Robert Alexander Amiel Buckman was a British doctor of medicine, comedian and author, and president of the Humanist Association of Canada. He first appeared in a Cambridge University Footlights Revue in 1968, and subsequently presented several television and radio programmes about medicine, as well as appearing on comedy programmes such as Just a Minute. He was also the author of many popular books on medicine.
Broadcasting and comedy
Buckman took part in the comedy sketch showWhat are you doing after the show in 1970–71. Buckman attended University College School and graduated in medicine from St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1972. He continued his medical training at the Royal Marsden Hospital and University College Hospital, London, becoming a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Buckman was a familiar voice on BBC Radio 4 during the 1970s and 1980s, both on panel shows, and fronting one-off programmes on scientific topics. He contributed scripts to the sitcom Doctor on the Go, based on the Richard Gordon books. Together with fellow doctor Chris Beetles, he formed a comedy double act "Beetles and Buckman". The pair wrote and performed in the Pink Medicine Show TV series with Lynda Bellingham. They were two of the performers and writers of the first Secret Policeman's Ball fundraiser in 1979, with Billy Connolly, John Cleese and Eleanor Bron. Buckman was more distinguished as a popular science presenter and appeared on the programme Don't Ask Me in the 1970s, and then the medical programme Where There's Life with Miriam Stoppard for its first three series from 1981. He continued this career in Canada where he contributed to TV Ontario programmes such as Your Health and the CTV medical show Balance as well as frequent guest appearances on The Dini Petty Show. His television series Magic or Medicine? investigated alternative medicine and won a Gemini award, while Human Wildlife covered microbes in the domestic environment. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1981 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. He was a member of the atheists team on CBC's Test the Nation: IQ broadcast live on 24 January 2010.
Writings in popular medicine
Besides tie-ins to his TV series, Buckman authored several books of medical humour, such as Out of Practice, Jogging from Memory: or letters to Sigmund Freud, and The Buckman Treatment; or a doctor's tour in North America. Later, as Robert Buckman, he contributed as author or co-author to a series of What You Really Need to Know About... books on common medical conditions, including cancer, asthma, high blood pressure, HRT, diabetes, stroke, and irritable bowel syndrome. This was also the title of a long-running series of information films that he presented, and in many cases also scripted, for John Cleese's production company Video Arts.
Medical hiatus
In 1979, Buckman was diagnosed with dermatomyositis, an autoimmune disease which seriously affected his ability to work and was nearly fatal. His illness and recovery over the next couple of years was the subject of a 1981 UK TV documentary, Your Own Worst Enemy.
Robert Buckman. With contributions by Dr. Pamela Catton and staff of Princess Margaret Hospital. Cancer is a Word, Not a Sentence. Firefly Books. 2006.
