Doctor in Clover (1966) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Grimsdyke was dismissed from his position as a medical officer at a men's prison for misbehaving with the Governor's daughter. This incident is what leads him to seek employment at St Swithin's Hospital under his old tutor Sir Lancelot Spratt.

• grimsdyke sacked
• prison job
• governor's daughter
• dismissal

Spratt clashes frequently with the new hospital matron Matron Sweet and orders Grimsdyke to romance her and 'soften her up' as part of a scheme to make her more cooperative with his hospital management style. It's a preposterous plan that backfires badly.

• spratt orders
• matron sweet
• romance plan
• soften her up

Grimsdyke carries out Spratt's orders by making anonymous romantic overtures to the matron, but she misinterprets them and believes that Spratt himself is her secret admirer. This misunderstanding creates a tangled web of complications for both men.

• matron misunderstanding
• secret admirer
• spratt
• grimsdyke's plan

Jeanine the physiotherapist regards Grimsdyke as too old for her, despite his various schemes to appear younger and more appealing. When Grimsdyke finally declares his love, she reveals she has just become engaged to Lambert Symington.

• jeanine
• rejected
• too old
• engaged
• lambert symington

Grimsdyke had planned to use a rejuvenation serum on himself to appear younger for Jeanine, but it was accidentally injected into Sir Lancelot Spratt instead. This mix-up sets the stage for further chaotic consequences at the hospital.

• rejuvenation serum
• spratt
• accident
• injected
• mix-up

At the hospital dance, the experimental mood-enhancing gas causes Spratt to run amok and romance the matron. The next day, she tells Spratt she is married to her career and resigns to take a post elsewhere, removing a key obstacle in the hospital's social dynamics.

• matron resigns
• hospital dance
• mood gas
• spratt romancing
• career

Grimsdyke's cousin Miles tells him that the senior medical post has already been unofficially offered to someone else. Later, Grimsdyke learns his own failure was partly because he was thought to be too young-looking, an ironic twist given his earlier attempts to appear younger.

• senior post
• miles
• cousin
• too young-looking
• grimsdyke failed

Grimsdyke falls for the much younger physiotherapist Jeanine and hopes to win her affection. Since she thinks he is too old for her, he experiments with various methods to appear younger and more appealing, though all his attempts fail.

• look younger
• jeanine
• rejected age
• schemes to appear younger

Spratt persuades Grimsdyke to release an experimental mood-enhancing gas at the hospital dance, hoping it would boost everyone's mood and help Grimsdyke shine socially. The plan backfires spectacularly when the gas sends Spratt into a frenzy.

• mood gas
• hospital dance
• spratt's plan
• experimental gas
• backfires

When Grimsdyke learns the senior medical post has gone to his cousin Miles, his mood actually lifts. This is because he discovers his own failure was partly due to being seen as too young-looking, which is an ironic reversal of his earlier problem trying to appear younger for Jeanine.

• grimsdyke mood
• miles gets post
• too young looking
• ironic reversal