The Brittas Empire

1991-01-03 | en

Chris Barrie Michael Burns Julia St. John

Comedy

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Seasons & Episodes

EP1 The Elephant's Child

Jan. 06,1997

Situation comedy. Brittas organizes a sponsored bungee jump and expects his staff to take part. Helen Brittas plans a burglary to fund her bid for the franchise for the sauna solarium and Carole returns from her assertion course. (44)

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EP2 Reviewing the Situation

Jan. 13,1997

Sitcom based in a leisure center with a manic manager, Gordon Brittas. He initiates a staff review which causes some antagonism; Julie is enjoying armed police protection after threats, which includes body searches

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EP3 http://etc.

Jan. 20,1997

The center enters the 21st century as Brittas has everything computerized, which causes huge problems. Drugget is convinced it is a waste of money and will be Brittas' downfall. Helen's therapy course seem only to appeal to staff

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EP4 Wake Up the Lion Within

Jan. 27,1997

Brittas returns from a course which teaches executives how to release inner powers by roaring like a lion. He encourages his staff to try it out. The Leisure Center has been nominated for the 'European Award for Excellence

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EP5 The Disappearing Act

Feb. 03,1997

The staff at the leisure center compete for Employee of the Month award though Brittas is not convinced of the wisdom of the competition; Colin brushes up his magic act for Julie's niece's birthday party; Helen holds dream workshop

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EP6 Gavin Featherly RIP

Feb. 10,1997

Comedy set in a leisure center. Gavin is feeling depressed and is receiving therapy from Helen Brittas. He joins the rest of the staff on their annual weekend break to Burbidge-on-Sea and goes missing so Brittas arranges a funeral

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EP7 Exposed

Feb. 17,1997

Investigative journalist, Roger Ferguson, is preparing to make a television expose of the goings on at Whitbury Leisure Center. Gordon is led to believe this will be a serious documentary. An outbreak of Bobula fever causes panic.

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EP8 Curse of the Tiger Women

Feb. 24,1997

Brittas prepares to celebrate seven wonderful years since the center opened, but Druggett tells him he has been chosen for early retirement. Carole reveals he's the father of her twins!

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The Brittas Empire Trailers

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The Brittas Empire is a British sitcom created and originally written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen. Chris Barrie plays Gordon Brittas, the well-meaning but incompetent manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. The show ran for seven series and 53 episodes — including two Christmas specials — from 1991 to 1997 on BBC1. Norriss and Fegen wrote the first five series, after which they left the show. The Brittas Empire enjoyed a long and successful run throughout the 1990s, and gained itself large mainstream audiences. In 2004 the show came 47th on the BBC's Britain's Best Sitcom poll, and all series have been released on DVD. The creators Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen often combine farce with either surreal or dramatic elements in episodes. For example in the first series, the leisure centre prepares for a royal visit, only for the doors to seal, the boiler room to flood and a visitor to become electrocuted. Unlike the traditional sitcom, deaths were quite common in The Brittas Empire.

The Brittas Empire Audience Reviews

Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

studioAT It's never a good thing when the lead character in a sitcom annoys you in the first five minutes that you star to wish for other characters to appear so that you get some peace from him.That's the situation I faced with Mr Brittas in this BBC sitcom from the 90's. I only watched it because people compared the brilliant Matthew Perry show 'Mr Sunshine' to it, but I found nothing that matched that show's excellence - and ironically this ran far longer.I'm sure it was funny in its time, and it certainly has a fan base, but comedy is a very subjective genre, and this show didn't do a lot for me.

chuffnobbler Almost surreal. Completely bonkers scripts. The series is often verging on farce, but has a very spiky, cynical edge to it.The leisure centre would, of course, run smoothly if Gordon Brittas were not involved. Even in his absence, he is able to ruin things by sheer force of will. Whilst attending a job interview in Brussels, his orders are given by phone: this leads to his leisure centre becoming overrun with rats, and a fertiliser bomb exploding in the bins.The glorious Harriet Thorpe as Carol, the frantic receptionist, steals every scene in which she appears. Her nervous energy, leading her to call Mr Brittas "Missbriss" throughout, is absolutely infectious. Slamming her babies in desk drawers, doing the ironing whilst on duty, she's a hoot. Likewise, Pippa Haywood stands out, as Helen Brittas: popping pills and flirting through her desperation.A word also for Tim and Gavin, the gay couple who don't actually seem to like each other. While Gavin is keen for promotion, Tim is consumed with hatred for Brittas.Plenty of laughs, as the scripts get weirder and weirded. A live broadcast of a religious TV show destroyed by a runaway emu? That'll be The Brittas Empire. The building's structure weakened by the receptionist excavating more space for her children to live, leading to a water tank dropping through four floors? That'll be The Brittas Empire. Quite unparalleled in its strangeness, this show guarantees more belly-laughs than most. Great fun.

aries898 I think there is one line that sums up this fantastic Brittish show: "Last year we had 600 people visit this centre and I am proud to say that 500 went home uninjured"- Mr Brittas During the Episode "Exposed".

jez-14 The Brittas empire kept me in stitches. Chris Barrie is one of the funniest actors I've seen! Pity they stopped the show.