| Bedlam | |
|---|---|
| Format | Supernatural drama Thriller Mystery |
| Created by | Neil Jones David Allison Chris Parker |
| Starring | Theo James Will Young Charlotte Salt Ashley Madekwe Hugo Speer |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Matthew Bird |
| Running time | 45 mins approx |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Sky Living Sky Living HD |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | February 7, 2011 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Bedlam is a British supernatural drama television series created by David Allison, Neil Jones and Chris Parker. It first aired February 7 2011 on Sky Living and Sky Living HD. Series regulars include Theo James, Will Young, Charlotte Salt, Ashley Madekwe, and Hugo Speer. The season finale was aired on March 15, 2011. The writers have confirmed that they have started writing a second series, although it hadn't been officially renewed at the time.[1] In December 2011, it was announced that a second series had been commissioned for airing in Spring 2012, with an updated cast.[2]
Contents |
The series focuses on an upscale apartment block called 'Bedlam Heights', renovated from the structure of an abandoned mental asylum, and the strange hauntings that occur there. New arrival Jed Harper (Theo James) possesses the ability to see the ghosts (which are generally not visible to others), and receives visions of their deaths. The hauntings are generally malevolent, and it is up to Jed to determine the spirits' motives and thwart their goals. His flatmates are his cousin, Kate (Charlotte Salt), who manages the complex; Ryan (Will Young) who is troubled by the recent violent death of his brother; and Molly (Ashley Madekwe), a childhood friend of Kate and Jed.
Two buildings were used for exterior shots of 'Bedlam Heights', Bangor University, in Bangor,[3] North Wales and the former GMB National College in Whalley Range, Manchester.[4] Other filming locations include the basements of Victoria Baths in Chorlton-On-Medlock.[5]
| # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions)[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Cohabitants" | John Strickland | Neil Jones, David Allison & Chris Parker | 7 February 2011 | 0.845 |
| After helping the ghost of a traffic accident victim over to the other side, Jed Harper receives a mysterious text warning him that his estranged cousin by adoption is in danger and he must head to Bedlam. Kate and her father are running an apartment complex in the refurbished Bedlam mental institution, but business is struggling due to the building's history and Kate's grandfather's reputation of supposedly abusing the patients. Jed arrives just in time to save his cousin from an attack by a ghost and is convinced that the ghost is the younger brother of tenant Ryan McAllister who died a year ago to the day. It is eventually learnt that it is the ghost of a patient who was after the ring that Kate's father gave to her as a present, thinking that Kate had stolen it from the ghost. Believing his task is over Jed is set to leave, only to catch sight of the many other trapped spirits in the building. | |||||
| 2 | "Driven" | John Strickland | Neil Jones | 14 February 2011 | 0.741 |
| The arrival of new tenant Leah stirs William Mackay, one of the ghosts of Bedlam who begins a brutal campaign of terror against her. Jed and Ryan investigate but soon find that the brutal Mackay (Philip Broadbent) was an innocent man wrongly sent to Bedlam. Now a ghost, he is seeking revenge for the wrongs against him and Leah's dark secret has made her his prime target. | |||||
| 3 | "Inmates" | Alrick Riley | David Allison | 21 February 2011 | 0.746 |
| New Bedlam Heights resident Sadie Novak (Loveless) disposes her empty cardboard boxes in the rubbish chute closet where the door slams shut and plunges her into darkness. The door won’t open, she’s trapped and there’s somebody, or something else, in the room. When she escapes and meets Jed, there is an instant spark between them, and having both been in psychiatric institutions they share a common bond as well as a physical attraction. As Sadie’s ghostly experiences escalate, Jed begins to investigate why she is being targeted and needs her to open up to him if he is to help. But the secret she is hiding will shock him to the core. Meanwhile, Ryan sees a strange old woman wandering the grounds of Bedlam Heights and follows her to the basement where he learns that she is Grace (Rita Tushingham), a former patient who has been living under the hospital since it closed. Her daughter went missing in the area in the 80s, and Grace has made it her mission to discover what happened to her. When Ryan introduces Jed to Grace, he is stunned by what she has to say. | |||||
| 4 | "Hide and Seek" | John Strickland | Chris Parker | 28 February 2011 | 0.561 |
