The Kingdom 

Doctors at an ultramodern hospital in Denmark become convinced, by way of weird, inexplicable happenings, that the place is haunted.

Stars:

Ernst-Hugo Järegård, Kirsten Rolffes, Ghita Nørby

20 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Ernst-Hugo Järegård	...	Stig Helmer 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Kirsten Rolffes	...	Sigrid Drusse 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Holger Juul Hansen	...	Einar Moesgaard / ... 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Søren Pilmark	...	Jørgen Krogshøj 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Ghita Nørby	...	Rigmor Mortensen 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Jens Okking	...	Bulder Harly Drusse 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Otto Brandenburg	...	Hansen 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Baard Owe	...	Palle Bondo 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Birgitte Raaberg	...	Judith Petersen 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Peter Mygind	...	Morten 'Mogge' Moesgaard 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Vita Jensen	...	Opvasker #1 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Morten Rotne Leffers	...	Opvasker #2 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Udo Kier	...	Age Krüger / ... 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Holger Perfort	...	Professor Ulrich 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Laura Christensen	...	Mona Jensen / ... 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Ole Boisen	...	Christian 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Ruth Junker	...	Opvasker #1 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Peter Gilsfort	...	Opvasker #2 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Ulrik Cold	...	Narrator 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Søren Elung Jensen	...	Læge 8 episodes, 1994-1997
Louise Fribo	...	Sanne 7 episodes, 1994-1997
Paul Hüttel	...	Steenbæk 7 episodes, 1994-1997
Klaus Wegener	...	Skadestuelæge 7 episodes, 1994-1997
Annette Ketscher	...	Skadestuesygeplejerske / ... 7 episodes, 1994-1997
Mette Munk Plum	...	Monas mor 7 episodes, 1994-1997
Julie Wieth	...	Sygeplejerske ved Mona / ... 6 episodes, 1994-1997
Birte Tove	...	Sygeplejerske på neurokirurgisk 6 episodes, 1994-1997
Solbjørg Højfeldt	...	Camilla 6 episodes, 1994-1997
Erik Wedersøe	...	Ole / ... 5 episodes, 1994-1997
Henning Jensen	...	Bob 5 episodes, 1994-1997
Annevig Schelde Ebbe	...	Mary Krüger 5 episodes, 1994-1997
Tomas Stender	...	Medicinstuderende / ... 5 episodes, 1994-1997
Claus Nissen	...	Jensen 5 episodes, 1994-1997
Birthe Neumann	...	Fru Svendsen / ... 4 episodes, 1997
John Hahn-Petersen	...	Nivesen 4 episodes, 1997
Søren Lenander	...	Vagt 4 episodes, 1994
Michael Simpson	...	Dyrepasser i dyrelaboratoriet / ... 4 episodes, 1994-1997
Evald Krog	...	Lillebror 4 episodes, 1997
Lise Schrøder	...	Sygeplejerske / ... 4 episodes, 1994-1997
Henrik Koefoed	...	Læge ved CTR-skanner 4 episodes, 1994
Mette Marckmann	...	Ung sygeplejerske 4 episodes, 1994
Bente Eskesen	...	Sygeplejerske på neurokirurgisk 3 episodes, 1994
Dorit Stender Petersen	...	Sygeplejerske / ... 3 episodes, 1997
Cecilie Brask	...	Kvinde i terapi 3 episodes, 1997
Benny Hansen	...	Chauffør i radioen / ... 3 episodes, 1994
Nis Bank-Mikkelsen	...	Hospitalspræst / ... 3 episodes, 1994-1997
Müslie	...	Bongo 3 episodes, 1994
Helle Virkner	...	Emma Mogensen / ... 3 episodes, 1994-1997
Lars Lunøe	...	Sundhedsminister 3 episodes, 1994-1997
Peter Hartmann	...	Flyttemand 3 episodes, 1997
Tine Miehe-Renard	...	Natsygeplejerske 3 episodes, 1997
Dick Kaysø	...	Vagtmester 2 episodes, 1994
Michelle Bjørn-Andersen	...	Børnelæge 2 episodes, 1997
Finn Nielsen	...	Madsen 2 episodes, 1994
Else Petersen	...	Patient på Ellens stue 2 episodes, 1994
Henrik Fiig	...	Trafikoffer 2 episodes, 1997
Klaus Pagh	...	Stævningsmand 2 episodes, 1997
Kim Jansson	...	Betjent Jensen 2 episodes, 1997
Thomas Bo Larsen	...	Falken 2 episodes, 1997
Claus Flygare	...	Betjent Nielsen 2 episodes, 1997
Steen Svare	...	Hospitalsansat 2 episodes, 1997
Ole Dupont	...	Læge / ... 2 episodes, 1994-1997

