The Citadel is a 1983 BBC television adaptation written by Don Shaw from A. J. Cronin's 1937 novel The Citadel. It was produced by Ken Riddington. The drama was directed by Peter Jefferies and Mike Vardy.
The BBC dramatisation stars Ben Cross as Dr. Andrew Manson and Clare Higgins as Christine Manson. It was broadcast in the United States from November 1983 until January 1984 by PBS television as part of Masterpiece Theatre.
Cast
Ben Cross as Dr. Andrew Manson David Gwillim as David Hope Clare Higgins as Christine Barlow Tenniel Evans as Dr. Page Gareth Thomas as Dr. Philip Denny Michael Cochrane as Freddie Hamson Cynthia Grenville as Blodwen Page Colin Baker as Richard Vaughan Jane How as Mrs. Vaughan Tim Wylton as Ben Chenkin Don Fellows as Richard Stillman Beryl Nesbitt as Annie Hughes John Nettleton as Charles Ivory Raymond Bowers as Dr. Llewellyn Dilys Price as Mrs. Llewellyn David Pugh as Joe Morgan Dyfed Thomas as Dai Jenkins Jack Walters as Old Thomas Richard Davies as Dr. Watkins Janet Davies as Mrs. Watkins Carmen du Sautoy as Frances Lawrence Avril Elgar as Nurse Sharp Oliver Ford Davies as Reverend Parry Michael Gough as Sir Jenner Halliday Charles Kay as Mr. Hopper Buster Merryfield as Professor Challis John Welsh as Sir Robert Abbey
Episode summaries Episode 1: Dr. Andrew Manson, a 24 year old Scottish doctor newly qualified from St. Andrew's Medical School, travels to his first professional appointment – medical assistant to General Practitioner Dr. Page in Drineffy, a fictitious Welsh mining community. Dr. Page's sister Blodwen is managing her brother's practice as, to Andrew's horror, Dr. Page is incapacitated following a stroke. Andrew quickly becomes disillusioned with a chaotic medical system that lacks any national structure and is driven by the financial motives of senior doctors. His first encounters with Christine Barlow, a schoolmistress, and with Dr. Philip Denny, a semi-alcoholic medical assistant at a neighbouring practice, are both unfavourable. The conclusion of the episode sees Andrew and Philip forced to take matters into their own hands by blowing up a contaminated water source responsible for a local typhoid outbreak.
Episode 2: The Morgans, married almost twenty years, are expecting their first child and they ask Andrew to oversee the latter stages of the pregnancy. Andrew requests his overdue pay from Blodwen, who meets his request as an accusation. Christine invites Andrew to supper, and she is sympathetic to Andrew's idealistic approach to his work. He informs her that he is annoyed by the fact that too many doctors treat individual symptoms without attempting to understand and treat the underlying cause. Emlyn Hughes, a patient of Dr. Bramwell's, displays uncharacteristic violent behaviour and Bramwell diagnoses homicidal mania. Bramwell informs Andrew that he needs the signature of a second doctor in order to have Emlyn certified and sent to an asylum, but Andrew challenges the diagnosis and instead observes that Emlyn's problems can all be attributed to untreated hypothyroidism which can be easily treated with thyroid injections. Blodwen Page is informed of attempts to encourage Andrew to set up his own practice. Andrew has no knowledge of this, and in surprise agrees to her demands that he promise never to set up in opposition to her brother Dr. Page. Blodwen stubbornly refuses to accept that her brother will not recover. Andrew invites Christine to attend the British Medical Union conference in Cardiff, where they dine with Andrew's friend from medical school Dr. Freddie Hamson. Christine later informs Andrew that she disliked Freddie for his patronising and superior manner towards Andrew, and on their return to Drineffy that evening they part on negative terms although Christine does agree to see Andrew again. That night Andrew is summoned to the Morgans' home where Mrs. Morgan is in labour. The midwife is already there, and after the birth she declares the baby boy to be stillborn. However, Andrew successfully revives the baby.
