''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'' is a television drama series that was produced and broadcast by the

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from 1962 until 1971. Based on

A. J. Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981), known as A. J. Cronin, was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is ''The Citadel'' (1937), about a Scottish doctor who serves in a Welsh mining village before achievi ...

's 1935 novella ''Country Doctor'', the storylines centred on a general medical practice in the fictional Scottish town of Tannochbrae during the late 1920s. Cronin was the primary writer for the show between 1962 and 1964.

Characters

The main characters were

Dr. Finlay Dr Finlay is a fictional character, the hero of a series of stories by Scottish author A. J. Cronin. Short stories The character Dr Finlay first appeared in Cronin's novella ''Country Doctor'' and in several subsequent short stories published in ...

, the junior partner in the practice, played by

Bill Simpson E. J. "Bill" Simpson (March 14, 1940 – December 16, 2019) was an American racecar driver, but is best known as a pioneer in the racing safety business with his company Simpson Performance Products. He left Simpson Performance in a controversy ...

, Dr. Cameron, the craggy senior partner, played by

Andrew Cruickshank Andrew John Maxton Cruickshank (25 December 1907 in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire29 April 1988 in London) was a Scottish actor, most famous for his portrayal of Dr Cameron in the long-running UK BBC television series '' Dr. Finlay's Casebook'', whi ...

and Janet, their unflappable housekeeper and receptionist at Arden House, played by

Barbara Mullen Barbara Mullen (9 June 19149 March 1979) was an American born actress well known in the UK for playing the part of Janet McPherson, the housekeeper in '' Dr. Finlay's Casebook''. Although the role of Janet brought her fame in later years, she alr ...

. Other recurrent characters included Dr. Snoddie, Finlay's crusty detractor and Janet's admirer, played by Eric Woodburn and gossipy Mistress Niven (the district nurse whose formal title was mistress midwife), played by Effie Morrison.

Cast

as Dr. Alan Finlay *

as Dr. Angus Cameron *

as Janet MacPherson *

Eric Woodburn Eric Woodburn (''né'' Eric Melville Reis; 9 March 189425 October 1981) was a Scottish stage, film and television actor. Prior to this he had a long career on the stage and was also a noted baritone singer. His most important role was as Docto ...

as Dr. Alexander Snoddie *Effie Morrison as Mistress Niven er formal title: mistress midwife*Neil Wilson as Sgt. Gilbey *

David Macmillan Sir David William Cross MacMillan (born 16 March 1968) is a Scottish chemist and the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University, where he was also the chair of the Department of Chemistry from 20 ...

as Constable Dickie * Molly Urquhart as Matron *

Robert James Robert James may refer to: *Robert James (actor) (1924–2004), Scottish actor *Robert James (businessman) (died 1983), American founder of Raymond James Financial * Robert James (defensive back) (born 1947), played in the National Football League, ...

as Mr. Gibson *Delia Paton as Sister * Bryden Murdoch as Galbraith *Marigold Sharman as Mrs. Rae * James Copeland as 'Hooky' Buchanan *

Helena Gloag Helena Gloag (23 February 1909 – 15 June 1973) was a Scottish actress. She had roles as the grandmother in the television series '' My Ain Folk'' and appeared in films such as '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'', '' Ring of Bright Water'', ...

as Mrs. Ballantyne * Leonard Maguire as Lewis Gilbride *Calum Mill as Andrew McGregor * John Clegg as Dr Mitchell * Janet Davies as Nurse

Filming location

Although it is documented that location work for the original series was filmed in the town of

Callander Callander (; gd, Calasraid) is a small town in the council area of Stirling, Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. The town se ...

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nor ...

, the very first six episodes were filmed in Tannoch Drive,

Milngavie Milngavie ( ; gd, Muileann-Ghaidh) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland and a suburb of Glasgow. It is on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Greater Glasgow, and about from Glasgow city centre. It neighbours Bearsden. Milnga ...

, where the fictional Arden House was situated on the right-hand side as one approaches Tannoch Loch. It was the ducks and swans on that

loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spelling ...

that formed part of the opening sequence of the programme. The preceding shot is of the Red Bridge over the

River Teith The River Teith is a river in Scotland, which is formed from the confluence of two smaller rivers, the ''Garbh Uisge'' (River Leny) and ''Eas Gobhain'' at Callander, Stirlingshire. It flows into the River Forth near Drip north-west of Stirling. ...

. Other outdoor scenes were filmed in

Kilbarchan Kilbarchan ( gd, Cill Bhearchain) is a village and civil parish in central Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The village's name means "cell (chapel) of St. Barchan". It is known for its former weaving industry. History ...

, Church Street in particular has changed little since filming took place. Bridge - geograph

In one of those first episodes, Dr. Finlay (Bill Simpson) crashed his old Bullnose Morris into the wall of Arden House—and that was not in the script. Another episode, filmed at night along Mugdock Road, found the local policeman, somewhat inebriated, on his bicycle in a scene with Dr. Snoddie. Episode 1 of series 8 was filmed in Kippen Stirlingshire using the local grocers and butchers shops and also the school. The interior scenes were shot in BBC studios in London and Glasgow. Uplawmoor railway station was temporarily renamed 'Tannochbrae' in 1966 for an episode of Dr. Finlay's Casebook. BR Class J36 0-6-0 steam locomotive No. 65345 was repainted at Thornton m.p.d. for use in the filming.

