Each week, we will be taking an in depth look at some of the best sitcoms and comedy shows from both the UK and the USA.

Today we will be looking at a comedy that was set inside a NHS hospital – Only When I Laugh

Opening Sequence / Theme Tune

About the Show

Summary of Plot

A rather naive, middle-class man is admitted to a hospital ward and finds that he is sharing it with a working-class layabout and an upper-class hypochondriac. All three of them cause headaches for the hospital staff. – IMDB

Number of Seasons / Episodes

4 seasons

Characters:

James Bolam – Figgis

Peter Bowles – Glover

Christopher Strauli – Norman

Richard Wilson – Gordon Thorpe

Derrick Branche –  Gupte

Trivia

• It aired between 29 October 1979 and 16 December 1982 and was set in the ward of an NHS hospital
• The title is in response to the question, “Does it hurt?”
• The show was one of many successes for writer Eric Chappell, and has been repeated on ITV3 since 2007.

Classic Clips

Shopping Montage

Telephone Scene