h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You're thinking of Ugly John, the "Gas Passer" (who, by the way, was quite good looking in the novel). Out of curiosity, where are you from, Mustapha? "Spearchucker" (a carryover from the novel and the movie) was dumped by the writters after it was discovered that there were no black surgeons in the Korean War. "Spearchucker" refered to the neurosurgeon's ability to throw a javlin (and a football), but it's also a racial slur used (before my time, I grant you) to refer to a black person. Spearchucker was black, so it was a play on words of sorts... not inteded to be racist... actually, I don't know what the point of the nickname was.

I hail from Godzone New Zealand. It's been a while since I saw the earlier episodes. MASH is actually playing on our screens but it's way at the other end. Spearchucker just sounded vaguely Australian. I vaguely recall who played Ugly John (can't remember names, just faces) - I think he played various people of Commonwealth extraction.