'Hospital for Hire' by Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden

When Graeme’s visit to the hospital for a sprained ankle takes three weeks and ends up with Bill’s leg in plaster, the Goodies complain about the state of the NHS to the Minister for Health – but he just tells them to fix the problem themselves, by enrolling as medical students. After passing a rigorous entrance exam of excessive drinking and nurse-chasing, Tim, Bill and Graeme start work at an NHS hospital, where they are shocked at the appalling conditions the patients of Crippin Ward are forced to endure. To the Minister’s dismay, the Goodies decide to improve the health system by starting up their own High-Speed Travelling Hospital – and when their plan proves a success, the trio go on to tour the country with a Medicine Show, giving out Graeme’s new magic elixir that cures all ills…

Bill Oddie (Bill), Tim Brooke-Taylor (Tim), Graeme Garden (Graeme), Harry H Corbett (Health Minister), The Fred Tomlinson Singers (Staff and Patients)

Produced and Directed by Jim Franklin
Music by Bill Oddie and Michael Gibbs

TX (BBC 2):
15th December 1973

Notes:
*Featuring Tim, Bill and Graeme

*Alternative title: 'The National Health Service'