Hospital People

Hospital People is a BBC One Mockumentary series set in the fictional Brimlington Hospital in the fictional town of Brimlington. The main star of the programme is Tom Binns who plays four different characters in the series. He has a supporting cast of another three actors with guest stars filling in the other roles on an episode-by-episode basis. A pilot episode was shown on BBC One in February 2016, from which a whole series was commissioned and then broadcast in 2017.[1]

Hospital People
GenreMockumentary
Written byTom Binns
Tom Doolan
Matt Morgan
Directed byPaul Murphy
StarringTom Binns
Amit Shah
Janine Duvitski
Mandeep Dhillon
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes7 (1 x pilot and 6 episodes in series 1)
Production
Production companyRoughcut TV
Release
Original release26 February 2016 (2016-02-26)
21 April 2017 (2017-04-21)

Premise

The mockumentary focuses upon the day-to-day running of a hospital set on the coast of Yorkshire. Tom Binns, the co-creator, co-writer and main star of the programme, has said it is based on where he is from on the Yorkshire/Derbyshire border but also on the coast as it is fictional.[2] The programme shows the main characters as a hospital manager and her assistant, a porter, a DJ and his assistant and a hospital chaplain and his organist. Each week a guest star would fulfil a prominent role as part of the main back story to the episode.[3]

Characters
  • Susan Mitchell, the hospital manager who is always dreaming up big ideas[4]
  • Ian D Montfort, a hospital porter who is also a medium[5]
  • Ivan Brackenbury (also known as "The Cheerful Earful"), the DJ on the hospital radio[6]
  • Father Kenny Mercer, the hospital chaplain.[7]

All the above are played by Tom Binns.

Guest stars in the first series included Russell Brand, Sally Phillips, James Fleet, Mark Williams, Sian Gibson and Alexander MacQueen.[8]

Episodes
No. in
series		 Title Directed by Written by Original air date
Pilot"Hospital people"David KerrTom Binns, Matt Morgan26 February 2016 (2016-02-26)
A new manager, Susan Mitchell, takes over the struggling Brimlington hospital. However, she comes from a commercial management background and many of her changes are focused on making money rather than providing healthcare. She expands the little newsagents, inflates the parking prices and installs a new 'point-of-care' patient entertainment system that costs £10 for 24 hours.[9]
1"The Hospital Awards"Paul MurphyTom Binns, Tom Doolan, Matt Morgan21 April 2017 (2017-04-21)
The hospital manager, Susan Mitchell, wins the bid for Brimlington to host the Annual Regional Hospital Awards and has managed to get a star host for the evening, an established actor from a long-running fictional hospital drama, Good Medicine. Father Kenny and DJ Ivan are in competition for the Patients Choice Awards, while the spiritualist porter, Ian, is forced to face conventional medicine head on. (Guest star: Alex Macqueen).[10]
2"The Security Threat"Paul MurphyTom Binns, Tom Doolan, Matt Morgan28 April 2017 (2017-04-28)
The Head of Hospital Security, is given a briefing from manager Susan Mitchell to increase protection after an intruder is found to have accessed sensitive parts of the hospital. Elsewhere, the resident DJ Ivan Brackenbury has an admirer, the porter-cum-psychic healer Ian gets caught up in a case of mistaken identity, and Father Kenny has a new toy. (Guest star; Sian Gibson).[11]
3"The Local Millionaire"Paul MurphyTom Binns, Tom Doolan, Matt Morgan5 May 2017 (2017-05-05)
Hospital manager Susan Mitchell is ecstatic when philanthropic local businessman Tony Jackson is taken ill and is admitted into Brimlington Hospital. Father Kenny finds a fellow comic in Tony Jackson, while porter Ian meets an opponent. The DJ, Ivan, raises money to help a patient go to America for treatment, but does he have an ulterior motive as it is a pet, not a human. (Guest star; Mark Williams).[12]
4"The Health Guru"Paul MurphyTom Binns, Tom Doolan, Matt Morgan19 May 2017 (2017-05-19)
After the death of a beloved staff member, the hospital manager Susan Mitchell, wants to promote healthy living at Brimlington Hospital. She decides that the best way to do this is to hire celebrity nutritionist Tyler Watt to overhaul the health of the hospital catering and vending machines. The health drive hits Ivan the DJ very hard (he likes five sugars in his tea), keeps Ian the porter/medium busy and allows father Kenny to plan for the biggest gig of his career. (Guest star; Russell Brand).[13]
5"The New Ward"Paul MurphyTom Binns, Tom Doolan, Matt Morgan26 May 2017 (2017-05-26)
Manager Susan Mitchell is desperate to impress visiting health Secretary Helena Steel MP, who is coming to open the new ward. Father Kenny sees an opportunity to increase his audience, and hospital radio DJ Ivan continues to find wacky ways to raise money. (Guest star; Sally Phillips).[14]
6"The Charity Single"Paul MurphyTom Binns, Tom Doolan, Matt Morgan16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)
Brimlington Hospital is in dire need of funding, so Susan Mitchell decides to record a charity single with the help of Local choirmaster Neville Burley. Before long, Neville and Susan fall out and this makes Neville angry. Father Kenny auditions for a part in the choir, DJ Ivan gets to grips with his new studio equipment, and Ian's spiritualist talents are finally acknowledged by the public. (Guest star; James Fleet).[14]

