The story revolves around the eponymous hospital in Lewiston, Maine, built on the site of a Civil War-era mill fire in which numerous children died. The first episode basically sets the scene and introduces us to the main characters. They are: the dedicated yet somewhat arrogant Dr. Hook (Andrew McCarthy); Sally Druse (Diane Ladd), a hypochondriac and psychic; Peter Rickman (Jack Coleman), a famous artist; the clearly repugnant and universally disliked Dr. Stegman (Bruce Davidson); the general hospital handyman and quite creepy Otto (Julian Richings); and Mary (Jodelle Ferland), a young girl who died in the mill fire and haunts the corridors of Kingdom Hospital tinkling a little bell.
So, while Rickman is lying paralysed on the side of the road, a great big CGI ant eater comes loping out of the undergrowth and drags him closer to the road so that somebody driving will see him and hopefully help him. At this point, it’s not exactly made clear why Rickman is able to hear the ant eater’s thoughts (and indeed, seemingly those of all wildlife around him), although it is a little jarring. Rickman is indeed found by an oncoming driver and taken to the hospital. On the way, he repeatedly has visions of a pale little girl holding a bell, in the back of the ambulance and the operating theatre, usually accompanied by the ant eater. “Watch out for Mary, watch out for her bell. It’s a death bell,” the ant eater warns.
Peter Rickman isn’t the only one seeing ghosts, it transpires. The handyman, Otto, glimpses the face of a girl on the security monitor. We also witness an old-fashioned and clearly spooky ambulance pull into A&E before disappearing. Elsewhere, Sally Druse has just been admitted to Kingdom Hospital complaining of pins and needles, although it becomes clear she has an entirely different purpose at the hospital, telling one of the elderly patients she’s back and that a séance is going to be in order. During an elevator break-down, Druse hears the sound of a child crying and tells a nurse, although nobody believes her.
Oh, and throughout proceedings, there are numerous earthquakes which shake the hospital to its foundations, although whether this is normal or paranormal is not made clear (obviously paranormal).
And so ends the first episode of Kingdom Hospital. At around an hour and a half, there is a lot to take in, a lot of characters to remember, and I’m thinking ninety minutes is probably just too long for a single episode of any TV series. There are some scenes which attempt to be funny but fall flat, a few which are more successful, and some which could have been removed entirely without any damage done to the overall plot. But then again, this is the pilot episode, and so it’s tradition for it to run slightly longer than average. So far then, in spite of a few niggles, things are looking promising.
