Kingdom Hospital
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Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital was a thirteen-episode miniseries based on Lars von Trier's Riget, which was developed by horror writer Stephen King in 2004 for American television.
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Plot Overview
The story tells of a hospital in Lewiston, Maine built on the site of a mill which burned down after the American Civil War. Subsequently, a hospital - now known as the "Old Kingdom" - was built on the site but it too burnt down, and the current hospital is known as the "New Kingdom".
A psychic hypochondriac named Mrs. Druse asks for the assistance of Dr. Hook to uncover the truth about the hospital and the mysterious spirits who haunt it - including a young girl, killed in or after the original fire; a teenage boy who was submitted to horrible test experiments in the Old Kingdom; and a giant anteater.
And elsewhere, Peter Rickman, a painter who is admitted to hospital following a road accident (with severe injuries to his skull and spine) begins to discover the ghastly goings-on while he lies comatose in room 426.
Other subplots included the initation of arrogant neurosurgeon Dr. Stegman into the secret society known as the 'Keepers', and the challenged-at-every-turn flirtation between young Dr. Elmer Traff and sleep doctor Lona Massingale.
The series is known for its tangential plots and characters who recur throughout, it is - as King called it - a "novelization for television".
While written as a mini-series, many fans wanted it to be renewed for a second season. Despite incredibly successful ratings for the first episode - making it the highest rating drama debut of the year on ABC - ratings sharply fell, and ABC didn't help matters by moving the show up against CSI.
The entire miniseries is now available on DVD.
Characters
Regular Characters
- Dr. Hook (Andrew McCarthy) - the handsome surgeon who lives in the hospital's basement, and who has made it his life's work to destroy incompetence among doctors.
- Dr. Stegman (Bruce Davison) - the arrogant neurosurgeon who is on the verge of being initiatied into the secret society of Kingdom Hospital, despite his numerous malpractice suits.
- Sally Druse (Diane Ladd) - a professed psychic, who regularly checks into Kingdom Hospital for all sorts of complaints, and who is determined to discover the truth below the hospital's depths.
- Abel Lyon (Brandon Bauer) - an orderly, with Downes Syndrome, who sneaks around Kingdom Hospital with his friend Christa, being a trickster.
- Dr. Jesse James (Ed Begley Jr.) - Kingdom's Chief of Staff, and member of the 'Keepers' - the Secret Society.
- Peter Rickman (Jack Coleman) - comatose painter who is discovering the past, and future of Kingdom.
- Christa (Jennifer Cunningham) - Abel's partner-in-crime.
- Dr. Brenda Abelson (Meagen Fay) - Steg's only true friend in the hospital, an ambitious woman who would stop at nothing for what she wants.
- Mary (Jodelle Micah Ferland) - the ghost of a girl murdered to cover up the arson of the mill in the 1860s, she is a symbol of death in Kingdom Hospital.
- Nurse Carrie von Trier (Lena Georgas) - Peter's irregular nurse, afraid of blood.
- Dr. Elmer Traff (Jamie Harrold) - a young surgeon whose father is an important man in the hospital.
- Dr. Christine Draper (Allison Hossack) - Kingdom's friendliest doctor, who has a romantic interest in Doctor Hook.
- Natalie Rickman (Suki Kaiser) - Peter's wife, determined not to believe in the phenomena plaguing Kingdom.
- Dr. Lona Massingale (Sherry Miller) - sleep doctor, and love interest of Elmer, despite her determination not to get involved with "a child".
- Bobby Druse (Del Pentecost) - Mrs. Druse's son, and an orderly at the hospital.
- Otto (Julian Richings) - the all-purpose man of Kingdom, who regularly watches the security feeds.
- Paul (Kett Turton) - a boy killed in the Old Kingdom, who haunts the hospital as a figure of evil.
- Dr. Louis Traff (William Wise) - the leader of the Keepers, and also an important doctor at Kingdom; it's longest serving member.
- Richings and Turton provide the voices of Blondi the dog, and Anubis the anteater respectively.