Production

The University Hospital in Hartlepool was used to film both the exterior and the interior shots. The interior sequences used a section of the hospital that were not being used by the NHS at that time[15] and this also generated extra revenue for the University Hospital.[7]

The programme was first profiled on the BBC's Comedy Playhouse medium. The first episode was the pilot which was broadcast in February 2016 and thereafter, the BBC commissioned a series that ran to six episodes and was broadcast from April 2017.[16][17] The programme was produced by Roughcut productions.[18]

References
  1. Seale, Jack; Verdier, Hannah; Wright, Jonathan; Robinson, John; Stubbs, David; Catterall, Ali; Arnold, Ben; Wardell, Simon; Howlett, Paul (26 February 2016). "Friday's best TV – Eurovision: You Decide; Mr Selfridge; Artsnight". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  2. Thompson, Fiona (18 April 2017). "Hartlepool's hospital is all set to star in BBC1 comedy". Hartlepool Mail. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  3. Donaldson, Laura (14 February 2017). "New dad Russell Brand lands exciting new TV role". ok.co.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  4. "BBC - Production has begun on new comedy series Hospital People, with guest stars including Russell Brand and Sally Phillips - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  5. Lougher, Sharon (25 April 2017). "Hospital People's Tom Binns on the road". Metro Newspaper UK. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  6. Wollaston, Sam (27 February 2016). "Hospital People review – a medical mock doc that's all in a muddle". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  7. Thompson, Fiona (13 February 2017). "Town's starring role in BBC One comedy series". Hartlepool Mail. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  8. Dowell, Ben (13 February 2017). "Russell Brand to guest star as a "nutrition guru" in new BBC comedy Hospital People". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  9. "Hospital People Pilot - Hospital People - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  10. "Hospital People - S1 - Episode 1: The Hospital Awards". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  11. "Hospital People - S1 - Episode 2: The Security Threat". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  12. "Hospital People Series 1, Episode 3 - The Local Millionaire - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  13. "Hospital People Series 1, Episode 4 - The Health Guru - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  14. "Hospital People Series 1, Episode 6 - The Charity Single - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  15. Thompson, Fiona (12 April 2017). "Hospital comedy ready to screen its funny episodes". Hartlepool Mail. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  16. "Hospital People - BBC1 Sitcom - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  17. "News: Transmission Details Revealed For Tom Binns' Hospital People Series". Beyond The Joke. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  18. "Hospital People | Roughcut TV". Roughcut TV. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
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