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	\| image = Doctor in Trouble FilmPoster.jpeg		\| image = Doctor in Trouble FilmPoster.jpeg
	\| alt =		\| alt =
	~~\| border = yes~~		\| caption =
	\| caption = ~~Original British 1970 [[Film poster#Film poster sizes\|quad film poster]]~~
	\| director = [[Ralph Thomas]]		\| director = [[Ralph Thomas]]
	\| producer = [[Betty Box]]		\| producer = [[Betty Box]]

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	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Doctor in Trouble		\| name = Doctor in Trouble

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	[[Category:Films produced by Betty Box]]		[[Category:Films produced by Betty Box]]
	[[Category:1970s British films]]		[[Category:1970s British films]]
			[[Category:British medical comedy films]]

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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Doctor in Trouble
| image_size =
| image = Doctor in Trouble FilmPoster.jpeg
| alt =
| border = yes
| caption = Original British 1970 [[Film poster#Film poster sizes|quad film poster]]
| director = [[Ralph Thomas]]
| producer = [[Betty Box]]
| writer = [[Jack Davies (screenwriter)|Jack Davies]]
| based_on = ''[[Doctor on Toast]]'' by [[Richard Gordon (English author)|Richard Gordon]]
| starring = [[Harry Secombe]]<br />[[Leslie Phillips]]<br />[[Robert Morley]]<br />[[Angela Scoular]]
| music = [[Eric Rogers (composer)|Eric Rogers]]
| cinematography = [[Ernest Steward]]
| editing = Peter Boita
| studio = [[Rank Organisation]]
| distributor = [[Rank Film Distributors]]
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1970|06|16|UK}}
| runtime = 90 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''Doctor in Trouble''''' is a 1970 British [[comedy film]], the seventh and last film in the ''[[Doctor (film series)|Doctor]]'' series. It was directed by [[Ralph Thomas]] and stars [[Leslie Phillips]] as a doctor who gets accidentally trapped on an outgoing cruise ship while it begins a round the world trip. The cast was rounded out by a number of British comedy actors including [[James Robertson Justice]], [[Harry Secombe]] and [[Angela Scoular]]. It was based on the 1961 novel ''[[Doctor on Toast]]'' by [[Richard Gordon (English author)|Richard Gordon]].

==Plot==
Renowned surgeon Sir Lancelot Spratt ([[James Robertson Justice]]) arranges a cruise for his patient, the famous television star Basil Beauchamp ([[Simon Dee]]). The captain of the ship is Lancelot Spratt's brother George Spratt ([[Robert Morley]]).

Doctor Burke ([[Leslie Phillips]]) becomes a [[stowaway]] by mistake when chasing his girlfriend Ophelia ([[Angela Scoular]]) onto the ship to propose to her. She is one of a group of models doing a fashion shoot with camp photographer Roddy ([[Graham Chapman]]). Other passengers aboard ship include [[football pools|pools]] winner Llewellyn Wendover ([[Harry Secombe]]) and Mrs. Dailey ([[Irene Handl]]), a socially ambitious lady hoping to find a wealthy match for her daughter Dawn ([[Janet Mahoney]]).

Burke is pursued by the [[Master-at-Arms]] ([[Freddie Jones]]) who correctly suspects that he does not have a ticket. Burke tries various ruses to try to escape him, including dressing up as a doctor. Eventually he is caught and exposed as a stowaway. Captain Spratt orders him to serve as an orderly, scrubbing the ship.

When the ship's doctor falls ill from a tropical disease, Burke takes over his duties. He is called into action when a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] cargo ship sends a request for help due to a patient with acute [[appendicitis]]. Burke is transferred to that ship to perform an operation. By the time he has finished his own ship has departed, and he is forced to stay on board the Soviet vessel until it reaches [[Grimsby]]. When the cruise ship finally returns to port, Burke learns his girlfriend has married the ship's doctor, now recovered from his illness.

Meanwhile, Dawn Dailey, having failed to snare Captain Spratt, decides to marry Wendover. She learns after the wedding that he is not as wealthy as she had imagined.

==Main cast==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Leslie Phillips]] as Doctor Anthony Burke
* [[Harry Secombe]] as Llewellyn Wendover
* [[Robert Morley]] as Captain George Spratt
* [[James Robertson Justice]] as Sir Lancelot Spratt
* [[Simon Dee]] as Basil Beauchamp
* [[Angela Scoular]] as Ophelia O'Brien
* [[Irene Handl]] as Mrs. Dailey
* [[Janet Mahoney]] as Dawn Dailey
* [[Freddie Jones]] as Master-at-Arms
* [[Joan Sims]] as Russian Captain
* [[John Le Mesurier]] as Purser
* [[Graham Stark]] as Saterjee
* [[Graham Chapman]] as Roddy
* [[Jacki Piper]] as Girl in taxi
* [[Fred Emney]] as Father
* [[Yuri Borienko]] as Sick Russian
* [[Gerald Sim]] as 1st Doctor
* [[Yutte Stensgaard]] as Eve (Model)
* [[Jimmy Thompson (actor)|Jimmy Thompson]] as Ship's Doctor
* [[Sylvana Henriques]] as Model
* [[Marcia Fox]] as Jean
* [[Tom Kempinski]] as Stedman Green
* [[Anthony Sharp]] as Chief Surgeon
* [[Marianne Stone]] as Spinster
* [[John Bluthal]] as TV Doctor
{{div col end}}

