| Dr. Finlay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First appearance | Country Doctor |
| Created by | A. J. Cronin |
| Portrayed by | Bill Simpson David Rintoul John Gordon Sinclair |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Medical Practitioner |
| Nationality | British |
Dr Finlay is a fictional character, the hero of a series of stories by Scottish author A. J. Cronin.
The character Dr Finlay first appeared in Cronin's novella Country Doctor and in several subsequent short stories published in Hearst's International Combined with Cosmopolitan magazine from 1935 to 1939. The stories were later collected and republished under several titles, including Adventures of a Black Bag, Dr Finlay of Tannochbrae, Further Adventures of a Country Doctor and Dr Finlay's Casebook.
Dr Finlay is a general physician beginning his practice in the fictional Scottish town of Levenford. One of the later short stories takes him to the lochside village of Tannochbrae. In these stories he is charming and becomes well-acquainted with his patients over many years. It is thus his trademark to know them from birth to death and so provide a continuous relationship. [1]
The stories were used as the basis of the long-running BBC television programme Dr Finlay's Casebook , screened from 1962 to 1971, and the radio series of the same title (1970–78). In these productions the main character, rechristened Dr Alan Finlay, was played by Bill Simpson. He was made the newly joined junior partner in the Tannochbrae practice of Dr Angus Cameron, played by Andrew Cruickshank, with Janet, their unflappable housekeeper and receptionist at Arden House, played by Barbara Mullen.
Dr Finlay returned to television in the ITV series, Doctor Finlay , continuing the stories into the late 1940s. This version starred David Rintoul as Dr Finlay, Ian Bannen as Dr Cameron and Annette Crosbie as Janet. It was later broadcast in the U.S. on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre .
The characters made their return to radio in 2001, when BBC Radio 4 broadcast a six-episode series, Dr Finlay: Adventures of a Black Bag, set in Levenford, with John Gordon Sinclair voicing Dr Finlay, Brian Pettifer as Dr Cameron, Katy Murphy as Janet and the nurse Peggy Angus played by Sharon Small. This was followed by two series of Dr Finlay: Further Adventures of a Black Bag in 2002 and 2003, with Sinclair and Pettifer joined by Celia Imrie as Janet and Stella Gonet as Nurse Angus.
A Dutch adaptation of the Doctor Finlay series entitled Memorandum van een dokter was broadcast on Dutch television from 1963 to 1965 , starring Bram van der Vlugt.
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Archibald Joseph Cronin, known as A. J. Cronin, was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is The Citadel (1937), about a Scottish doctor who serves in a Welsh mining village before achieving success in London, where he becomes disillusioned about the venality and incompetence of some doctors. Cronin knew both areas, as a medical inspector of mines and as a doctor in Harley Street. The book exposed unfairness and malpractice in British medicine and helped to inspire the National Health Service.
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John Gordon Sinclair is a Scottish actor. He is best known for playing Gregory in the 1981 film Gregory's Girl. There was a Gordon Sinclair already registered with Equity, so he took John Gordon Sinclair as his professional name. In 2019, Sinclair played Drew Cubbin in the BBC drama Traces.
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Doctor Finlay is a British television series based on A. J. Cronin's stories about the fictional medical hero, Dr. Finlay.
David Rintoul is a Scottish stage and television actor. Rintoul was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, and won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
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Barbara Mullen was an American born actress well known in the UK for playing the part of Janet McPherson, the housekeeper in Dr. Finlay's Casebook. Although the role of Janet brought her fame in later years, she already had made her mark in the theatre.
Andrew John Maxton Cruickshank was a Scottish actor, most famous for his portrayal of Dr Cameron in the long-running UK BBC television series Dr. Finlay's Casebook, which ran for 191 episodes from 1962 until 1971.
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William Nicholson Simpson was a Scottish actor, best remembered for his portrayal of the title role in the long-running BBC TV series Dr. Finlay's Casebook.
Memorandum van een dokter is a Dutch television series based on A. J. Cronin's stories about the fictional hero, Dr. Finlay. The series was broadcast from 1963 to 1965 and was directed by Peter Holland. It starred Bram van der Vlugt as Dr. Finlay, Rob Geraerds as Dr. Cameron, and Fien Berghegge as Janet.
Dr. Finlay's Casebook is a television drama series that was produced and broadcast by the BBC from 1962 until 1971. Based on A. J. Cronin's 1935 novella Country Doctor, the storylines centred on a general medical practice in the fictional Scottish town of Tannochbrae during the late 1920s. Cronin was the primary writer for the show between 1962 and 1964.
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