The Kingdom

***The Kingdom** (Danish title: **Riget**)* is a danish miniseries, created by Lars von Trier. The series follows a number of characters, both staff and patients, as they encounter bizarre phenomena, both human and supernatural in Rigshospitalet. The series was first broadcast in four parts from November 24th to December 15th 1994, on the DR (Danish Broadcasting Company).

The show was named after the Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet nicknamed "Riget" (lit. 'the realm' or 'the kingdom'). The show is notable for its wry humor, its muted sepia colour scheme, and the appearance of a chorus of dishwashers with Down syndrome who discuss in intimate detail the strange occurrences in the hospital. Despite being a series, *Riget* appears as one of the *1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die*.

On August 9th 2022, both The Kingdom and The Kingdom II were released in high definition to stream on Viaplay. They were later shown on DR.

## Plot Summary

The Kingdom hospital in Copenhagen is haunted by a mysterious ambulance that keeps pulling up outside the entrance and then vanishing. The arrogant and unpleasant Swedish doctor Stig Helmer has recently taken up a position as consultant neurosurgeon. Helmer dismisses one patient Sigrid Drusse as a malingerer but she is a medium and contrives to make her way back into the hospital, drawn by the ghostly voice of a child crying in the elevator shaft. Helmer tries to cover up a botched operation but his bullied junior surgeon Jørgen 'Hook' gets copies of the reports and uses them to blackmail Helmer. Helmer responds with a plan to use a Haitian zombie serum on Hook. Meanwhile, pathology head Professor Bondo wants a diseased hematoma for his research. When the family are unwilling to sign the body over to him, he decides the only way is to have the hematoma transplanted into himself. Mrs. Drusse finds the ghost is that of young Mary Jensen who was killed in the hospital. As she attempts an exorcism, she discovers that Mary is about to be reborn as the child that the neurologist Judith has suddenly become pregnant with.

## Episodes

* The Unheavenly Host - November 24th 1994

* Thy Kingdom Come - December 1st 1994

* A Foreign Body - December 8th 1994

* The Living Dead - December 15th 1994

## Cast and Characters

* Ernst-Hugo Järegård – Stig Helmer
* Kirsten Rolffes – Sigrid Drusse
* Holger Juul Hansen – Einar Moesgaard
* Søren Pilmark – Jørgen 'Hook' Krogshøj
* Ghita Nørby – Rigmor Mortensen
* Jens Okking – Bulder Harly Drusse
* Otto Brandenburg – Hansen
* Annevig Schelde Ebbe – Mary Krüger
* Baard Owe – Palle Bondo
* Birgitte Raaberg – Judith Petersen
* Peter Mygind – Morten 'Mogge' Moesgaard
* Vita Jensen – Female Dishwasher
* Morten Rotne Leffers – Male Dishwasher
* Solbjørg Højfeldt – Camilla
* Udo Kier – Åge Krüger / Lillebror
* John Hahn-Petersen – Secretary Nivesen
* Henning Jensen – Bob
* Louise Fribo – Sanne Jeppesen
* Laura Christensen – Mona Jensen
* Ole Boisen – Christian
* Nis Bank-Mikkelsen – Priest
* Henrik Koefoed – Radiologist
* Paul Hüttel – Steenbæk
* Helle Virkner – Emma Mogensen

## US Remake

American horror writer Stephen King developed a 13-episode mini-series based on *Riget*, under the title ***Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital***, 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.