Takin’ Over the Asylum

Takin’ Over the Asylum is one of the best shows that I’ve come back to. While a friend of mine was visiting me in July, I remembered a show I hadn’t visited in around two years. Almost immediately, I grabbed my computer and forced them to watch it with me while I went on a nostalgia trip.

Trigger Warning: This blog covers topics relating to self-harm, mental health issues, and things that commonly take place in/ are associated with mental hospitals. Please read only if you’re comfortable!!

Takin’ Over the Asylum is a Scottish series that ran for 6 episodes on BBC Scotland in 1994. It follows a window glazing salesmen at his second job hosting a radio station. Because of his unpopularity at the station he is first shown working in, the salesman Eddie McKenna is sent to be a radio host for a mental hospital in Glasgow named St. Jude’s. The small station that he’s sent to is dingy, unclean, unorganized, and the equipment there for him is breaking down if not already unrepairable. As the short series progresses, he learns to appreciate his opportunity there at St. Jude’s.

Since the series is sent in a mental hospital, a majority of the characters are patients who reside at St. Jude’s. One of the most familiar faces is Campbell Bain who is portrayed by David Tennant. If you don’t recognize that name, David Tennant played the 10th Doctor in Doctor Who, Crowley in Good Omens, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire. Campbell is a “Manic Depressive,” or Bipolar in today’s terms, that dreams of being a popular radio host once he gets out of St. Jude’s. Like with any good character, he is met with obstacles along the way including his father attempting to get him discharged from St. Jude’s before he’s ready to leave.

The rest of the main cast includes:

• Francine, a woman who doesn’t really talk about why she’s there or much of her past before St. Judes until closer to the very end of the series run time, but she has a tendency of self-harm clear in the first episode.
• Rosalie, described as compulsive, is a woman with OCD that has her frantically cleaning anything in reach. The way her OCD manifests is very stereotypical with her being a clean freak; however, her compulsions are not cleaning just to be a stereotype. The reason she cleans is not something that has been a habit for years, but a reaction to trauma she experienced that is discussed in the episode that focuses on her.
• Fergus, a very bright man with Schizophrenia, who constantly escaped St. Jude’s. He is allowed to ask to leave for the day, but he prefers to escape in varying levels of complexity. He doesn’t escape to run away; he always comes back.

For a series released in the early 90s, its representation of the characters has aged surprisingly well. Of course, they rely on stereotypes at times, but they never make light of the place these people are in. The viewer sees a character go through a manic episode, one get sedated, another go through a major depressive episode, and someone get denied from a job they’re overqualified for just because they’re a resident at St. Jude’s. There’s a character in the first episode that doctors assume is crazy and speaking in tongues when really, she’s just homeless and speaking a language no one at St. Jude’s recognizes. 

If you haven’t seen Takin’ Over the Asylum, I recommend it!! It’s a very quick watch, and I don’t think you’ll regret it if you enjoy topics focused on mental health. I tried to be as vague and specific as possible, so there aren’t really any spoilers in there. Please watch it! There are so many things I didn’t cover!!

Trigger Warning for Series: All topics included in blog along with topics such as sexual assault, animal abuse, suicide, and death. If you are not comfortable, please don’t watch and make yourself uncomfortable. Stay safe out there!!

Hope you enjoyed this week’s blog!! I’m really glad I remembered that this show existed because it was one of my favorites back in around 2022-2023 and more people should talk about it. FunFact: It was the first series where David Tennant played a main character!! Okay, that’s enough for now. ByeBye!!