The character Dr Finlay first appeared in Cronin's novella Country Doctor and in several subsequent short stories published in Hearst's International Combined with Cosmopolitan magazine from 1935 to 1939.

Dr Finlay is a general physician beginning his practice in the fictional Scottish town of Levenford.

[1] The stories were used as the basis of the long-running BBC television programme Dr Finlay's Casebook, screened from 1962 to 1971, and the radio series of the same title (1970–78).

In these productions the main character, rechristened Dr Alan Finlay, was played by Bill Simpson.

This was followed by two series of Dr Finlay: Further Adventures of a Black Bag in 2002 and 2003, with Sinclair and Pettifer joined by Celia Imrie as Janet and Stella Gonet as Nurse Angus.