The
lowdown: 'Takin' Over the Asylum' was made by BBC Scotland and
was first broadcast between 27 September
1994 and 1 November 1994.
The six-part series stars Ken Stott as Eddie McKenna, who works as a salesman
for a
double glazing company (although
he is a very reluctant salesman). He is also a part-time DJ. When he is
sacked by
the radio station's manager,
he is offered the job of running a radio station at St. Jude's, a Glasgow
psychiatric hospital.
The hospital's radio broadcasting
equipment and collection of vinyl records are antiquated, and Eddie also
faces the
challenge of getting the
patients interested in the station, as watching television is their favourite
pastime.
Despite the patients' initial
reluctance to get involved in the radio station, "Ready Eddy's Roadshow"
quickly becomes
popular and they soon organise
a fundraiser at the hospital's open day to purchase a new radio mixer.
Episode Three
features a cameo by the
late, great Spike Milligan and is one of the best. As the series progresses,
Eddie (and the
viewer) learns more about
the patients, with the underlining message being that despite their mental
health problems,
they are not that different
to the rest of us. Meanwhile, Eddie has his own demons to deal with; he
is an alcoholic, and
he eventually comes to accept
that he must do something about his problem.
The cast includes a young
David Tennant in one of his first TV roles, as the manic depressive Campbell,
who becomes
Eddie's understudy as a
DJ; Rosalie, a woman who has a compulsive fear of germs and is always using
disinfectant;
Fergus, who has been sectioned
because he hears voices; and Francine, who has a compulsive tendency to
harm herself.
Their portrayals of people
with mental illnesses are realistic, and the show treats mental illness
with understanding rather
than pathos. Tennant in
particular is brilliant, and his performance marked him as an actor to
watch out for in the future.
His rallying cry to his
fellow patients, "We are loonies and we are proud", is one of the most
memorable things about this
show. 'Takin' Over the Asylum'
is a wonderful show that celebrates the human condition, and is well worth
watching.
Trivia:
Many of the support cast are well-known to fans of Doctor Who. Eddie's
grandmother is played Elizabeth Spriggs,
who
featured as one of the cannibal grannies in 'Paradise Towers'; Angela Bruce
(Brigadier Bambera in 'Battlefield') plays
a
nurse, and Eddie's first double-glazing customer is Michael Sheard, who
made numerous appearances in Who.
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