Leofwine_draca While there are few genuinely laugh-out-loud moments in this hospital-set film - and while it's a definite come-down from the 1950s CARRY ON NURSE - CARRY ON DOCTOR proves to be a worthwhile and effectively amusing entry from the middle of the series, one that stands out perhaps because it proves a nice contrast to the number of period-set movies the team had been making previously.For me, one of the best things about the production is that almost all of the team is present (aside from the much-missed Kenneth Connor, still on his six-year hiatus from the franchise). All that and you get Frankie Howerd too, delivering a slightly more restrained performance than you'd expect from the actor.I enjoy the films that are set in single locations, because they tend to work harder for the laughs and this is no exception. Although there's a noticeable emphasis on sex and titillation for laughs compared to earlier instalments, this is still relatively tame compared to later efforts like CARRY ON DICK. Of the cast, Jim Dale and Kenneth Williams are on top form, and it's great to have Sid James and Barbara Windsor back in the fold (even if both are in relatively minor parts). A fast pace and general feeling of hard work and physical performance on part of the cast make this a superior CARRY ON adventure.

Robert J. Maxwell I saw one or two of the earlier "Carry On" movies when they were first released and didn't remember them clearly except for one conversation involves Sid James. Someone remarks that Arabs are a very intense people, and James assumes this sardonic grin and replies, "Yes, the Arabs do everything in tents, don't they." On the basis of this one lousy but smile-worthy pun, I bought the entire boxed set of the "Carry On" series, each entry having its own audio commentary.I'm half way through the first example I've sampled -- "Carry On Doctor" -- and feel compelled to watch the whole 45 hours of the series, since I've already paid for them.But I do so with a heavy heart. The world has changed a great deal since I heard that pun about "tents" and it must have had its effect on my sense of humor. This is almost unbearable silly. Performers make feeble jokes, then turn to stare at the camera and cackle maniacally. It isn't the low-brow farcical quality of the gags that are depressing. It's that they're not funny.The actors do their best and there are some familiar faces among them -- Kenneth Williams, Sid James, Hattie Jacques -- but what can they do with such shoddy material? It's like a television situation comedy that has defied its natural death and meanly continues to run long after it's begun to decompose.Benny Hill was more inventive and funnier. Monty Python, compared to this, is elegant wit.I might have picked a bad example to start with. Maybe other episodes are better. I hope so. I don't look forward to slitting my wrists. At the same time, there seem to be many people who have found this series hilarious, so my values may have been warped by history.

Spikeopath When the hugely popular Dr Kilmore (Jim Dale) is fired unjustly by devious superiors, the patients do something about it.If only British hospitals were like this. The nurses look like Anita Harris and Barbara Windsor, the doctors are bonkers and the patients are having the time of their life. Yes this is a "Carry On" movie in all it's jovial glory. Thinly plotted it may be, but it's an excellent script from Talbot Rothwell that lets the true comedians in the piece showcase their worth.Hattie Jacques as a battle-axe Matron, Kenneth Williams as snobby unscrupulous head Doctor Tinkle, Charles Hawtrey suffering a phantom pregnancy, Frankie Howerd as Francis Bigger (a man in hospital after making a living out of saying you don't need Doctor's! And then believing he only has a week to live) and the likes of Bernard Bresslaw and Sid James as rogue patients playing up. It's a marvellous set up that works a treat for visual comedy. Witness Howerd's incredulity when he is woken at 06.00, or Hawtrey's reaction when the stocking laden minx that is Barbara Windsor arrives on the ward. Great comedy moments in a great comedy film. 7.5/10

Jackson Booth-Millard I had seen the follow up film Carry On Again Doctor before this, and compared this isn't as classic, but it is still watchable, it apparently follows from where Carry On Nurse left off. Basically Francis Bigger (Frankie Howerd) is the "preacher and healer" who doesn't believe in hospital treatment, that's only until he needs it himself. So we follow him to hospital, where Francis is terrible agony, and hanging out with fellow patients "sick" Charlie Roper (Sid James, who was really bed-written at the time of making, after suffering a heart attack), overly sympathetic - at his (wife's) pregnancy - Mr. Barron (Charles Hawtrey) and broken-legged Ken Biddle (Bernard Bresslaw). There is not much story for a while, just a load of chaotic incidents with Francis and his injury, some shouting to his deaf "girlfriend" Chloë Gibson (Joan Sims), the arrival of the endearing Nurse Sandra May (Barbara Windsor), and some discussions between Dr. Kenneth Tinkle (Kenneth Williams) and his accomplice Matron (Hattie Jacques). But a story does develop when clumsy Dr. Jim Kilmore (Jim Dale) is sacked for apparently spying on Sandra May, pulling down the bottoms of Nurse Clarke (Anita Harris), and landing in the bath of another nurse. All the patients know he innocent, and revolt against the staff to get him his job back, even if that means torturing Tinkle and Matron. Also starring Peter Butterworth as Mr. Smith and Carry On Camping's Dilys Laye as Mavis Winkle. There are some good old fashioned slapstick gags, and a tiny bit of sauciness, and even though Again Doctor has much more of these things, doesn't mean you shouldn't try it. Worth watching!