 1979 in Australian television 1980 in Australian television 1979 Australian television series debuts 1980 Australian television series endings Australian television sitcoms Doctor in the House English-language television shows Australian medical television series Television shows set in New South Wales Seven Network original programming