| When six-year-old Ella sees an unknown child in a Victorian dress calling out to her from a darkened corridor, it’s clear that all is not well in Bedlam Heights. The young girl – recently taken on as Molly’s childminding charge – soon begins to confide in her carer about her new friend, but also of a “bad man” who hurt her. When Ella goes missing and is found in a life-threatening situation, Jed and Ryan investigate further. Elsewhere, Kate is suffering from sleep deprivation and exhaustion following repeated nightmares of being trapped with a corpse in a secret room, and, when Warren shows her a series of tapes from the old asylum, she is plunged into even further trauma. Later, spending time with Sean’s wife, Maria (Joanna Page), Kate makes her question Sean’s fidelity and puts her in grave physical danger. But when Ella goes missing for a second time, it seems their neighbours’ marital spat could be the least of the group’s worries. | |||||
| 5 | "Committed" | Alrick Riley | Neil Jones | 7 March 2011 | 0.683 |
| Mark Northon (Walters) is a drinking buddy of Jed’s, so when strange scratching noises start to wake him during the night and a mysterious voice calls from a broken phone, Jed thinks nothing of going along to his Bedlam Heights flat to check out the problem. What greets them is a far more distressing scene than either had expected. Gouged into the apartment walls are a series of vicious scrawls reading ‘DON’T LEAVE ME’, the floor is strewn with rose petals and Jed soon begins to have a vision that dates back to Bedlam’s harrowing past. The actions of one of Kate’s ancestors and another depraved tale from the asylum all lead to a situation that could put Mark in very present danger. Jed, meanwhile, is blissfully unaware of his own mysterious history, whereas Ryan and Molly are uncovering it at an unintentionally rapid speed. When the pair find an old photograph of Jed’s mother in Bettany Hospital there are certain pieces of the puzzle that don’t add up. The date on the photo reads one thing but Jed’s version of his mum’s pregnancy alludes to something else. And when Ryan and Molly visit Ray Bowman (guest star Alan Rothwell), an estranged friend of Jed’s belated mother, the pair find themselves uncovering some truths that could turn Jed’s entire life upside down. In addition, Kate’s mental state is becoming increasingly fragile and, when her fears for Zoe increase, she ends up falling into the arms of one of her flatmates. | |||||
| 6 | "Burning Man" | Alrick Riley | David Allison & Chris Parker | 14 March 2011 | 0.647 |
| When Molly and Ryan begin a harmless tarot card game they have no idea of the dangers that are to follow. Jovial beginnings soon take a worrying turn when Molly reveals the death card and a candle instantly topples over, setting her sleeve on fire. A ghost has been released and, as a series of unexplained fires breaks out in the flat, it’s up to the friends to uncover the story behind the spectral arsonist before any of them are seriously injured. Jed, meanwhile, receives phone calls from a mysterious number, 2439. Although the code initially means nothing to the troubled victim, Ryan instantly recognises the digits – the photo of Jed’s mother and Bowman is branded with the same ward number – and soon Jed finds himself on a perilous hunt to contact the ghost of his late parent. Molly suffers from her own affairs of the heart when a long-awaited liaison with Ryan doesn’t end as planned, and when Kate finally enters the secret room that’s been plaguing her, all the horrors of the asylum come to a head. The four friends have faced up to their own demons, but what’s waiting for them in the depths of Bedlam Heights is worse than anything they could have ever predicted. | |||||
The ghosts of Bedlam are invisible to normal people, but they can make themselves visible and corporeal to those they are haunting. Jed is able to see the ghosts all the time and how they died by touching objects or if the ghost reveals something itself. Physically ghosts are pale white humans with solid jet black eyes and are dressed in the clothing they wore upon death. More powerful and violent ghosts have an aura of darkness around them that can make a room dark as they move through it. Few ghosts are capable of human speech and most communicate in a bird like shrieking sound. According to Jed in the finale ghosts hate spiritual mediums like tarot cards; he explains using them in a place like Bedlam is like broadcasting a string of insults through the building and is bound to get the wrong attention. The ghosts in the show include:
The Ghost Driver: The ghost of a man who died in a collision, but was not consciously aware of his death. He had been driving down the same road where he died picking up hitchhikers and murdering them out of subconscious realization that he was dead. He appears as a normal human at first but when Jed confronts him over the fact he is dead he changes in to a full ghost with black eyes, pale skin and loses the ability to speak. He is able to pass on when Jed shows him that he died and that his wife's spirit is waiting for him on the road side where her body was thrown, allowing the two to cross over.
James McAllister: Ryan's younger brother who was drowned in a canal in a prank gone wrong a year prior to the show. He is currently unable to pass on due to his brother's inability to move on from his death. Jed sees him by the canal reading a letter his brother threw in the lake as part of his grief therapy.
