Britannia Hospital is the final part of Lindsey Anderson’s loose trilogy of films about Mick Travis (along with If.. and Oh Lucky Man!). As they prepare for a royal visit the administrative staff of a hospital come under all sorts of pressures – real, imagined and absurd. Another of Anderson’s barbed critiques of British social institutions, here he targets the organisation within the NHS, particularly in light of an encroaching culture of privatisation. If anything, today the film seems even more pertinent given developments within the NHS since its first release.
Screening from 35mm print.