The Flying Doctor(s)

[Stephen Byers]

We are seeking the whereabouts of the radio show that aired on
the BBC between 1958 and the mid-1960s. 

The back story is something like this ...

Initially there was a b&w film from about 1936 entitled The Flying
Doctor. The BFI had all reels but the last - it seems these were on nitrite
stock. Then the story goes that workmen in Sydney dug up an old vault,
and when they opened it (using a flame cutter!!) they found a load of
rusty film cans. They loaded all of these onto a lorry for disposal. Luckily
a guy saw this, and apparently rescued some reels. One perchance
happened to be the 'lost' final reel. The reconstructed film was then
complete. It is in the Australian National Film Archives - but has
never been issued on DVD!!!

Then apparently along came the radio series - The Flying Doctor. This
was made by the BBC or ABC. It starred Bill Kerr. They sold the
series widely to other overseas stations.

But the only listings of the radio series is on Genome.

genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=the+flying+doctor#search

It appears that there are no extant recordings,  unless they are held
by private OTR enthusiasts. Inquiries on other  OTR forums drew a blank.

Later the success of the radio series spawned a t.v. series in
black & white - dated 1959 to 1960. This was 39 episodes filmed at Elstree
Studios and in Australia. It appears that some of these
episodes may have survived but have been removed from the web. See ...

ctva.biz/UK/FlyingDoctor.htm

Then even later there came a t.v. series in colour by Crawford
Productions - The Flying Doctors. This ran from 1986 to 1992. Each
episode was 50 mins. This was followed by a miniseries followup, then
a reunion episode. All of these are on DVD from Amazon, and some are
on YouTube.

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[Stephen Byers]

Keith has emailed a mate and he says that there are loads of copies around. By the latter I guess that's in the dusty archives of the Beeb. But there are none on t-discs, cassettes, CDs, etc., etc. for the purchase. There are none in the B.L. Sound Archives. And not even any off-air recordings on the web. Any suggestions how we can get the Beeb to air some episodes on R4X?

[Stephen Byers]

There's a good article on Radio Jottings about the Flying Doctors. Sadly there is no sign of any re-airings from the Beeb.

andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2019/12/flying-doctor-calling-wallamboola-base.html

Also see the comments .... and this site:

colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;page=0;query=%22flying%20doctor%22%20Media%3A%22RADIO%22;rec=0;resCount=10

====

[Stephen Byers]

Listing of TS disc holdings ...