Recurring Characters
- Nurse Brick Bannerman (Beverly Elliott)
- Dr. Sonny Gupta (Zak Santiago Alam)
- Danny (Ty Olsson)
- Nurse Liz Hinton (Janet Wright)
- Reverend Jimmy Criss (Christopher Heyerdahl)
- Dr. Richard Shwartzon (Gerard Plunkett)
- Frank Schweigen (Paul Perri)
- Lenny Stillmach (Antony Holland)
- Rolf Pedersen (Jim Shield)
Episodes
Thy Kingdom Come
Peter Rickman is admitted to hospital and, while in surgery, begins to discover Kingdom Hospital is more than it seems; Dr. Stegman asks vacuous Chief of Staff Dr. James to help him rid the hospital of hypochondriac Mrs. Druse; and earthquakes hit Kingdom.
- 2 hours
Death's Kingdom
Mrs. Druse defies Steg; Peter's hit-and-run driver discovers the truth about Kingdom; Elmer attempts to attract Lona into a dinner; and Hook schemes to keep Mrs. Druse on for observational purposes.
Goodbye Kiss
Dr. Hook becomes drawn into Mrs. Druse's plight; a prisoner and his girlfriend plan a suicide pact gone wrong when the prisoner is saved by the staff; Dr. Stegman is accused of malpractice again; and Peter is visited by the spirits of Kingdom.
The West Side of Midnight
Dr. Traff's ex-wife dies on the operating table; Elmer dreams of Antubis; the deceased Lenny helps Mrs. Druse in her quest; Stegman goes crazy after finding his car defaced and decides to find the culprits; Paul uses Pedersen to get rid of Mrs. Druse.
Hook's Kingdom
Paul and Antubis face off; Pedersen plots to kill his roommate; Dr. Gupta is stunned by the likeness of a dead patient to Elmer; Elmer and Lona flirt in the sleep lab; Dr. Hook shows Draper his home in the bowels of the Kingdom; Mary reaches out to Peter; and Mrs. Druse reaches out to anyone she can, while Abel and Christa ask a favor of Dr. James.
The Young and the Headless
Dr. James holds a dinner to get funding for an investigative project into the earthquakes; Steg's initiation goes ahead, while Brenda destroys documents incriminating him; Peter, Mary, Paul, Antubis and the headless victim wander the bowels of the hospital and Elmer's prank on Lona goes wrong.
Black Noise
Elmer is suspected of desecrating the corpse, while its headless body moves down below Kingdom; Hook's new patient is a self-serving attorney who is scheming to get his name moved up the heart transplant list, however his new roommate is the former convict; Peter's new roommate - meanwhile - is a seismologist brought in to study the earthquakes, and his paranoid thoughts on the hospital make him the perfect partner to help Mrs. Druse and Natalie save Mary; and Dr. James holds a meeting for all staff in which he attempts to ascertain if Kingdom is haunted - an idea Steg is heavily against.
Heartless
Butterfingers
The Passion of Reverend Jimmy
Seizure Day
Shoulda Stood in Bed
Finale
- 2 hours
Trivia
- The character of Peter Rickman was heavily influenced by King's own experiences when he was hit by a car in Maine in 1999.
- Many of the characters' names, and events, are in-jokes, such as Nurse Carrie von Trier - a combination of King's best-seller Carrie and the director of Riget, Lars von Trier.
- There are several references to some of King's other works, including the infamous Dark Tower series. The drink "Nozz-A-La", which Dr. Hook refers to as a "Nozzie" in one episode is a drink in the alternate reality The Stand takes place in and that Roland's ka-tet (from the Dark Tower) comes across on their journey to the Dark Tower.
- The phrase "See it very well." which we hear Mary telling Peter near the end of the series is a nod to the Dark Tower as well.
- We see several people throughout the series reading Stephen King books. For example, while Peter Rickman's wife sits next to him in his hospital room near the end of the series, we clearly see her reading Misery.
- The character Johnny B. Goode, who seems to be perpetually absent from work, but always with a good excuse, is played by none other than Stephen King.
- Not a Stephen King or Dark Tower reference, but three of the main characters; Peter Rickman, Mary Jensen, and Paul (no last name given) form the names of a musical group "Peter, Paul, and Mary". Unsure if this was intentional. This one may be a stretch.
- There are several references to the Bible. For example: Mary. Paul. Saul, who changes his name to Paul after a life-changing event. The near-blind janitor cracks his glasses in an Earthquake, but is miraculously cured and can see perfectly afterwards. Then there is the obvious. One character is beaten and "crucified" but continues to bleed after his death. Miraculous things, like water from the tap turning to wine, sandwiches multiplying, and of course, a certain character returning from the dead, begin to occur after the grizzly crucifixion.