''Takin' Over the Asylum'' is a six-part

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

television drama about a hospital radio station in a

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

. The show was written by

Donna Franceschild Donna Franceschild (born November 22, 1953 in Illinois) is a British-based television writer and dramatist, originally from the US. She has written many plays and television shows, but her best known work is probably the BBC series ''Takin' Over th ...

, produced by

Chris Parr Chris Parr (born 1943) is a British theatre director and television drama producer and executive. Career Chris Parr grew up in Littlehampton, Sussex.He was educated at Chichester High School for Boys, where his contemporaries included Howard Bren ...

and directed by David Blair. The show follows a

double glazing Insulating glass (IG) consists of two or more glass window panes separated by a space to reduce heat transfer across a part of the building envelope. A window with insulating glass is commonly known as double glazing or a double-paned windo ...

salesman Eddy McKenna (

Ken Stott Kenneth Campbell Stott (born 19 October 1954) is a Scottish stage, television and film actor who won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1995 in the play '' Broken Glass'' at Royal National Theatre. He portrayed th ...

) who re-establishes a hospital radio station at St Jude's, a psychiatric hospital, with patients as its presenters and volunteers, notably Campbell (

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

Development

David Blair, a producer at

, suggested to writer Donna Franceschild that she develop a minor character into one of her plays. She says, "The character was a hospital radio DJ called Ready Eddie, and I asked if I could set the drama in a mental hospital... We just thought it would make a great story." Franceschild's motivation for writing the series, Birch notes, "originated from personal experience, her intention to critically challenge accepted views about mental illness." The working title for the programme was "Making Waves"; the title was changed by the producer and the controller of BBC Two following pre-broadcast research. The new title alludes to the phrase 'lunatics have taken over the asylum', when policy has gone wrong. The series was filmed in a disused wing of

Gartloch Hospital Gartloch Hospital was a mental health facility located on the Gartloch Road near the village of Gartcosh, Scotland. It opened in 1896 and was officially closed in 1996. It was managed by NHS Greater Glasgow. History In January 1889 the City of ...

, a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of

. Director David Blair, who had cast

in a small part in the series '' Strathblair'', recommended that Tennant should audition for the role of Cambbell. Talking of the series in 2003, Tennant says that "probably every job since then has been either directly or indirectly because of that."

Cast

*Eddy McKenna (

), an alcoholic

salesman and aspiring

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

, develops the hospital radio station with the help of several of the patients at the hospital, including: *Campbell Bain (

) – a nineteen-year-old, enthusiastic contributor to the station, who has

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

(formally known as manic depression). *Francine Boyle (

Katy Murphy Katy Murphy (born 8 December 1962) is a Scottish actress and teacher who has appeared in many television programs, most of them for the BBC and ITV. While most associated with television drama, she has worked across a variety of genres, includin ...

) – a long-term depressive patient who self harms to whom Eddie is attracted. *Fergus MacKinnon (

Angus Macfadyen Angus Macfadyen (born 21 September 1963) is a Scottish actor. His roles include Robert the Bruce, both in ''Braveheart'' and ''Robert the Bruce'', Komodo in ''Warriors of Virtue'', Vice-Counsel Dupont in '' Equilibrium'', Jeff Denlon in the '' ...

) – an electrical engineer, who has

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

and a tendency to escape the hospital and then return. *Rosalie Gerrity (

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) – a middle-aged housewife who has OCD regarding cleanliness and is separating from her husband. *Jim Gerrity ( Jon Morrison) - Husband of Rosalie Gerrity, he refuses to accept her home until she is 'normal'. *Campbell's Dad ( James Grant) - Is unsupportive of Campbell's dream of being a DJ. *Grandma (

Elizabeth Spriggs Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

) - Eddie's Lithuanian grandmother who lives with him and is eager for him to find a wife. *Isabel (

Angela Bruce Angela Bruce (born 6 May 1951) is an English actress, noted for her television work. Bruce was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire to a West Indian father and white mother, but was put up for adoption aged three, and brought up in Craghead, ...

