Hospital for Hire (Goodies episode)
Encyclopedia
Hospital for Hire is an episode of the British
comedy
television series The Goodies
— a BAFTA
-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.
This episode is also known as "The National Health Service".
As always, the episode was written by members of The Goodies.
is having problems, so the Goodies become doctors. They pass all the tests — including beer drinking and nurse chasing.
Later, Graeme develops a special tonic and the Goodies sell it at a Medicine show
. They also set up their own eccentric outdoor hospital, performing X-ray
s (a classic moment sees Graeme being frightened and running away at the sight of a skeleton emerging from behind the X-ray machine) and operations
, as well as setting bones and delivering babies.
The Goodies become obsessed with curing people, and collect patients from all over. Soon, all of Britain
is cured by Graeme's tonic.
When the Goodies later become ill, they discover that curing the nation from sickness has unexpected disadvantages.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television series The Goodies
The Goodies (TV series)
The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
— a BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.
This episode is also known as "The National Health Service".
As always, the episode was written by members of The Goodies.
Plot
The National Health ServiceNational Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
is having problems, so the Goodies become doctors. They pass all the tests — including beer drinking and nurse chasing.
Later, Graeme develops a special tonic and the Goodies sell it at a Medicine show
Medicine show
Medicine shows were traveling horse and wagon teams which peddled "miracle cure" medications and other products between various entertainment acts. Their precise origins unknown, medicine shows were common in the 19th century United States...
. They also set up their own eccentric outdoor hospital, performing X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
s (a classic moment sees Graeme being frightened and running away at the sight of a skeleton emerging from behind the X-ray machine) and operations
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
, as well as setting bones and delivering babies.
The Goodies become obsessed with curing people, and collect patients from all over. Soon, all of Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
is cured by Graeme's tonic.
When the Goodies later become ill, they discover that curing the nation from sickness has unexpected disadvantages.
Spoofs and cultural references
- National Health ServiceNational Health ServiceThe National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
— (also known as the NHS) - Medicine showMedicine showMedicine shows were traveling horse and wagon teams which peddled "miracle cure" medications and other products between various entertainment acts. Their precise origins unknown, medicine shows were common in the 19th century United States...
- HospitalHospitalA hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s - DoctorsPhysicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
Quotes
Quote 1-
-
- Graeme: "What did he say?"
- Tim: "He said how dare we criticize the National Health Service! If they are a bit slow, that's because they keep being pestered by sick people. And he went on to say, if we do anything anytime, we should become doctors, so there."
- Bill: "He said all that just then?"
- Tim: "No, I left out the rude bits."
-