The Doctor Series consists of seven British comedies made between 1954 and 1970, based either on the "Doctor" series of novels written by the physician Richard Gordon, or the characters in them. The series follow the adventures of a group of young doctors at a London hospital, as they try to stay out of trouble while chasing the nurses. The early films featured Dirk Bogarde in the lead as Doctor Sparrow and Donald Sinden as Benskin. Later films centred around Leslie Phillips. In all of them, James Robertson Justice played the imposing chief surgeon Sir Lancelot Spratt. The films later served as inspiration for seven different TV series between 1969 and 1991, totalling 157 episodes.
"Doctor in Distress" is the fifth of the seven films in the "Doctor" series, and focuses on Sir Lancelot Spratt, Simon Sparrow's old teacher and sometimes nemesis. When the eternal bachelor Sir Lancelot injures his back and falls in love with his physiotherapist Iris Marchant, he becomes very distressed and turns to Simon for help. Simon, who now is a senior doctor at fictional Hampden Cross Hospital and hopelessly in love with aspiring actress Delia, sends him to a nature cure clinic in a vain attempt to help him lose weight, but Sir Lancelot can't get Iris off his mind and has her followed, first by a private investigator and eventually by himself. When he finally proposes, she rejects him and marries an old army major, which distresses Sir Lancelot even more.
as Dr. Simon Sparrow
as Delia Mallory
as Sir Lancelot Spratt
as Major Tommy Ffrench
as Iris Merchant
as Dr. Blacker
as Sonja Stromberg / Helga Stromberg
as Genevieve Milton
as Mr. Holly
as Mrs. Parry
