Stephen King Presents : Kingdom Hospital (4 Disc Box Set) [2004] [DVD]

I haven't seen the original series that this series is based on but I have plans to do so. This is simply wacky. Think Silent Hill. Think ER. Think Twin Peaks. Stir it all together, throw in some wild characters, a wonderful and slightly twisted sense of humour and you have Kingdon Hospital. It might be considered disturbing in a few places but in my house no one found it especially spooky. We did all finish feeling like we'd had a good time. It's hysterical. We didn't expect to laugh so much.

I've given it 4 stars rather than 5 as the last episode seemed a bit rushed, had a slight clip-show feel about it, but don't let that comment put you off. It's great fun! As for comments against Stephen King himself - some reviewers have called him lazy or as good as accused him of stealing the project - can I just point out that Lars Von Trier was approached for permission to adapt this to an English-speaking audience and he was not only delighted, he was also involved. If he's happy then I think everyone else should be too and see no reason it should detract from the original.

At first I hadn't gathered much information on this new television series and within time I'd forgotten about it completely, however, one night whilst surfing my television for something to watch I stumbled onto BBC 2 and found Kingdom Hospital, already quarter of an hour of the episode gone. I watched the remaining half an hour and once my eyes had seen the last credit file up the screen I felt a longing for more from the hospital, I was quite disheartened that episodes weren't an hour long. So I surfed again and found the next episode on BBC 3, straight after. I was delighted and watched the very next episode that same night.

Now I am completely 'hooked', pardon the pun, on this amazingly produced television show, and each week I re-watch the episode I would have seen previously on BBC 3 and then watch the following episode on BBC 3. To be able to watch an episode of a tv show twice within a week and enjoy it more so the second time around is a rare occurence, however, Stephen King has mastered this show so finely that the storylines, character development, settings and colours are absolutely perfect. The hospital functions as though it were a real hospital drama such as Casualty or ER, but what makes this so unique from other hospital drama's is the supernatural theme to the television show.

The plot follows the story of a distressed ghost called Mary (played brilliantly by 10 year old Jodelle Ferland) who is taunted by spectre Paul (played by 22 year old Kett Turton). Kingdom Hospital of Maine, the main location in the series, was built on top of a wreckage of two horrific fires. The wreckage, which was once a warehouse, used child labourers, Mary being one of those unfortunate souls. Not much information has been unleashed of these fires but it is known that one of these fires caused the mass number of deaths in the warehouse which killed all the children and everyone else inside the building. Now, years later, with Kingdom Hospital standing tall and proud, a successful hospital, the ghosts are out to get their own back. Mary just wants peace for the hospital and is helplessly pursued by the evil Paul, and Paul, who knows what evil he wishes to bestow on the hospital and it's occupants.

Eleanor Druse, a woman who is adminished to the hospital after complaining of a pain in her hip, (Perhaps it's best I explain she's a hyperchondriac), whilst getting treatment, notices a few strange happenings in the hospital. It is Eleanor Druse, with help from Dr. Hook, a doctor in the Kingdom, who sets out to try and help poor little Mary and find out the truth about the fires in the old warehouse. Who knows what evils could be unleashed in doing so? And what is Paul's real secret?

So, for those of you who are a great fan of Stephen King's written work, I advise that you buy yourself a copy of this television series. It is well worth the price, which is amasingly low, I thought it would be a lot more expensive. I know I'm going to reserve a copy.