Only When I Laugh

⭐6.7(13 votes)

•1979

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Episodes

1. A Bed with a View

Young Norman Binns is admitted to Dr Thorpe's ward and is tricked by pessimistic Roy Figgis into swapping beds so that Figgis can have the bed with the window view. As a result, Thorpe and staff nurse Gupte confuse the two men's symptoms.

2. Operation Norman

Norman has to have an appendectomy but Figgis' doom-laden description of operations and Thorpe's wariness do not give him confidence, do he hides in the toilet, having to be coaxed out.

3. The Rumour

Thorpe is telling Gupte that his dog Victor is unwell but Gupte misunderstands and thinks he's talking about his son. The patients also fall prey to the misunderstanding, for various reasons each believing that they are going to die.

4. The Man with the Face

Glover has been seeing a Greek girl and panics when her violent boyfriend comes looking for him so Figgis wraps his head in bandages, claiming that he is a burn victim, setting up a series of confusions.

5. Let Them Eat Cake

Fed up with the quality of the hospital buffet, the patients go on strike but are soon defeated. However, server Clegg decides to go on strike himself, but has his foot run over whilst on picket outside the hospital.

6. Tangled Web

Norman is reading a hospital romance, when he sees new nurse Sally, who is exactly like the fictional heroine. He wants to express his feelings but finds rivalry in Glover, Thorpe and Gupte, all keen to pursue.

7. Is There a Doctor in the House?

When Glover is discharged, an unhappy Figgis, without someone to quarrel with, goes to the pub, pretending to be a doctor and diagnosing people with terrible illnesses, filling the ward.

Overview

Only When I Laugh is an ITV1 sitcom broadcast from 29 October 1979 to 16 December 1982 for four series with seven episodes each, and a Christmas special in 1981. The title is the answer to the question, "Does it hurt?" A naïve middle-class man is admitted to an NHS hospital ward, shared with a working-class layabout and an upper-class hypochondriac. The trio never fail to cause a nuisance for the poor, unsuspecting staff.