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''Takin' Over the Asylum'' is a six-part
BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...
television drama about a hospital radio station in a
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...
. The show was written by Donna Franceschild, produced by Chris Parr and directed by David Blair. The show follows a double glazing salesman Eddie 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 (play), Broken Glass'' at Royal National Thea ...
) 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 (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...
).


Development

David Blair, a producer at
BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...
, 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, a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. Director David Blair, who had cast
David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...
in a small part in the series '' Strathblair'', recommended that Tennant should audition for the role of Campbell. Talking of the series in 2003, Tennant says that "probably every job since then has been either directly or indirectly because of that."


Cast

*Eddie 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 (play), Broken Glass'' at Royal National Thea ...
), an alcoholic double glazing 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 nightclubs or music fes ...
, develops the hospital radio station with the help of several of the patients at the hospital, including: *Campbell Bain (
David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...
) – a nineteen-year-old, enthusiastic contributor to the station, who has
bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...
(formerly known as manic depression). *Francine Boyle ( Katy Murphy) – a long-term depressive patient who self harms to whom Eddie is attracted. *Fergus MacKinnon (
Angus Macfadyen Angus Macfadyen (born 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 ''Saw'' franch ...
) – an electrical engineer, who has
schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
and a tendency to escape the hospital and then return. *Rosalie Gerrity ( Ruth McCabe) – 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 Jean Spriggs (18 September 1929 – 2 July 2008) was an English actress. Spriggs' roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company included Nurse in ''Romeo and Juliet'', Gertrude in ''Hamlet'', and Beatrice in ''Much Ado About Nothing''. I ...
) - Eddie's Lithuanian grandmother who lives with him and is eager for him to find a wife. *Isabel ( Angela Bruce) - The principal nurse at St Jude's, who is very supportive of the radio station. *Mr Gordon Griffin (Roy Hanlon) - Eddie's boss at TwinView windows, who encourages Eddie to give up the radio in order to dedicate more time to his job. *John MacAteer (Neil McKinven) - Eddie's work rival at TwinView windows. *Paula (
Arabella Weir Arabella Helen Weir (born 6 December 1957) is an American-born British comedian, actress and writer. She played roles in the comedy series ''The Fast Show'', ''Posh Nosh'' and ''Two Doors Down (TV series), Two Doors Down'', and has written sev ...
) - Eddie's contact at Radio Scotland, who Eddie and Campbell use to try and get their own radio show. *Evelyn McDonald ( Sandra Voe) - part of the hospital board, she comes to inspect the station.


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 on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
and ''
Soldier Soldier ''Soldier Soldier'' is a British television drama series. Created by Lucy Gannon, produced by Central Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of seven series and 82 episodes from 10 June 1991 to 9 December 1997. It ...
'' on ITV, the show attracted positive reviews, including from '' Time Out'' and ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
''. The show won the 1995
BAFTA TV Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in ...
for Best Drama Serial and Best Editing, RTS Award for Best Writer, Mental Health in the Media Award and the Scottish BAFTA 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 an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, 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 service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, 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 Jr., 31 May 1947) is a Scottish composer, songwriter and musician. He was a founding member, lead guitarist, pianist, and singer with the Scottish band Marmalade (band), Marmalade and co-wrote and produced s ...
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 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 (), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama () is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. Founde ...
, also directed by Mark Thomson.


References


Further reading

*


External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0209813, title=Takin' Over the Asylum
''Takin' Over the Asylum' Filming Location''
Gartloch Hospital, 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 Television shows about disability Television shows about diseases and disorders 1990s British television miniseries British English-language television shows Television shows set in Scotland Television episodes set in psychiatric hospitals BAFTA winners (television series)