The Kingdom (miniseries)

The Kingdom

Created by	Lars von Trier
Starring	Ernst-Hugo Järegård Kirsten Rolffes Holger Juul Hansen Søren Pilmark Ghita Nørby Jens Okking Birthe Neumann Otto Brandenburg Erik Wedersøe Annevig Schelde Ebbe Baard Owe Birgitte Raaberg John Hahn-Petersen Peter Mygind Vita Jensen Henning Jensen Morten Rotne Leffers Solbjørg Højfeldt Udo Kier
Country of origin	Denmark
No. of episodes	8
Production
Running time	1:12 (on average per episode)
Release
Original network	DR
Original release	1994 – 1997
Chronology
Related shows	Kingdom Hospital

The Kingdom (Danish title: Riget) is an eight-episode Danish television mini-series, created by Lars von Trier in 1994, and co-directed by Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred. It has been edited together into a five-hour film for distribution in the United Kingdom and United States.

The series is set in the neurosurgical ward of Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet, the city and country's main hospital, nicknamed "Riget". "Riget" means "the realm" or "the kingdom" and leads one to think of "dødsriget", the realm of the dead. The show follows a number of characters, both staff and patients, as they encounter bizarre phenomena, both human and supernatural. 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.

The first quartet of episodes ended with numerous questions unanswered, and in 1997, the cast reassembled to produce another group of four episodes, Riget II (The Kingdom II).

This second series ended with even more questions unanswered than the first, and a third series was planned. However, due to the death in 1998 of Ernst-Hugo Järegård (who played Stig Helmer) and the subsequent death of Kirsten Rolffes (who played Mrs Drusse) in 2000, the likelihood of a third series is now very remote. Von Trier actually wrote the third and final season, but the production was not picked up by DR. At that point, five regular cast members had died and it seemed impossible to continue the series. The abandoned scripts were sent to the producers of Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital, but it is unclear whether they used the scripts or not.

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