Storyline

The Kingdom is the most technologically advanced hospital in Denmark, a gleaming bastion of medical science. A rash of uncanny occurrences, however, begins to weaken the staff's faith in science--a phantom ambulance pulls in every night, but disappears; voices echo in the elevator shaft; and a pregnant doctor's fetus seems to be developing much faster than is natural. At the goading of a spiritualist patient, some employees work to let supernatural forces rest.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor | hospital | denmark | dishwasher | poison | 

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Taglines:

A baptism of fear awaits you at... THE KINGDOM

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

Denmark Italy Germany France Norway Sweden Netherlands

Language:

Danish Swedish

Release Date:

24 November 1994 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

The Kingdom II

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Box Office

Gross USA:

$86,133

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arte France, Coproduction Office, Danmarks Radio (DR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

561 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stephen King developed a 13-episode mini-series based on Riget, under the title Kingdom Hospital (2004), which was broadcast in 2004. The plot retained many of the elements of Riget, transferring the location of the hospital to Lewiston, Maine and placing it on the site of a mill built before the Civil War. Many of the characters derived their names from the Danish original (e.g., Sigrid Drusse became Sally Druse and Stig Helmer became Dr. Stegman). A significant difference in the American series was the introduction of a talking giant anteater character in the role of spirit guide/death/Anubis/Antubis.

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Goofs

Helmer procures hot coffee, and enters the archive. Mogge returns, with Krogshøj, and they lock Helmer in - he's left standing with a cup of scalding coffee - he can't move with setting off the infra-red alarm sensors. He's left, statue-like, staring at his cup of steaming liquid. Cut to Drusse and Bulder. She says she has to perform a seance for some doctors, and tells Bulder that in 1 hour, they are to attempt to enter the archive. When they get there, they inadvertently liberate Helmer, who casts away his cup of still scalding, yet hour-old coffee.

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Quotes

Bondo: I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I can't prove anything.

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Alternate Versions

For the UK release, 5 seconds were cut from the fourth episode ("The Living Dead") where Rigmor shoots rats with a pistol. The footage was cut under the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act of 1937, which forbids the depiction of cruelty to animals.

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Connections

Featured in I Lars von Triers rige - en mand og hans tv-serie (1994)

User Reviews

Quite possibly the best TV series ever

Von Trier's Riget is his playground. It's fun watching and you can sense it was fun making. The cast all give top-notch performances, which is rare if there is only money involved. The directing is inspired and ambitious and best of all, it works, hand camera and all.

Riget is also a tour-de-force for Ernst-Hugo, a man who left my home town in his youth never to return. His cynical, out-of-his depth, partly incompetent and totally danophobic Swede Stig-Helmer is one of the funniest and best-played characters I've ever seen. He dominates every scene he's in, and his monologues on top of the hospital are priceless.

The rest of the cast do their best to overshine Jähregård, and they're not far behind. Krogshöj, Stig-Helmers nemesis, is really memorable, with a really unsettling gaze. Fru Drusse, played by Kirsten Rolffes, is another great character, utterly believable and also very funny. Then there's Bulder, Rigmor, the incompetent hospital director Moesgaard and his love-sick medical-student son, the mongoloid dish-washers, the elderly gentlemen of the secret society, and so on and so on.

The plot is a simple ghost hunt thing, nothing special. It's the quirks and the characters that move Riget forward. In four hours time, not a lot has happened on a larger scale, but you will still be sorting through all the details.

Riget is the concrete evidence that the Danish movie culture is superior to the Swedish. One can only hope we will ever produce something as great as this.