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The Brittas Empire

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The Brittas Empire was a British television sitcom, that ran between 1991 and 1997. It starred Chris Barrie as the title character, Gordon Brittas, the petty-minded manager of Whitbury-Newtown Leisure centre. The main adversary was Councillor Drugget. Barrie appeared in this series concurrent with his co-starring role on Red Dwarf.

Contents

Cast

Main cast

Recurring Cast

Characters

Details

Episodes

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Series 1 (3 Jan 91 - 14 Feb 91)

Synopsis: The first episode. Mr Brittas arrives to find a very enthusiastic staff, and a depressed Carole, and promptly makes everyone want to leave. He causes a strike amongst the construction workers, and creates very complicated rosters. He is attacked by a table tennis champion with specially sharpened table tennis raquets. Synopsis: The Duchess of Kent is coming to officially open and tour the Whitbury Newtown leisure centre. He creates a rift in Gavin and Tim's relationship, insists on having a black person in the line up to show that he employs staff of 'all colours and creeds'. The pool is leaking, the boiler man thinks he's on a ship, Helen tries to warn Laura that there will almost certainly be things that go wrong. First it is too cold, then the heaters are on overdrive. And the faulty doors will not open. Synopsis: Carole is still keeping her baby in the drawers of the reception desk. Her husband is coming home. Laura moves Ben to the baby changing area to hide him from Brittas, but Brittas knows the baby is there, so asks Colin to go into the women's toilets and find a baby. Colin gets the wrong one, panicking the baby's mother, and Carole discovers the empty drawer and goes crazy with a fireaxe on the search for Brittas. And Carole's husband is introduced to his 'son', who is the other baby. And it's a different race. Synopsis: An underwater wedding is being held at the leisure centre and the best man is stuck at the bottom of the pool. There is a drunk physically disabled man on the loose, Colin shoots Gavin with a harpoon gun, Tim gets hysterical and threatens Brittas with a screwdriver, chlorine gas is released. Synopsis: Brittas is convinced there is a thief in their midst. He has a series of methods to find out who the culprit is. Everyone is a suspect. Synopsis: Someone is out to kill Brittas, injuring Helen by accident, and wants Gavin to help him do the deed.

Series 2 (2 Jan 92 - 20 Feb 92)

Synopsis: The leisure centre is quiet, until the word gets out that Mr Brittas is away in Bulgaria, whereupon it gets very busy. Helen arrives and informs the staff that Mr Brittas is dead. Synopsis: Mr Brittas is horrified to discover women's underwear in his office, and is convinced that the staff are using the facilities for 'worshipping in each other's temples'. He segregates the sexes. He becomes convinced that the culprit is Gavin. At the same time, Julie is being hounded by some reporters for rescuing a dog from the river in the nude. Synopsis: Brittas fears for his job when the Southern Area Inspector visits. Colin accidentally causes a pidgeon to set up home in the gymnasium, whilst Helen is insulted by a badly chosen birthday present. Synopsis: An extreme argument with the Rotary Club leads Brittas to consider the problem of Sick Building Syndrome; but will the specialist find anything wrong? Synopsis: The centre is gearing up for a concert by Vladimir Petrov, a visiting pianist from the Leningrad Conservatory. When Mr Brittas Snr arrives with his old piano, things descend into chaos. The end of this episode features one of the most memorable scenes in the series. Synopsis: Brittas has closed the centre for a fire drill. Colin refuses to die; and Brittas's attempts to convince Councillor Dapping to install a new fire escape interfere with his lunch with Helen, who is attempting to give up her pills. Synopsis: Carol is nearly due, but Brittas has only just realised she's pregnant. When a farmer with a prize-winning cow arrives, Colin's "herbs" accidentally send both it, and Carol, into labour.

Series 3 (7 Jan 93 - 11 Feb 93)

Synopsis: an enemy of Brittas's is coating random items with glue and shady characters keep appearing in the centre. Of course, this can only lead to a bloody massacre in the squash courts, the felling of several OAPs and Brittas facing trial for multiple murder and drug-running. Synopsis: offended by his "individual figure and fitness plans", the staff are refusing to speak to Brittas; his diplomatic response is bringing in a psychiatrist to check anxiety levels. Meanwhile, a deadly tropical spider is roaming the centre and it's only a matter of time before it attacks. Synopsis: while Brittas prepares to welcome Sebastian Coe to the Expansion in the Leisure Market Conference, Laura is off to a job interview. Helen is terrified that her absence will lead to disaster but, as Julie says, it's a quiet day and there's only the baptism in the pool to see to. It should be simple enough once Brittas has got Colin to turn up the heat in the pool - but unfortunately a concussed Colin doesn't approach the task in quite the best way. Synopsis: it's a busy day: the centre is gearing-up for anniversary celebrations, Gordon's brother - the Reverend Horatio Brittas - is visiting and 36 staff from a leisure centre in Guildford are visiting for their annual staff outing. Two problems though: Horatio is having second thoughts and the centre's oil tank is leaking. Brittas is concerned that the oil may seep into the water table and "poison small children swimming in the canal", so Colin decides it's safest to store it in the disused Weights Room. Synopsis: Laura's estranged Husband, Michael T Farrell is on the scene, desperate for an heir to secure his fortune. Brittas isn't happy and endeavours to get rid of him, despite being on a sponsored silence and finding out that Helen's about to be charged with shoplifting. The episode also sees the staff hooked on the drafts of a novel that Carole's just written - but her hopes of publication are dashed and the manuscript ends up as nothing more than colouring paper for Ben. Synopsis: troubled by dreams about his own mortality and the future of "The Dream", Brittas is pushing age-awareness and resorts to disguising himself as an elderly man as an experiment. All he manages is to start a fight in Reception in which he breaks a pensioner's glasses. A disheartened Brittas starts seeking somebody on the staff to pass his mantle on to but is forced to stop when Helen goes into labour early and needs to be dashed to the hospital. Unfortunately, the pensioner with the newly-broken glasses collides with the Brittases' car and strands them. Unable to drive on, the only option is for Helen to give birth to the twins in the middle of Whitbury High Street.

Series 4 (10 Jan 94 - 7 Mar 94)

Series 5 (31 Oct 94 - 19 Dec 94)

Special

Series 6 (27 Feb 96 - 23 Apr 96)

Short special part of Children In Need

Special

Series 7 (6 Jan 97 - 24 Feb 97)

External links

 

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