A DOCTOR-turned-actor has officially opened an exhibition of Colchester NHS memorabilia.

Tony Gardner, star of the ITV comedy series Lead Balloon, opened Colchester’s Caring Past, at the Primary Care Centre in Turner Road.

Mr Gardner, who lives in Colchester, qualified as a GP in 1993, but stopped practicing after landing the role of Brian in CITV programme, My Parents are Aliens.

He said: “It’s a very good exhibition and it’s taken a lot of work to put together. It’s amazing to think these are original documents and pictures.”

The exhibition consists of photographs and documents from a collection started in the Sixties by the late Dr John Penfold.

It includes pictures of old Colchester hospitals and staff, special events and charity occasions.

John Grice, from the Colchester Hospital and Community League of Friends, said: “It is celebrating the medical profession, which has served our society for the past 150 years.”