YMMV / Takin' Over the Asylum

• Aluminum Christmas Trees: Campbell, who has bipolar disorder, frequently uses the slogan "We are loonies and we are proud!" as a rallying cry and cheerfully refers to himself as a loony. This might seem unlikely to some viewers, but in real life some groups of mentally ill people - like the UK Mad Pride movement - are happy to reclaim and use words like mad, crazy or bonkers.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: When asked what prizes the station could give away David Tennant's character, Campbell, says this:
  Campbell: It can be anything we like. A trip to Graceland by time machine to meet Elvis. Lunch with the Archbishop of Canterbury. I don't have to conform to the vagaries of time and space. I'm a loony for God's sake.
• Narm: The otherwise very heavy scene where Campbell's father threatens to have him sectioned is slightly undercut by his agressively '90s Hair completely covering his face.
• Playing Against Type: With actor, Angus MacFadyen and his depiction of Fergus. Angus often plays these hammy, Boisterous Bruiser/tough-guy/warrior/Violent Glaswegian types of characters ^note This is the same guy who graced the world with the hilariously deranged awesomeness that is Komodo for crying out loud! yet Fergus MacKinnon is a very quiet, gentle, soft-spoken young man who only initially looks intimidating.
• Retroactive Recognition: Basically: Balin the dwarf, with the help of the Tenth Doctor, his schizophrenic best friend, Robert The Bruce and a couple of ladies start up a radio station at the now-defunct Gartloch Hospital where Brigadier Winifred Bambera is the Head Nurse of one of the wards.
• The Woobie: Almost every patient earns this role at one point in time, but Francine in particular.
  • And Fergus! The poor guy could never catch a break or given a chance to fully flex his electrical-engineering awesomeness....then his smug little Bitch in Sheep's Clothing psychiatrist had to tell him bluntly "You'll never work EVER!".... So he kills himself. He's also The Ace, making him something of a Byronic Hero.
• Too Cool to Live: Fergus has some shades of this in his own quiet, unassuming way. He's an electrical engineering whiz who can also swipe things (like a doctor's lab-coat) and escape, cat-burglar style (complete with ropes, harness, grappling hooks, etc.) from the asylum every night (and return before morning) without staff knowing. He even managed to somehow get a Cool Helmet and a hang-glider to go gliding from one of the towers.... His horrid shrink does not give him permission to get his engineering job so he defenestrates himself.