Episode 3: The Morgans give Andrew a personal gift of five guineas following his resuscitation of their newborn son, before they promptly emigrate to South Africa. Andrew opens a bank account and deposits the gift, but the bank manager, suspecting some irregularity, informs Blodwen who then accuses Andrew of stealing from Dr. Page. She refuses to believe Andrew that it was a personal gift, and the Morgans have already departed for South Africa so cannot be called upon to validate his claim. Andrew, enraged, threatens to sue her and accuses the bank manager of breaching client confidentiality. Then he quits his job. He attends an interview for a job as medical assistant for the Medical Aid Society in another mining town with the fictitious name of Aberalaw – a larger town which, unlike Drineffy, has its own hospital. The Society's committee informs him that they are impressed with his candidacy but that the large house that comes with the position is unsuitable for a single man. Andrew immediately informs the committee that he is engaged and due to be married in a fortnight, so he is offered the job. When he candidly explains the situation to Christine she is upset, but when he informs her that he loves her and his motive for marrying her is a sincere one she admits that she loves him too. They quickly marry. Their wedding gift from Philip Denny is his microscope, his most precious possession, and Andrew realises what a good friend Philip has been. On the evening of their arrival at Aberalaw, which happens to be the same day on which they married, they are invited to dine with the senior doctor Dr. Llewellyn. During dinner Dr. Llewellyn explains that Andrew, the other three medical assistants, and the dentist in the town are expected to pay Dr. Llewellyn 20% of their earnings. After dinner Andrew informs Christine that he strongly objects to having to pay Dr. Llewellyn a share of his own income since Dr. Llewellyn is already very highly paid by the Society. The episode concludes with the newly married couple retiring to bed.
Episode 4: At Andrew's first clinic in Aberalaw most of his patients attend simply to have sick certificates issued. He issues some, but refuses Ben Chenkin who has been receiving such certificates for years for nystagmus which he claims to have acquired whilst working in the mines. Andrew informs Chenkin that his only malady is an over-indulgence of alcohol. Chenkin's son is on the committee, but Andrew resists pressure to reverse his decision. Ben Chenkin returns to take away his card (a doctor's pay is gauged according to how many patients are on his books, so when a patient removes his card he is removing himself from that doctor's books and depriving him of income). Others follow Chenkin's example and also take their cards away from Andrew. However, Mr Owen, secretary of the Society, calls to the Mansons' home and informs Andrew that he is not currently registered with a doctor but now wishes to give his card to Andrew. Andrew resents the fact that Dr. Llewellyn will not permit any medical assistants to see patients in the hospital, reserving that privilege for himself. Andrew observes a link between anthracite mining and lung disease and suspects that silica is to blame, but there is no medical literature on the subject. Andrew intends to investigate this further, since, if confirmed scientifically, it would enable those workers who are affected to seek compensation. Although Andrew and Christine have money troubles, their marriage is a happy one. At a dinner party hosted by a wealthy mine proprietor the Mansons are introduced to Professor Challis. Over dinner Andrew is encouraged to discuss his research. At home afterwards Andrew complains bitterly about the elitist attitudes and hypocrisy of their fellow diners. Andrew befriends Con Boland, a jovial Irish dentist and family man with five children. Andrew gains Con's support and hopes to gain the support of the other three medical assistants in his mission to refuse to pay Dr. Llewellyn 20% of their income.
Episode 5: Andrew informs Dr Llewellyn that he intends to meet with the other medical assistants that evening and that he expects them to join forces in refusing to pay 20% of their income to him. However, to Andrew's dismay, during the meeting that follows he fails to gain the necessary support from his fellow medical assistants. In his despair at the hopelessness of his situation, Christine convinces Andrew to study for the M.R.C.P. qualification offering to help him with the language proficiency requirements. The arduous combination of work and study is stressful to Andrew, who takes his frustrations out on Christine. However, he travels to London and sits the examinations where his oral examiners are Sir Robert Abbey and Dr. Maurice Gadsby (both of whom feature again later in the series). He passes. Immediately on his return from London he is called to an accident in the mine, where, under dangerous and challenging circumstances, he amputates the trapped leg of a miner. Christine informs Andrew that she is pregnant. One morning, five months into her pregnancy, she mentions to Andrew that she is worried about the state of the bridge, and Andrew promises to ask the committee to do something about it. However, the bridge collapses when Christine is crossing it. Whilst Christine does not appear to suffer significant injuries to herself, she miscarries the baby and Dr. Llewellyn informs Andrew that she is unlikely to ever bear another child. Andrew's research into silicosis in anthracite workers is progressing well, and he applies for an M.D. on the basis of his thesis. His experiments involve testing silica on [guinea pigs, and there are local complaints about vivisection for which Andrew has no licence. An official from the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals comes and seizes the guinea pigs, and Andrew is brought before the local Committee under threat of dismissal. In his defence Andrew informs the committee that the blood they reported to have seen in his home laboratory was simply a chemical that he had spilt. He compares the continued use of white mice and canaries down the mine to his use of guinea pigs – both examples of sacrificing the lives of animals to save those of humans. Furthermore, he states that if his research is successful then miners and their families who suffer because of silicosis would have the benefit of receiving compensation. The committee votes, and the majority decision is that he should stay in his role. Andrew's response is to resign his position. He informs Christine that they will live in London instead.