Britannia Hospital (1982)

Mick Travis is a reporter who is about to shoot a documentary on Britannia Hospital, an institution which mirrors the downsides of British Society. It's the day when Her Royal Highness is ... See full summary »

Director:

Lindsay Anderson

Writer:

David Sherwin

Stars:

Leonard Rossiter, Brian Pettifer, John Moffatt

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leonard Rossiter	...	Vincent Potter
Brian Pettifer	...	Biles
John Moffatt	...	Greville Figg
Fulton Mackay	...	Chief Superintendant Johns
Vivian Pickles	...	Matron
Barbara Hicks	...	Miss Tinker
Graham Crowden	...	Professor Millar
Jill Bennett	...	Dr. MacMillan
Peter Jeffrey	...	Sir Geoffrey
Marsha A. Hunt	...	Nurse Amanda Persil (as Marsha Hunt)
Catherine Willmer	...	Dr. Houston
Mary MacLeod	...	Casualty Sister
Joan Plowright	...	Phyllis Grimshaw
Robin Askwith	...	Ben Keating
Dave Atkins	...	Sharkey

Storyline

Mick Travis is a reporter who is about to shoot a documentary on Britannia Hospital, an institution which mirrors the downsides of British Society. It's the day when Her Royal Highness is to visit the hospital to inaugurate a new wing, where advanced (and sinister) scientific experiments led by Prof. Millar will take place. Everybody in the hospital, from the cooks who refuse to cook, to the painters who couldn't care less to get their job done, to an African cannibalistic dictator (a la Amin Dada) whom demonstrators want expelled from the hospital and tried, will contribute to making HRH's visit (and Mick Travis's life) a true nightmare.

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | social satire | anti conformity | black comedy | sequel | 

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Taglines:

Will they ever recover ... ?

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Genres:

Drama | Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 May 1982 (UK)

Also Known As:

Britannia Hospital - juhlapäivä

Filming Locations:

Friern Barnet Hospital, Friern Barnet Road, Friern Barnet, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

EMI Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mark Hamill accompanied Malcolm McDowell, a good friend, to London purely for a leisure trip, and ended up being cast alongside him in the film.

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Goofs

At 02:40, the nurse puts her cape on twice.

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Quotes

Professor Millar: Friends! Fellow Members of the Human Race! We are gathered here for a purpose. Let us look together at Mankind. What do we see? We see Mastery. What wonders Mankind can perform. He can cross the oceans and continents today, as easily as our grandfathers crossed the street. Tomorrow he will as easily cross the vast territories of space. He can make deserts FERTILE and plant cabbages on the Moon. And what does man CHOOSE? Alone among the creatures of this world, the Human Race CHOOSES to ...

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Connections

Featured in Free Cinema (1986)

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Soundtracks

"Thine Be The Glory"
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Edmond Budry, music by George Frideric Handel

User Reviews

Brittania Hospital - strange yet great

I just wanted to correct a few things said already.

Lindsay Anderson has stated (often) that the Mick Travis in each of the films is a different one. He's using the name "Mick Travis" instead of saying "everyman" or "any old sod". So, complaining about what Mick did or didn't do vis a vis "the last film" is sort of pointless.

The Royal in question here, right smack in the film is a Queen Mother impersonator and a great one at that. You're completely right that the Queen wouldn't stand for it... but that's why they put the half-mad happy dotty royal instead of her.. The Queen Mum would just go on and wait for her lunch.

The film is eccentric in a great way... sure it has some blood spatter but I can tolerate that. =) Anyway, I wish we had gotten more shots of Malcolm in less clothing, but hey, I'll just have to live with it. Overall, a great film.