ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENTS Oatmeal And Ham From Tannochbrae And Blair

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30528, 25 August 1964, Page 10

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENTS Oatmeal And Ham From Tannochbrae And Blair

LOOKING AT TELEVISION WITH C.C.

If I had a slight rash on a beautiful face (I can’t honestly say “my”) I would go to Blair General Hospital

and ask for Dr. Kildare. But if I had a most painful pimple on a less romantic part of my anatomy I would ring Arden House and

ask for Dr. Finlay, knowing full well, of course, that he would be irritable or shorttempered about my trifling ailment.

It is a tribute to Dr. Kildare’s sense of dedication and Dr. Fiqlay’s humanity that I should be assessing them as doctors rather than as TV . characters. I have walked the corridors of Blair General with Dr. Kildare for a long time; for some reason or other I missed the first edition of . “Dr. Finlay’s Casebook.” And I approached the second instalment in a sceptical frame of mind. TV stories about doctors seem to settle down very quickly to the presentation of known characters with a known formula of conduct. The medical aspects usually are impeccable—there are always a few doctors with enough time to watch the screen—but I have- come to expect characteristics rather than characterisation from the men in white who walk the hospital corridors. So naturally I expected there would be quite a lot of oatmeal in “Dr. Finlay’s Casebook” after the ham of “Dr. Kildare.” Father Figure I think I had reason to be sceptical. There was the same father figure except that his name was Cameron ihstead of Gillespie, and he smoked a pipe. Young Dr. Kildare had been replaced by young Dr. Finlay, and the spinster housekeeper, Janet, was the substitute for the stiff and starchy spinster nursing sister who put internes on almost the. same plane as probationers. And 1 had another reason for suspicion. The episodes in "Dr. Finlay’s Casebook” were inspired at first by the stories of A. J. Cronin. Many .years. ago I read “Hatter’s Castle” and was impressed. Later I realised that it was a verbose and melodramatic book. “The Stars Look Down” and “The Citadel” were more sincere and convincing, but memories of the trite doctrines of “The Keys of the Kingdom” made me fearful of what I would see in the town of Tannochbrae.

But it’s a .far cry from the bustling efficiency and gleaming equipment of Blair General to the humble tenements of Tannochbrae and the remote farmhouses set among the , Scottish hills. The stories in the new series are now original, but they seem to have retained something of the thoughts and feelings of the Scottish doctor who worked in dreary Welsh mining towns rather than the doctor who became a Popular Novelist. Friendly Trio

There is a down-to-earth quality about “Dr. Finlay’s Casebook’’ which appeals to me. I .like the pawky Scottish humour, and I have developed an affection for the Arden House trio. Dr. Finlay lacks the antiseptic good looks of Dr. Kildare. His. nose is beaky his temper can be short, he is often impetuous and aggressive. But he-looks and acts like a doctor who really has been through medical school, not a pop singer in a white coat wno plays Dr. Kildare, knowing all the time that Dr. Gillespie and the full resources of Blair General are behind him. And I have a warm spot for Dr. Cameron. To me Raymond Massey as the father •figure, counsellor, and general backstop for Dr. Kildare, is still Raymond Massey—a superb actor who plays his part with distinction but never disappears behind the white cpat and stethoscope. Andrew Cruickshank, however, can put off the wig and robes of Mr Justice Duncan-, non, pick up his pipe, and become the elderly Scottish doctor, set ija his ways, who knows the people of Tannochbrae as people, not as cases. To some extent he is a father figure like Dr. Gillespie, but he does not confine himself to restraining the impetuous and go-ahead junior partner. He is also most definitely the senior partner in the practice, and does not need the back ; ground of a modern- hospital to be convincing. Need Housekeeper Dr. Cameron and Dr. Finlay would not be the medical men they are without their housekeeper. There are other housekeepers on ■ television,

but none like Janet. She preserves the harmony of Arden House, and is prepared to work night and day for her demanding menfolk. Some might say that a fine actress like Barbara Mullen is wasted in “Dr. Finlay’s. Case- , book.” I think that acting in

a series can become hack acting—l could give several examples from our current programmes—but Miss Mullen refuses, to become a hack. She seems to be in the background, always at the beck .and call of her two doctors, but there are times .when she takes command of an episode quietly and convincingly, regard her charm and serenity as part of the cement which holds the series together.

While “Dr. Finlay’s Casebook” can often warm the cockles of my heart I have not forgotten Dr. Kildare, and I am looking forward to seeing him again in his full glory as a resident doctor instead of. a young interne. I have referred to oatmeal and ham in the two series, and I realise that some of the “Dr. Kildare” stories are hammy. But even at their hammiest are dramatic, and I am quite happy to be caught up in their drama. After all there is a time to think and a time to escape, and I am human enough to succumb to the true and tried emotions. I realise it is only the telly, and Dr. Kildare—with Dr. Gillespie’s support—will bring his patient through successfully.

I know I should remain on one doctor’s panel, but I would like to have the services of both Dr. F. and Dr. K. perhaps the B.M.A. might give me a dispensation.