Struck Off and Die: The Complete Series 1-3

A Classic BBC Radio 4 Sketch Comedy

By: Dr Phil Hammond, Tony Gardner

Narrated by: Dr Phil Hammond, Tony Gardner

All three series of Phil Hammond and Tony Gardner's award-winning comedy show exploding the myths of medicine.

Broadcaster Dr Phil Hammond and actor Tony Gardner are best known for their respective roles in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor and Fresh Meat. But in the 1990s, then junior doctors, they made their names as the comedy double-act Struck Off and Die. A huge hit at the Edinburgh Fringe, the show transferred to radio in 1993, winning both a Writer's Guild and a Sony Award. Mixing dark, irreverent jokes, sardonic sketches and improvised interviews, it demystified the mysterious workings of the medical profession—and 30 years on, it remains as hilarious and relevant as when it was first broadcast.

Series 1 sees the two doctors bringing their scalpel-sharp wit to bear on public and private health care, exposing the plight of the NHS; debunking the widespread myth that 'doctor knows best' and giving us their insiders' view of topics including surgeons, GPs, nurses, and birth and death.

In Series 2, they take a four-part satirical look at Shakespeare's 'Ages of Man', examining the important role doctors play in every stage of our lives. Together, they give us the lowdown on childhood, reveal everything we need to know about sex, consider marriage and the menopause and tell the unexpurgated truth about old age.

And in Series 3, Struck Off and Die's Family Health Companion, Drs Hammond and Gardner tackle issues such as stress, embarrassing sexual problems, the doctor-patient relationship, medical politics and medical training. Plus, there's a speculative probe into the medicine of the future—including doctorless surgeries, do-it-yourself operations and the virtual-reality hospital....

Also included are excerpts from Radio 4's Edinburgh 90, featuring the Struck Off and Die duo entertaining the 1990 Fringe Festival audience with their anarchic insights.

Production credits:

Written by and starring Phil Hammond and Tony Gardner

With Felicity Montagu, Julian Dutton, Joanna Brookes, Tom Berrington, Philippa Fordham and David Wolstencroft

Produced by Jon Magnusson and Helen Williams

Edinburgh 90 produced by Sarah Smith

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13 July 1991 (Edinburgh 90), 13 August - 3 September 1993 (Series 1), 19 August - 9 September 1994 (Series 2), 29 March - 3 May 2000 (Series 3)

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Critic reviews

"Very funny indeed." (Daily Telegraph)