Dr Kilmore is sacked after being discovered in a compromising position on the roof of the nurses' home. The patients are determined not to lose him, and so take on the might of the "cutting" Dr Tinkle and the overpowering Matron.
The popular Dr Kilmore is sacked after being discovered in a compromising position on the roof of the nurses' home. The patients are determined not to lose him, and so take on the might of the "cutting" Dr Tinkle and the overpowering Matron.—Simon N. McIntosh-Smith <[email protected]>
Francis Bigger, 'preacher and healer', ends up in hospital in this chaotic Carry-on medical movie. With Dr. Kilmore in trouble, Matron refuses to support him after the amorous attentions she has fed Dr. Tinkle have paid off. There's a humorous but slight role for Charles Hawtrey suffering from a sympathetic pregnancy and the film closes with the patients revenge on Dr. Tinkle and the formidable Matron because of their conspiracy against Dr. Kilmore.—Graeme Huggan <[email protected]>
Francis Bigger (Frankie Howerd) is a charlatan faith healer, convinced that "mind over matter" is more effective than medical treatment. Chloe is Bigger's assistant, whom he demonstrates as an example of his theory in real life. Chloe claims to be hard of hearing who was healed by her belief of mind over matter. In reality, Chloe was not healed at all, and still suffered from reduced audio receptiveness and relied on visual cues from Bigger to deliver her speech to the audience at the right moment.
During a lecture, Bigger stumbles offstage and is admitted to the local hospital for lower back pain. In hospital, he incessantly groans and whines about being "maltreated" (he refuses to let the nurses touch him and insists on sleeping in his pants rather than remove them as is required), and quickly demands a private room after encountering his ward's eccentric patients.Bigger is also not a fan of the routine in the wards which includes daily sponge baths, vacuum cleaning of the floors, daily check-ups by the nurses and so on, due to which he was not able to get any rest at all.
The Fosdick ward patients include bedridden lay about Charlie Roper (Sid James) who shams illnesses to stay in hospital. Every time before his checkup, he would run up his temperature by putting it in hot liquid.Ken Biddle (Bernard Bresslaw) while recovering from an operation, makes frequent trips to the ladies' Caffin ward to flirt with his love interest. Mavis Winkle (Dilys Laye), and Mr Barron (Charles Hawtrey) whose mental health has declined following news his wife is due to give birth to their first child, leaving him suffering sympathy pains.
While being treated, Bigger meets two very different doctors. Clumsy yet charming Dr Kilmore (Jim Dale) is popular with the patients and loved from afar by the beautiful Nurse Clark (Anita Harris), who subsequently causes him trouble by accident while being checked over.Kilmore is assigned to Bigger as his attending doctor. Kilmore says that during his fall Bigger has landed on his Coccyx and orders an X-ray to be done, even though he does not suspect a fracture.
Biddle asks Kilmore to deliver a message to a woman he likes in the female ward named Mavis. She was on the 3rd bed on the left. But the Matron had moved Mavis to the end of the ward to hide her from Biddle, and Kimore delivered the message to the wrong woman.
The day after his admission, Bigger meets hospital registrar Dr. Kenneth Tinkle (Kenneth Williams), Kilmore's superior, who universally detested, as is his battle-ax Matron Lavinia (Hattie Jacques), who harbors an unrequited love for him.
After Bigger's arrival, novice nurse Sandra May (Barbara Windsor), arrives at the hospital with her intention to declare her (questionable) love for Tinkle. Sandra wants to repay him for saving her life - although in reality, she was merely given treatment for tonsillitis.After completing a shift on the wards, May heads for Tinkle's room to profess her love for him, violating hospital rules that female staff are not permitted in the male quarters.
Matron and Kilmore burst in on her declarations of love, which are cruelly rebuffed by Tinkle. Matron throws Nurse May out, and she leaves while tearfully announcing she would rather die than live without Tinkle. Dr Tinkle fears for his position after this incident and contrives with Matron to get rid of Kilmore and Sandra May, lest they reveal the truth. An opportunity soon arises for Tinkle to be rid of Kilmore.
Shortly after, Sandra May climbs on to the roof of the nurses' home to sunbathe in her bikini top. Dr Kilmore and Nurse Clark assume she is going to throw herself off the roof in despair after Tinkle's rejection. Kilmore rushes to save her and climbs on to the roof. He realizes she is sunbathing and prepares to leave, but Sandra assumes to her horror he is leering over her, and shrieks in fear. Her screams attract attention and soon the entire hospital staff and townspeople flock to watch. Kilmore creates an unfortunate scene that leaves him subject to claims of sexual deviancy.
Nurse Clark attempts to help Kilmore before he falls off, but he accidentally tears her skirt off, leaving her in her underwear and stockings. Kilmore crashes through a window to safety, but lands in a bath with a nurse in it, who assumes he is attacking her. His good reputation is destroyed among everyone except his patients.
Dr Kilmore is given a hearing with the hospital governor, but Matron and Tinkle deny his revelation of Sandra May's fight with Tinkle. As Sandra May has left the hospital, Kilmore has no proof to support him and is forced to resign.
Nurse Clarke knows what really happened on the roof. Nurse Clark reports the treachery of Tinkle and Matron to the patients and together they decide to exact revenge upon the pair for what they have done. Roper, disgusted with what was done to Kilmore, arranges for the whole ward to seek revenge on Tinkle and Matron, with Biddle asking Mavis (Dilys Laye) for the help of the women patients.
Conducting a nocturnal mutiny, the patients swiftly subdue Sister Hoggett, preventing her from alerting the orderlies. The group bring along Bigger who, after mishearing Tinkle's conversation with his assistant, believes he is dying. This has prompted him to marry Chloe (Joan Sims).
The gang capture Tinkle and Matron. While the women force a confession from Matron by making her endure a blanket bath, the men force Tinkle to confess after threatening him with an enema, after several other methods (including an ice bath) fail to work.
The next day, Dr Kilmore is appointed the new hospital registrar while Tinkle is reduced to a simple doctor. Mr Barron, now fully recovered and cured, leaves with his wife and their new baby. Meanwhile, Bigger prepares to leave the hospital with Chloe, but resents the bickering he must endure and the fact that he must give up his work as a faith healer.
On the way out, Bigger deliberately falls on the steps and injures his back again. As he is being brought back inside the hospital, he breaks the fourth wall to inform the audience he hopes he will be staying for a long time.
