Takin' Over the Asylum

A bittersweet series with extraordinary acting by all. How I would love to see it again on a video or DVD. Currently I am forced to watch it on a set of old videotapes which I recorded when the series was on TV in Australia. These tapes go back and forth between my daughter and myself quite regularly as she is also an addict. Having been in an "asylum" myself on a couple of occasions, I can identify with the "loonies" and also have quite a few laughs and wry smiles at the content. Having coped with an alcoholic in the family there is also a link with Ken Stott's Eddie - sometimes painful, but real nevertheless. Rosalie, with her OCD triumphs as her condition provides her with satisfaction as she puts things in order, and the acting of this role is superb. I find it sad that my husband cannot enjoy this series as much as I do.

This was probably one of the finest series to come out of the BBC in the mid 1990's and stands head and shoulders above anything else today. It took a gritty look at life inside an asylum, an institution now rarely seen in the UK. It aimed to show that those suffering from mental illness were just like you and me once but a trigger in their life had caused the illness to manifest itself. It took a few people and protaryed their lives in a caring way showing some making it through and others not.

Well done to the writers of this series for giving us a frank yet compassionate view of mental illness and its perception in society today.

What a truly great series this is! Such a pity that it probably won't be released on DVD, due to problems with getting the necessary approval to use some of the songs, according to somebody I asked. The cast is uniformly excellent and the direction, seamless. So many wounded people, but so many with a fire inside them to keep trying to live a life that makes sense! It's a show that made me grind my teeth at the inhumanity of government cost-cutting in the mental health arena. The loonies are by no means the ones inside the asylum.

David Tennant is simply magnificent as the manic, inventive, affectionate, good hearted Campbell Bain. His exchanges with his dad would break your heart.

Thoroughly recommended.

ETA 18.01.14 The DVD has now been available for a few years and contains two eps with audio commentaries. It's wonderful to be able to watch the show again and nothing about it disappoints.

I came to this program from doing an IMDb search on David Tennant. Yes, I came to this from Doctor Who, and yes, I am an unrepentant DT fanboy. But...

I was totally blown away by the talent shown in this early work of Tennant's. Already we can see why he's become such a big hit on stage & TV. Most 22 year old actors just don't have his level of skill. Throughout, as Campbell Bain, he steals the show from it's intended star. At no point did I ever fail to believe him in the character. He embodied it, just as he's done with so many of his other roles.

The story is good, too. A radio station located in an asylum changes the lives of the inmates and the DJ as well. Mostly though, it changes Campbell. At the start he is an uncontrolled manic. As time goes on and he finds an outlet for his mania, he develops a personality, not just a diagnosis.

It's definitely worth hunting down, even if you're not totally mad for David Tennant like me. Just a really good quality Brit TV show.

Although this series was seen (and then soon after repeated) on Australian TV back in '94 or '95, it's brilliance still resonates. From the pen of Donna Franceschild, and directed by David Blair, it tells the story of a handful of 'loonies' - patients in a Glasgow mental facility. As in 'Girl, Interrupted', one is led to pondering the question: 'who are the real loonies?' Heavily laced with humour and poignancy, we - the 'normal' ones - are led into the lives of these people through the eyes of Eddie McKenna (Ken Stott), an alcoholic loser-type, whose desire is to be a radio disc-jockey, but who spends his days selling windows for the manager-from-hell. In my opinion, the salespeople at the windows company deserve to be behind locked doors far more than those in the institution. But I feel that this is the exact conclusion the writer wishes us to make. This series launched the extremely talented Ken Stott into regular TV appearances, such as 'Messiah' and 'The Vice'. It also features outstanding performances from David Tennant, Ruth McCabe, Angus McFadyen, and my favourite female actor, Katy Murphy. Ms Murphy seems to have a special knack for portraying wounded women. If you get a chance to see it, do.