Radio

From 1970 until 1978, episodes from ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'' were broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

with some of the same actors from the television programme. These episodes were adapted for radio from the original television scripts by the original writers, where possible. Twenty episodes were broadcast on

BBC 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the pr ...

in the autumn of 2003. In 2001 and 2002,

broadcast a version of the original Cronin stories using the titles, ''The Adventures of a Black Bag'' and ''Doctor Finlay – Further Adventures of a Black Bag''; these have been rebroadcast by

. The adaptations are set in Levenford, the original setting chosen by Cronin, rather than Tannochbrae. The role of Dr. Finlay was played by

John Gordon Sinclair John Gordon Sinclair (born Gordon John Sinclair; 4 February 1962) is a Scottish actor, voice actor, singer, and novelist. He is best known for portraying Gregory in the 1981 film '' Gregory's Girl''. There was a Gordon Sinclair already register ...

. Dr. Cameron was played by

Brian Pettifer Brian Pettifer (born 1953) is a British actor who has appeared in many television shows, and also on stage and in film. He is the younger brother of folk musician Linda Thompson. Biography He intended to become a photographer, but pursued a career ...

, and Janet was played initially by

Katy Murphy Katy Murphy (born 8 December 1962) is a Scottish actress and teacher who has appeared in many television programs, most of them for the BBC and ITV. While most associated with television drama, she has worked across a variety of genres, includi ...

, and then by

Celia Imrie Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952) is an English actress and author. She was described in 2003 as one of the most successful British actresses of recent decades. She is best known for her film roles, including the '' Bridget Jones'' f ...

David Tennant David John Tennant ('' né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the ...

was a frequent guest actor. In 1991 BBC Enterprises produced a double cassette copy of four of the radio broadcasts (as of 13 November 2016 a copy of the cover is the profile picture on this listing). The Four episodes are: Out of the Blue (TV episode Series 6 Broadcast 11 February 1968) (Radio episode 2 June 1970) The Comical Lad (TV episode Series 5 Broadcast 8 January 1967) (Radio episode 19 February 1973) The Honours List (TV episode Series 7 Broadcast 16 March 1969) (Radio episode 4 December 1973) Charlie is My Darling (TV episode Series 2 Broadcast 19 January 1964) (Radio episode 16 January 1975) The television versions of all these episodes are recorded as missing as of 13 November 2016.

Parody

The series has been parodied in a number of programmes including an episode of

Round the Horne ''Round the Horne'' is a BBC Radio comedy programme starring Kenneth Horne, first transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The show was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, who wrote the first three series. The fo ...

set in "Stomachbrae", a play on the fictional TV setting of Tannochbrae. Although the original recording is thought to be lost, an off-air recording has been restored to broadcasting standard.

Music

The programme's famous theme tune was Trevor Duncan's march from ''A Little Suite''. The other two movements from the Suite were often used as background music. The characters from the series are featured in a song entitled ''Dr. Finlay'' by Andy Stewart, which was a minor Top 50 hit in 1965.

DVD and archive status

Simply Media TV released the first series of ''Dr Finlay's Casebook'' in March 2013, and the second series was released in April 2014. Only 10 episodes survive of the second series. The surviving episodes of series 3 and 4 were issued in 2015 and the remaining episodes series 5, 6 & 7 were released in January 2016. The nine surviving episodes from series 8 were released in April 2016. Of a complete run of 191 episodes, 122 are believed to no longer exist.

Controversies

Cronin received copies of the scripts, and he wrote a blunt letter to the series' script editor in 1964, expressing his dissatisfaction with the progression of the show. Word leaked to the media, and in June 1964, stories appeared in the national press suggesting that the author wanted the series to end. One newspaper even accused the author of "maliciously doing millions out of legitimate enjoyment." The outcry from the viewing public was immediate, and sackfuls of mail were dispatched to Cronin's home in Switzerland. He issued a statement on 7 June to refute the charges made against him: By the following year, the series was a national institution. A Bill Simpson Fan Club was set up, Andy Stewart's ''Dr Finlay'' was in the Hit Parade for five weeks, and Andrew Cruickshank was invited as a guest of honour at the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

's annual dinner to speak on medical matters as if he were a real GP. Following the

assassination of President Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

on 22 November 1963, the BBC screened ''Dr Finlay's Casebook'' as part of its regular programming. There were reportedly over 2,000 phone calls and 500 letters and telegrams complaining about the decision.How the Kennedy assassination caught the BBC on the hop
''

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

'', 18 November 2003. Retrieved 14 December 2018

References

External links

BBC Scotland – ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook''
at

bbc.co.uk BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, the children ...

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BBC article on 50th anniversary rebroadcast''Dr Finlay's Casebook'' episodes
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* ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/drfinlay.shtml BBC Radio 4: ''Dr Finlay''br>''Doctor Finlay: The Further Adventures of a Black Bag''
–

BBC Radio 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the pr ...

*
National Library of Scotland
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