Only When I Laugh (TV series) Only When I Laugh (TV series) Only When I Laugh is a British television sitcom made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It aired between 29 October 1979 and 16 December 1982 and was set in the ward of a NHS hospital. The title is in response to the question, "Does it hurt?" It starred James Bolam, Peter Bowles, and Christopher Strauli as patients Roy Figgis, Archie Glover, and Norman Binns. Mr. Gordon Thorpe, their consultant surgeon, was played by Richard Wilson; and Gupte, the staff nurse from Delhi, was played by Derrick Branche. The show was one of many successes
Only When I Larf shared experiences contribute to the humour. This unreliable narration adds to the atmosphere around deceiving "the marks", but the characters' different perspectives on their mutual relationship (interspersed with Silas's day-dreams of a dishonourable wartime incident) look more like self-deception and often add a poignant note. The title is explained in a variety of unlikely anecdotes where in each case a critically injured third party bravely replies this when asked "Does it hurt?" A film adaptation of "Only When I Larf", directed by Basil Dearden, was released in 1968 starring Richard Attenborough as Silas, David Hemmings as Bob and Alexandra Stewart