The
lowdown: 'The Citadel' is a 10-part miniseries that is
based on the 1937 novel of the same name by A.J. Cronin.
It was first broadcast on
BBC1 between 20 January and 24 March 1983 and starred Ben Cross as Dr Andrew
Manson,
a newly-qualified and idealistic
doctor from Scotland who gets a job in the Welsh mining valleys in the
1920s. Manson
initially works as assistant
physician to the bedridden Dr Page, who has suffered a stroke. The first
episode sees him
settling into his job and
tracing the source of a typhoid outbreak. However, he soon has a
falling out with Page's sister,
and decides to move on and
set up practice on his own. Meanwhile, Manson has been courting a local
schoolteacher,
Christine Barlow (Clare
Higgins), and it is not long before they are married. Manson initially
struggles to attract patients
to his practice, but it
soon begins to thrive. However, Manson and Christine begin to drift apart,
and he eventually faces
disciplinary action from
the General Medical Council after he works with an unqualified practitioner
of natural medicine.
Manson avoids being struck
off, but tragedy strikes when Christine dies not long after they patch
up their marriage.
The
episode: The fourth episode was broadcast on 10 February
1983, and sees Dr Manson starting to build his own
practice in the town of
Aberlaw, while Christine begins to make a home for the young couple. However,
Manson meets
resistance from the locals,
who decide to go to another doctor after he refuses to give workers from
the local coal mine
time off work because he
believes they are sick. Manson is also becoming increasingly frustrated
by the attitude of Dr
Llewellyn, who owns the
brand new local hospital and is reluctant to give Manson access to its
facilities. Manson and
other local doctors are
required to pay 20 per cent of their salary to Llewellyn, which is another
source of frustration for
Manson. After meeting a
local dentist who feels the same way about Llewellyn, Manson organises
a meeting of local
medical practitioners to
demand higher wages from Llewellyn. Meanwhile, Manson and Christine are
invited to dine with
the local mine owner, a
wealthy businessman named Richard Vaughan (Colin Baker), where Manson is
encouraged to
discuss his proposal to
begin researching the effects of coal dust on the miners' lungs. Mansons'
marriage also comes
under strain due to his
stance against Llewellyn.
Who
connections: A number of actors
associated with Doctor Who appeared in 'The Citadel', including
Michael Gough
(The
Celestial Toymaker and Councillor Hedin in Arc of Infinity);
Milton Johns (The Android Invasion and The Invasion of
Time);
Jane How (Rebec in Planet of the Daleks); John Nettleton (Reverend
Ernest Matthews in Ghost Light); Michael
Cochrane
(Charles Cranleigh in Black Orchid and Redvers Fenn-Cooper in Ghost
Light), and Tenniel Evans (Major Daly
in
Carnival
of Monsters). Charles Kay was in Excelis Rising, a Big Finish
audio drama.
Video Clip:
Dinner with the Vaughans
5.3mb |
 |