The Drowned Woman: One of Bedlam's many abused patients who Jed suspects was sent to the institute by a jealous husband for taking a lover. She was murdered by the doctors in an immersion tank during treatment and her ring was taken by one of the staff. Her spirit is roused when Kate is given the newly discovered ring as a present and the ghost begins to target her and anyone else who comes into possession of it. She has power over water and causes many water appliances to ooze and secrete black liquid. She is put to rest when Jed returns her ring to her.
Bedlam Ghosts: Many other trapped spirits in the hospital that reveal themselves at the windows just before Jed tries to leave and warn him he must be wary of Kate. Originally believing there was only a single ghost Jed soon discovered the building is infested with the tormented souls of former patients who appear to have been roused by the building in the hospital. In episode 2 Jed is suspicious some of the ghosts may have murdered Kate's grandfather in revenge for his abusive behavior toward them.
The Ghost in the walled up room: A spirit that appears to be trapped in a walled up room somewhere inside of Bedlam that is targeting Kate. It is reaching out to Kate in her nightmares and pulling her in to its prison. The ghost also seems to have a weak possession of Kate as her reflection becomes distorted several times through the show.
William Mackay: (played by Philip Broadbent) A man imprisoned in Bedlam because he tried to convince people his wife was mentally unwell, only to have people believe he was the one who was mentally unwell. Mackay's wife eventually took her own life and those of his two young sons by carbon monoxide poisoning in the family car, causing Mackay to slash his own throat in grief and rage. He becomes active as a ghost upon the arrival of new tenant Leah. Appearing as one of the more powerful spirits in Bedlam he can actively leave the grounds and reveals to Jed the shrine of the murdered children. He has the power to manipulate electronics and objects and leaves skid marks around Leah's house to torment her. At first thinking he was just taking his anger out on Leah, Jed and Ryan discover Leah had killed two children who resembled William's children while out drunk driving after an abusive argument and left them there to die. Mackay has now been after her to make up for the death of his own children and violently torments Leah and attempts to kill her several times. He is eventually put to rest when Jed and Ryan get Leah to call the police and admit her crime.
Elizabeth Smith: A young woman sent to Bedlam for having a child out of wedlock, she was killed by the staff in a botched lobotomy. The lobotomy and electrotherapy appear to have made her ghost more erratic than most as she appears unable to take a full corporeal form. She is drawn to Sadie Novak who like her had a child out of wedlock only for it to be still born. She leaves muddy hand-prints around Sadie's apartment and keeps making the box that Sadie buried her child in reappear. Sadie however believes she is hallucinating due to a breakdown and ignores the ghost causing it to become more hostile. The ghost eventually puts a drugged Sadie in a wooden box to be buried by the builders, only for her to be rescued by Jed. Sadie finally realises the awful truth; that her child had actually started breathing when she was burying it. Satisfied she has given her message Elizabeth's ghost moves on.
Alice Barkley: A daughter of one of the staff who was left unattended in a room with a dangerous patient who smothered her to death. She is rare as a ghost as she still has the ability to speak though this is mostly done off screen. Mostly she speaks in a child's singsong voice but when she attempts to kill Ella a second time her voice drops to a deeper older voice. Her spirit is connected to her doll and her face is warped to match the doll's damaged appearance, with smeared make up and cracked teeth. She can draw on the walls with chalk and paint and can move at blinding speeds, covering much of the hospital in a matter of minutes. She can also suspend her self on the ceiling like a bat . She is roused when Ella; one of Molly's child minding charges finds the doll and takes it back to her room causing Alice to label Emma as a new playmate. Appearing benign at first, her behaviour turns dangerous when she tries to kill Ella so that she can have a playmate forever. After saving Ella from a second attempt by Alice, Jed leads her in to the cemetery and tells her that she does have friends she can already play with and reveals the ghosts of other children playing in the cemetery. At this Alice runs over to join them, losing her warped appearance and passing on with the other children.
Isabell Hyde: The lover of one of the hospital owners children who was put inside when she became an inconvenience on his marriage. Her lover continued his affair with her while she was inside and she eventually slit her wrist when it became obvious the affair wouldn't continue. She has the standard powers of a ghost. She targets Jed's friend Mark because of his familiarity with her lover. She eventually murders him when he keeps trying to leave. Jed and Ryan put her to rest when they bury her with the body of her lover.