| The Brittas Empire | |
|---|---|
Shot of "The Brittas Empire" opening credits |
|
| Format | live action/sitcom |
| Created by | Richard Fegen Andrew Norriss |
| Directed by | Mike Stephens Christine Gernon |
| Starring | Chris Barrie Pippa Haywood Julia St. John Mike Burns Russell Porter Tim Marriott Harriet Thorpe Judy Flynn Andree Bernard Anouschka Menzies Jill Greenacre Stephen Churchett John Carrigan |
| Theme music composer | Frank Renton |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 52 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Mike Stephens |
| Producer(s) | Mike Stephens |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC1 |
| Original run | 3 January 1991 – 24 February 1997 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Brittas Empire is a British sitcom created and originally written by Richard Fegen and Andrew Norriss. Chris Barrie plays Gordon Brittas, the well-meaning but incompetent manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre.
The show ran for seven series and 52 episodes — including two Christmas specials — from 1991 to 1997 on BBC1. Fegen and Norriss 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,[1] and all seven series have been released on DVD.
The creators Richard Fegen and Andrew Norriss 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.
Contents |
Gordon Brittas (played by Chris Barrie) is the well-meaning but incompetent manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. He trained at the fictional Aldershot Leisure Centre. Completely tactless, totally annoying and forever coming up with 'half-baked' ideas, Brittas is frequently upsetting his staff, public, and his frazzled wife Helen, often bringing destruction and death into their lives.
Helen Brittas (Pippa Haywood) finds it increasingly difficult to cope with Gordon, and often turns to pills and affairs with other men to maintain her sanity. She is also helped by supportive friend Laura Lancing (Julia St. John), Brittas's calm and efficient deputy. Laura (though she is fully aware of his incompetence) has a grudging admiration for Brittas whom she regards as honest and decent - unlike her former husband (who in one episode tries to buy his way back into her affections by making a large donation to the centre).
Brittas's other deputy — the dim-witted Colin Weatherby (Michael Burns) — has several skin allergies and an infected hand. Though he is technically an assistant manager, he works as the centre's handyman-come-janitor. Carole (Harriet Thorpe) is the unfortunate and often tearful receptionist who keeps her three children in the drawers of reception. Amongst other members of the team is Julie (Judy Flynn), the fiery-tongued secretary who hates her boss and refuses to do any work. Lively Linda (played by Jill Greenacre), gentle-hearted Gavin (Tim Marriott), and his paranoid partner Tim (Russell Porter) are more co-operative members of the team.
Outside the staff is Councillor Jack Drugett (Stephen Churchett), who fails to sack Brittas, despite numerous attempts at doing so.
Cast alterations in the series sees character 'Angie' (Andree Bernard), who appears as a main character in the first series, being replaced by ‘Julie’ from series two onwards. 'Laura' left the show after series five, at the same time as the creators. She is replaced in series six by character 'Penny' (Anouschka Menzies), who did not return in series seven.
The Brittas Empire was broadcast for fifty-two episodes between 1991 and 1997, spanning seven series and two Christmas Specials, along with one short episode for Children in Need. Series one aired in 1991, series two in 1992, series three in 1993, and series four and five both aired in 1994. The Brittas Empire then returned to BBC1 in 1996 and 1997, for two final series, and the cast also performed in the 1996 Royal Variety Performance. Chris Barrie played Brittas again in the short fitness series spin-off, Get Fit with Brittas.
For the first five series the show's creators Richard Fegen and Andrew Norriss co-wrote the show, after which they left, along with actress Julia St John who playe Laura. Series five was originally meant to be the final series, and Fegen and Norriss killed off Brittas at its end, when he was crushed to death by a falling water tank.
However, the show's popularity meant the BBC resurrected Brittas and brought on a team of new writers, who carried the show on for a further two series, including one further Christmas special in 1996. These writers were: Paul Smith (who also wrote the series seven episode 'Malcom ex' for Andrew Marshall's 2point4 children), Terry Kyan, Tony Millan, Mike Walling, Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent.
'Curse of the Tiger Women' is the final episode in 1997. This ending claims all seven series were part of a dream that Brittas is having on his way to the job interview for manager of the leisure centre. It is an ending that is regarded as poor by many critics and viewers, and contradicts the 1994 Christmas Special by Fegen and Norriss, showing what happens to the staff post-Whitbury Leisure Centre.
All seven series were released on DVD in the United Kingdom by Eureka Video, and also in Australia by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The Eureka releases are now out of print. Prior to these DVD releases, the BBC brought episodes to VHS in the 1990s.
| Series DVD | Number of Episodes | Year | Release Date | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 2 | Region 2 Single Disc | Region 4 | ||||
| Series 1 | 6 | 1991 | 21 July 2003 | 7 January 2008 | 4 August 2004 | |
| Series 2 | 7 | 1992 | 20 October 2003 | 7 January 2008 | 6 May 2005 | |
| Series 3 | 6 | 1993 | 19 January 2004 | — | 3 August 2005 | |
| Series 4 | 8 | 1994 | 19 July 2004 | — | 2 March 2006 | |
| Series 5 | 9 | 1994 | 4 October 2004 | — | 6 July 2006 | |
| Series 6 | 7 | 1996 | 21 February 2005 | — | 7 March 2007 | |
| Series 7 | 9 | 1997 | 23 May 2005 | — | 3 July 2007 | |
| Series 1-7 | 52 | 1991 - 1997 | 8 October 2007 | N/A | N/A | |
Critics John Lewis and Penny Stempel commented that:
In its positioning of an incompetent in charge of others, The Brittas Empire mined the traditional vein of TV humour (e.g., Dad's Army or Are You Being Served?). Yet it also had an element of absurdism....which gave it an appeal to younger viewers. At a stretch the show could also be viewed as a critique of the managerial class which expanded in the Thatcherite eighties. A show for all the couch.[3]
The exterior shots of 'Whitbury Leisure Centre' were filmed at Ringwood Leisure Centre, Hampshire. The interior shots of the swimming pools seen in the show were also shot here.
The claimed location of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre is 51°35'00"N 2°00'00" W, which places it at Pink Lane, Charlton, Wiltshire, SN16 9, UK.