| 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 authorA. J. Cronin.
The character Dr Finlay first appeared in Cronin's novellaCountry Doctor and in several subsequent short stories published inHearst's International Combined with Cosmopolitan magazine from 1935 to 1939. The stories were later collected and republished under several titles, includingAdventures of a Black Bag,Dr Finlay of Tannochbrae,Further Adventures of a Country Doctor andDr 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 continuousrelationship.[1]
The stories were used as the basis of the long-runningBBC television programmeDr 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 byBill Simpson. He was made the newly joined junior partner in the Tannochbrae practice of Dr Angus Cameron, played byAndrew Cruickshank, with Janet, their unflappable housekeeper and receptionist at Arden House, played byBarbara Mullen.
Dr Finlay returned to television in theITV series,Doctor Finlay, continuing the stories into the late 1940s. This version starredDavid Rintoul as Dr Finlay,Ian Bannen as Dr Cameron andAnnette Crosbie as Janet. It was later broadcast in the U.S. onPBS'sMasterpiece 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, withJohn Gordon Sinclair voicing Dr Finlay,Brian Pettifer as Dr Cameron,Katy Murphy as Janet and the nurse Peggy Angus played bySharon Small. This was followed by two series ofDr Finlay: Further Adventures of a Black Bag in 2002 and 2003, with Sinclair and Pettifer joined byCelia Imrie as Janet andStella Gonet as Nurse Angus.
A Dutch adaptation of the Doctor Finlay series entitledMemorandum van een dokter was broadcast on Dutch television from 1963 to 1965 , starringBram van der Vlugt.
