Doctor In The House returns – as a podcast
73 years after the first novel, St Swithin's medical students cause chaos again
The enduring comedy of Doctor In The House is to have a new incarnation as a podcast.
An audio version launching on Sunday will bring Richard Gordon's comedy about misbehaving medical students aims to find a new audience in the digital age.
The six-episode series, produced by OnlyAudio Productions, updates the 1952 novel while maintaining its focus on the misadventures of students at the fictional St Swithin's Hospital.
Episodes will be available on Audible, Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Acast, with a second series already in development.
Gordon's original novel, written while he worked as a ship's surgeon in the 1940s, drew on his experiences at Cambridge University and St Bartholomew's Hospital. 'I had nothing to do except drink gin with the chief engineer,' he later explained. 'To save myself from developing cirrhosis of the liver, I wrote about my experiences as a medical student.'
The book sold more than three million copies and spawned an extensive media franchise. Film adaptations starring Dirk Bogarde and James Robertson Justice dominated British box offices in the 1950s and 1960s, while a television series written by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden ran on ITV from 1969 to 1979. An Australian version ran in 1979 and a BBC series, Doctor At The Top, ran in 1991.
The new audio show stars Will Trafford, Alex White, Emily Cass, Louis Suc, Vinay Lad and Virginia Byron.
Daniel Ward – the writer and producer of the new series – trained as a doctor after being inspired by the original programme. He qualified in 2012 and now works as a GP, teaching medical students alongside his writing career. His previous works include biographies of Abba singer Agnetha Fältskog and actor Barry Evans.
He says the series aims to reflect ‘the changes in medical education and the daily lives of students, and tackling wider issues within the NHS and beyond’ while maintaining the spirit of Gordon's original comedy.
Published: 16 Dec 2025