The Flying Doctor Drama 01 03/03/1963 1/26'54" 12FPM 104324 The City Orchid
The Flying Doctor Drama 02 10/03/1963 1/26'58" 12FPM 104325 S.O.S. For Baldy
The Flying Doctor Drama 03 13/03/1963 1/27'00" 12FPM 104326 Wally's Last Shot
The Flying Doctor Drama 04 17/03/1963 1/27'00" 12FPM 104327 The Stick Up
The Flying Doctor Drama 05 20/03/1963 1/26'59" 12FPM 104328 The Dook Comes Through
The Flying Doctor Drama 06 31/03/1963 1/27'00" 12FPM 104329 Sheep Don't Change
The Flying Doctor Drama 07 24/03/1963 1/26'36" 12FPM 104330 The Reluctant Bridegroom
The Flying Doctor Drama 08 10/12/1963 1/26'57" 12FPM 104331 The New Girrl
The Flying Doctor Drama 09 10/12/1963 1/27'00" 12FPM 104332 The One Armed Bandit
The Flying Doctor Drama 10 10/12/1963 1/26'58" 12FPM 104333 The Parasite
The Flying Doctor Drama 11 10/12/1963 1/27'02" 12FPM 104334 The Comeback
The Flying Doctor Drama 12 10/12/1963 1/27'00" 12FPM 104335 The Rat-Trap
The Flying Doctor Drama 13 10/12/1963 1/27'00" 12FPM 104465 Better Than Brand
The Flying Doctor Drama 14 10/12/1963 1/26'58" 12FPM 104466 The Christmas Spirit
The Flying Doctor Drama 15 15/03/1964 1/26'57" 12FPM 106846 K.O. For A Pen Pal
The Flying Doctor Drama 16 08/04/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 106847 The Good Samaritan
The Flying Doctor Drama 17 22/04/1964 1/26'59" 12FPM 106848 The Lonely Grave
The Flying Doctor Drama 18 26/04/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 106849 A Bit Of Psychology
The Flying Doctor Drama 19 13/05/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 106850 State Of Emergency
The Flying Doctor Drama 20 27/05/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 106851 A Question Of Courage
The Flying Doctor Drama 21 31/05/1964 1/26'58" 12FPM 106852 The Black Out trail
The Flying Doctor Drama 22 03/06/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 106853 A Wail Of A Time
The Flying Doctor Drama 23 14/06/1964 1/26'58" 12FPM 107166 Death In The Morning
The Flying Doctor Drama 24 15/12/1964 1/26'58" 12FPM 107167 Mercy Flight
The Flying Doctor Drama 25 15/12/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 107168 The Anniversary
The Flying Doctor Drama 26 15/12/1964 1/26'58" 12FPM 107169 The Window Of Flinders Flat ?
The Flying Doctor Drama 27 15/12/1964 1/26'55" 12FPM 107170 The Laziest man In The World
The Flying Doctor Drama 28 15/12/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 107171 Death On The Road
The Flying Doctor Drama 29 15/12/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 107172 Darby And Joan
The Flying Doctor Drama 30 15/12/1964 1/26'53" 12FPM 107173 The Man At Gideon's Rock
The Flying Doctor Drama 31 15/12/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 107343 An Old Tribal Custom
The Flying Doctor Drama 32 15/12/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 107344 Road Train
The Flying Doctor Drama 33 15/12/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 107345 Front Page Stuff
The Flying Doctor Drama 34 15/12/1964 1/26'50" 12FPM 107346 Footsteps In The Night
The Flying Doctor Drama 35 15/12/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 107347 Never The Twain
The Flying Doctor Drama 36 15/12/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 107348 The Measure Of A Man
The Flying Doctor Drama 37 15/12/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 107349 Mrs Black Hand
The Flying Doctor Drama 38 15/12/1964 1/26'57" 12FPM 107350 A God Fearing Man
The Flying Doctor Drama 39 15/12/1964 1/27'00" 12FPM 107351 Kanga Takes A Walk
The Flying Doctor Drama 40 15/12/1964 1/26'54" 12FPM 107352 Jackpot For Jesse
The Flying Doctor Drama 41 10/12/1965 1/27'00" 12FPM 109431 The Filibuster
The Flying Doctor Drama 42 10/12/1965 1/27'00" 12FPM 109432 The Razor …
The Flying Doctor Drama 43 10/12/1965 1/26'53" 12FPM 109433 Rendevous At Palomall
The Flying Doctor Drama 44 10/12/1965 1/27'00" 12FPM 109434 The Long Farewell
The Flying Doctor Drama 45 10/12/1965 1/26'55" 12FPM 109435 A Matter Of Hands
The Flying Doctor Drama 46 10/12/1965 1/27'00" 12FPM 109436 Old Days Old Ways
The Flying Doctor Drama 47 10/12/1965 1/27'00" 12FPM 109437 Handsome Is …
The Flying Doctor Drama 48 10/12/1965 1/27'00" 12FPM 109438 Once In Love
The Flying Doctor Drama 49 10/12/1965 1/26'55" 12FPM 109439 Game Set And Match
The Flying Doctor Drama 50 10/12/1965 1/27'00" 12FPM 109440 The Game Duck
The Flying Doctor Drama 51 10/12/1965 1/27'00" 12FPM 109441 The Hostage
The Flying Doctor Drama 52 10/12/1965 1/26'58" 12FPM 109442 A Wreath For Horatio
The Flying Doctor Drama 53 10/12/1965 1/26'57" 12FPM 109443 All For Esmerelda
The Flying Doctor Drama 54 31/12/1965 1/27'00" 12FPM 109444 A Present For Xmas