This was the most useless character in the whole movie. He did nothing but drink and act like a buffoon, which ultimately lead to his death. Makes you wonder why they would hire such a lush for one of the most important positions on the ship.
Anyone know if the the doctors antics were real or is he fictionalized for the movie?
The thing about alcoholic or incompetent officers was that you couldn't get rid of them. Once a ship took off for a voyage of several years there was really no way to replace officers, you could court-martial an officer or strand them somewhere, but you couldn't get a replacement. So the people on these long voyages were stuck with each other in a way that has no equivalent in the modern world, years together in a confined space, getting on each other's nerves, and suffering from each others' incompetence or deficiences.
I have no idea about the specific person you're discussing, of course, but useless drunkards were common enough in the Royal Navy of the era.
Yeah, I hear ya, but when I watched it last night, it seemed Captain Bligh recruited his own officers and I'm assuming the Doctor already had the reputation of a drunkard. Not exactly the kind of person you'd want to bring on a multi year voyage.
Apparently he was a real person.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9255832/thomas-huggan
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I loved the scene where the natives are killing him and he's rolling around in the surf and he's STILL swilling his booze! Talk about dedication!
I didn't think they were killing him. Just taunting and messing with him because of his drunkenness. I believe he died simply from alcoholism. I could be wrong though. I've only seen this movie once, but that was earlier today.
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