The third and final film in Anderson's notional trilogy dissecting modern Britain lacks the sheer subversive power of the earlier If ... or the freewheeling lunacy of O Lucky Man! With a visit from the Queen Mother imminent, the staff of a decrepit London hospital struggle to maintain order despite militant labour disputes and swingeing cost cuts. Once again, Anderson's Everyman figure, the irrepressible Mick Travis (McDowell), is on hand to cast his cynical eye over the proceedings as an investigative journalist who finds a nasty surprise being constructed in the bowels of the hospital.

Cast: Leonard Rossiter, Graham Crowden, Joan Plowright, Jill Bennett, Marsha Hunt, Mark Hamill and Malcolm McDowell (Alan Bates in a cameo role)
Written by: David Sherwin
Directed by: Lindsay Anderson
Running Time: 116 minutes
MPAA Rating: R

The tone of Lindsay Anderson's Britannia Hospital isn't just black humor, it's satire that's so dark it's like a black hole, sucking in a myriad of topics; class struggle, political and labor unrest, media manipulation, the medical establishment... England was a mess, and Anderson and screenwriter David Sherwin didn't want to leave any of it out. It was the dawn of the Thatcher years, and the pair saw the writing on the wall.
The mood is established right away, as a decrepit old man suffering from hypothermia is wheeled into emergency. "You can't leave that there," says the attending nurse. "Where do you want it?" asks an orderly. "I couldn't care less, I've been off-duty for the last 10 minutes. Got a light?" she replies. She leaves and the three orderlies head off to the canteen for a spot of tea, as the old man is left behind to issue a death rattle over the opening credits.
Britannia Hospital is meant to represent Britain herself, perhaps borrowing a few ideas from Paddy Chayefsky's The Hospital from the previous decade, with the facility portrayed as an absolute madhouse. The patients are its citizens, long-standing victims of neglect, while the governing administration (headed by the brilliant Leonard Rossiter as Potter, the quick-witted chief of staff) is confounded at every turn by the meddling of various labour unions whose strident demands make it impossible to perform the simplest of tasks, from serving breakfast to throwing an electrical switch. As events transpire, it becomes even more evident (as if the opening few minutes weren't enough) that improving quality of life is very low on the list of priorities.
Royalty is represented by the real thing, as Potter scrambles to prepare the hospital for a visit by the Queen Mother on the occasion of its 500th anniversary. Aside from touring the historic building, she will also be on hand for the grand opening of the shiny new wing, The Millar Centre, named after genius egomaniac surgeon Dr. Millar (Anderson regular Graham Crowden) whose mysterious new project, dubbed Genesis, has a vaguely Frankenstein-ish air about it.
Malcolm McDowell returns to play opportunist Mick Travis, the rebellious schoolboy of Anderson's If... and the Candide-esque coffee salesman of his O Lucky Man! . This time around he's an investigative journalist, trying to get to the bottom of what Miller's up to with the aid of a tiny remote camera and a nearby electronics van, which contains Mark Hamill as technician Red, taking a working holiday from the filming of Return of the Jedi , getting toasted on Nicaraguan pot and psychedelic mushrooms. He's obviously in training for his later encounter with Jay and Silent Bob.

Things are brought to a boil by a gigantic protest mob that arrives, demanding the expulsion of cannibal dictator General Ngami, a priviliged patient from one of England's former colonies. The unions join in the melee, and together they storm the gates, just in time for the unveiling of Genesis, and Millar's grand vision of the future of humanity. Along the way a lot of blood is spilled, Millar runs a brain through a Cuisinart, and mob rule sees elite patients torn to pieces.
On the DVD, the sound is mono, but strongly supports Alan Price's stately score (a great deal more conventional than his work on O Lucky Man! ) and the dialogue from the stage-trained voices of actors like McDowell, Joan Plowright and Crowden comes across bold and brassy.
Extras include detailed talent bios for Anderson and McDowell, a teaser trailer (essentially a clip of the riot scene from late in the film), a theatrical trailer and a 12-minute interview with McDowell about his work with Anderson and the pair's unique director-actor partnership. McDowell lays out Anderson's anti-establishment sentiment, but also his humanism and zest for life and art.