==Production==
The film was based on the book ''[[Doctor on Toast]]'', published in 1961.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51384977 |title=DOCTOR ON TOAST |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |volume=29 |issue=11 |date=16 August 1961 |access-date=16 May 2016 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The plot of the book focused on Dr Grymsdyke and was different from the final film.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dr. Grimsdyke as Ghost-Writer: DOCTOR ON TOAST. By Richard Gordon. 237 pp. New York: Doubleday & Co. $3.95.|author=FRANK G. SLAUGHTER|work=New York Times|date=30 July 1961|page=BR19}}</ref>

The original intention was for James Robertson Justice to play two roles, Sir Lancelot Spratt and his twin-brother Captain George Spratt (a variation of the part of Captain Hogg that he had played in ''[[Doctor at Sea (film)|Doctor at Sea]]'') – "the best part of any we'd done together" according to producer Betty Box.<ref>Box p 272</ref>

However, shortly before filming, Justice had a cerebral stroke and was rushed from his home near Inverness to Aberdeen for brain surgery. Justice recovered and wanted to play both roles as planned but the filmmakers decided he would be unable to do so, in part because he now had an uncontrollable tremor in his right arm. The part of Captain Spratt was offered to Robert Morley (who had been considered for the role of Lancelot Spratt in ''Doctor in the House'' but had wanted too much money). James Robertson Justice still played the smaller role of Lancelot. "It must have taken every ounce of energy he possessed to do it", said Box. "We knew he needed the money and paid him for both parts – he certainly deserved it for long and loyal service."<ref>Box p 273</ref>

Producer Betty Box said the film "wasn't a happy time for" her and director Ralph Thomas as they knew it "was the last movie we'd be able to make" with Justice.<ref>Box p 272</ref> She felt Robert Morley's casting undermined the picture. "Situations which would have been hilarious with James were just mildly amusing with Morley, and the whole point of the piece was lost", she said. Despite good performances from other members of the cast, she thought "the entire project was doomed... from the day a real life surgeon said the world 'Scalpel' over dear James's unconscious bulk."<ref>Box p 273</ref>

It was Leslie Phillip's third appearance in a "Doctor" film. He played Dr Tony Burke, the same character he played in ''[[Doctor in Love]]''. In ''[[Doctor in Clover]]'', he played Dr Gaston Grimsdkye.

It was the first time [[Angela Scoular]] acted opposite [[Leslie Phillips]]; the two would later fall in love and marry.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/angela-scoular-stage-and-screen-actress-who-starred-in-two-james-bond-films-2268010.html Angela Scoular obituary] at ''The Independent''</ref>

The film was in production concurrently with the first series of the ''[[Doctor in the House (TV series)|Doctor in the House]]'' television series, in which [[Yutte Stensgaard]] (Eve) had a recurring role and [[Graham Chapman]] (Roddie) was one of the writers.

==Reception==
Ralph Thomas did not like the film saying "the unit was getting desperate, of course, and the title says it all; but it still, fortunately, continued making money, but I couldn't bear to make any more films in the series. And so Rank said "Well, right. Would you allow us to dispose of your interest in a television series. And I said "yes I've love to" and so they did."<ref>''Collected Interviews: Voices from Twentieth-century Cinema'' by Wheeler W. Dixon, SIU Press, 2001 p113</ref>

Box thought the Doctor series "died" when James Robertson Justice did.<ref>Box p 273</ref>

[[Penelope Mortimer]] of ''The Observer'' wrote "why all this talent, of various kinds, gets absolutely nowhere must be the fault of the screenplay... For it is a dreadful story, a terrible script, inadequately seasoned with worn out laughs. In all fairness I must say that a large section of the audience was hooting with laughter. It is on occasionals like this that one feels one has dropped from Mars."<ref>{{cite news|title=Celestial morali ty|author=Mortimer, Penelope|work=The Observer|location=London (UK)|date=21 June 1970|page=28}}</ref>

The film receives two stars out of five in the ''[[Radio Times]] Guide to Films'', which describes it as "innocently smutty" and feeling like it has been made up of "leftovers from ''[[Doctor at Sea (film)|Doctor at Sea]]''".<ref>Radio Times Guide to Films p.382</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Box, Bett, ''Lifting the Lid'', 2000

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0065648}}

{{Gordon Doctor}}
{{Ralph Thomas}}

[[Category:1970 films]]
[[Category:1970 comedy films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:Doctor in the House]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ralph Thomas]]
[[Category:Medical-themed films]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films produced by Betty Box]]
[[Category:1970s British films]]

Doctor in Trouble - Revision history

Kurt at 04:08, 8 February 2023

Kurt at 04:04, 8 February 2023

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