) - The principal nurse at St Jude's, who is very supportive of the radio station. *Mr Griffin (

Roy Hanlon Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

) - Eddie's boss at TwinnView windows, who encourages Eddie to give up the radio in order to dedicate more time to his job. *MacAteer ( Neil McKinven) - Eddie's work rival at TwinnView windows. *Paula (

Arabella Weir Arabella Weir (born 6 December 1957) is a Scottish comedian, actress and writer. She played roles in the comedy series '' The Fast Show'' and '' Posh Nosh'', and has written several books, including ''Does My Bum Look Big in This?'' Weir has al ...

) - Eddie's contact at Radio Scotland, who Eddie and Campbell use to try and get their own radio show.

Episodes

Each of the episodes is named after a popular song.

Critical reaction and awards

As the transmission date neared, senior BBC executives grew nervous because of the subject matter. Franceschild says the show had the "dubious distinction of being the first ever programme on BBC2 to be subjected to focus groups". Despite the first episode being scheduled against European football '' Soldier, Soldier'' on ITV, the show attracted positive reviews, including from '' Time Out'' and ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

''. The show won the 1995

BAFTA award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

for Best Serial and Best Editing,

RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...

Award for Best Writer, Mental Health in the Media Award and the

Scottish BAFTA BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1986, the branch holds two annual awards ceremonies recognising the achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, televis ...

for Best Serial and for Best Writer. Glasgow Media Group scholar Greg Philo comments that the series was "a fairly radical approach to the portrayal of mental illness", noting that it was praised by mental health service users.

DVD release and repeat showings

Despite its critical success, Franscechild claims that the BBC remained nervous because of its subject matter. It never received the expected BBC One repeat, instead receiving a late-night repeat showing on BBC Two. The series was then ignored for many years. However, in the mid 2000s, the show was illegally uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, a move which delighted Franceschild as it brought her work to a wider audience. The series BBC DVD was released on 9 June 2008 and the show was re-run on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, beginning August 2008 with two episodes shown back-to-back over three consecutive Saturday evenings. Due to music copyright issues,

Junior Campbell Junior Campbell (born William Campbell Jnr, 31 May 1947) is a Scottish composer, songwriter and musician. He was a founding member, lead guitarist, piano player, and singer with the Scottish band Marmalade and co-wrote and produced some of t ...

who wrote the incidental music, was also commissioned to record cover versions of most of the original hits included in the series soundtrack. These were dubbed on the original worldwide television transmissions (excluding UK) and also on the series BBC DVD.

Adaptation

Franceschild has adapted the BBC show for the stage. It is directed by Mark Thomson and was co-produced by the

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and is based in Glasgow, Scotland as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various s ...

and

Royal Lyceum Theatre The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by a ...

, Edinburgh in 2013. Franceschild says, “A lot’s changed since ''Takin’ Over the Asylum'' was aired in 1994. This stage version is set in a world of mobile phones, the internet and zillions of channels of digital television. But two things haven’t changed. Sixties Soul Music is still the Greatest Popular Music of All Time, and people with mental health problems are still stigmatised, discriminated against in the workplace, depicted as ‘disability junkies’, ignored, shunned, even physically assaulted.” The production attracted positive reviews. In May 2022, ''Takin’ Over the Asylum'' was performed by BA Acting students at the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

, also directed by Mark Thomson.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0209813, title=Takin' Over the Asylum
''Takin' Over the Asylum' Filming Location'

, Glasgow (St Judes) *What's On – Lyceum – Takin' Over the Asylu
Video
BBC, Source: BBC DVD, Length: 4min 13sec, Society Guardian, Wednesday 4 June 2008 1994 British television series debuts 1994 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series BBC television dramas BBC Scotland television shows Disability in television Television shows about diseases and disorders 1990s British television miniseries English-language television shows Television shows set in Scotland Television episodes set in psychiatric hospitals