Takin Over The Asylum

One of David's first TV roles was in the 1994 critically acclaimed show Takin' Over The Asylum. The series will be released on DVD on 2 June 2008.

Ken Stott plays Eddie McKenna, a double-glazing salesman who moonlights as a DJ for hospital radio in a Scottish mental asylum - St Judes.

He nurtures close friendships with the patients there including Francine, a self-harmer and Campbell, played by David, a manic depressive, with whom he shares a dream to make it onto the commercial radio scene.

Episode Information

* Episode 1: Hey Jude

Eddie after being sacked from his slot at Hospital Radio Glasgow, reluctantly agrees to resurrect the dilapidated radio station at St Jude's Mental Hospital. This episode focuses on manic depressive, Campbell, who has a difficult and complex relationship with his father.

* Episode 2: Fly Like An Eagle

Campbell has decided to dedicate himself to becoming a professional DJ. His father pours cold water on the idea however.

* Episode 3: You Always Hurt The One You Love

It is St. Jude's Open Day. Eddie and the team need to raise some cash for a new sound mixer, so the obsessive- compulsive Rosalie hatches a plan.

* Episode 4: Fool On The Hill

Fergus is shocked to learn that he could be leaving St Judes in three weeks. He is worried that he will not find a job and the others concoct a plan to help him. Eddie's boss is appalled by the pictures of him at the Open Day in the newspapers. He says that Eddie must give up Hospital Radio if he is to continue working at...

* Episode 5: Rainy Night In Georgia

Eddie, Campbell, Francine and Rosalie attend Fergus's funeral. Campbell and Eddie are invited to Radio Scotland to record a demo. Meanwhile Eddie's relationship with Francine begins to flourish and she begins to tell him of the awful events that have bought her to St Judes.

* Episode 6: Let It Be

Last programme in the drama series set in a mental hospital. Francine is devastated by the death of the stray kittens and even Eddie cannot seem to reach her. Her doctor warns Eddie not to get too close as she is a very disturbed woman. Rosalie is now living in a seedy bed & breakfast house, but she is later offered a place in new accomodation called...

Campbell's inspired antics promise to bring the pair closer to their aim, but the pressures of life outside of the hospital begin to tell on Eddie. A vindictive colleague leads his small-minded boss to ban his activities at 'the looney-bin' and his eccentric grandmother returns suddenly to Lithuania leaving him peniless and alone.

Eddie finds himself drawn to the troubled Francine, but when the radio is threatened with closure it is to another 'wee friend' he turns for comfort. slowly we watch the roles reverse. As Campbell regains control over his life and courts success, Eddie goes into decline and is finally forced to face his own illness - alcoholism.

With black humour this drama deals perceptively with the issues surrounding mental health and the prejudices faced by sufferers.

Did You Know?

* The show won a BAFTA for Best Drama Serial.