Robert Alexander Amiel Buckman (22 August 1948 – 9 October 2011) 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.[1]
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.[2]
Buckman was television presenter of science programmes such as 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 TVOntario 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.
Besides tie-ins to his TV series, Buckman authored several books of medical humour, such as Out of Practice (1978), Jogging from Memory: or letters to Sigmund Freud (1980), and The Buckman Treatment; or a doctor's tour in North America (1989). 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 (all 1999), diabetes, stroke, and irritable bowel syndrome (2000). 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 Video Arts company.[4]
In 1979, Buckman was diagnosed with dermatomyositis, an autoimmune disease which seriously affected his ability to work and was nearly fatal.[5] His illness and recovery over the next couple of years was the subject of a 1981 UK TV documentary, Your Own Worst Enemy.[6]
Buckman practised medical oncology at the Princess Margaret Hospital. He was a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and held an adjunct professorship at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in the US state of Texas. He specialised in breast cancer and teaching communication skills in oncology. In this role, he created the SPIKES protocol for delivering bad news to patients.[8]
Robert Buckman. With contributions by Dr. Pamela Catton and staff of Princess Margaret Hospital. Cancer is a Word, Not a Sentence. Firefly Books. 2006.
