Welcome to ‘The Brittas Empire’ page on ‘Bradley’s Basement’.
Here’s another one of my favourite BBC TV sitcom show from the 1990s. ‘The Brittas Empire’ stars Chris Barrie as Gordon Brittas. Chris Brittas was also Arnold Rimmer in ‘Red Dwarf’. This is what I remember Chris Barrie most fondly for, playing an odious manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre.
‘The Brittas Empire’ lasted for seven seasons on BBC TV. Mr. Brittas tries his best to fulfil his ‘dream’ of bringing a world of peace and harmony at his leisure centre. But he gets it wrong when he doesn’t understand people and upsets many in the process. Brittas even upsets many of his leisure centre staff.
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Chris Barrie in real-life at conventions including the ‘Bournemouth Film & Comic Con’, August 2015; the ‘Stars of Time Film & Comic Con’ in May 2016 and the ‘Worcester Comic Con’ in August 2016. I’ve had photos with Chris Barrie; have had a signed Gordon Brittas photo and an autograph by him and have had the complete DVD box set signed by him for the Bradley family.
Here on ‘Bradley’s Basement’ is a list of my reviews for each of the episodes in the seven seasons of ‘The Brittas Empire’, including two Christmas Specials. Please feel free to check out, read and comment on my reviews for ‘The Brittas Empire’ episodes I’ve seen on DVD. They’re pretty good! 😀
Here’s also a link to a list of who’s who in ‘The Brittas Empire’ TV series.
Enjoy! 🙂
MY ‘THE BRITTAS EMPIRE’ REVIEWS
‘The Brittas Empire’ (TV series)
- Series 1
- Series 2
- Series 3
- Series 4
- Series 5
- Christmas Special (1994)
- Series 6
- Christmas Special (1996)
- Series 7
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Hi Tim,
I’ve been recently revisiting ‘The Brittas Empire’ on DVD. I’ll watch the first five series again, before watching series 6 and 7 for the first time. I’d forgotten how much I missed this series. 😀
Linda is still my favourite character. Watching the series again has reminded why I liked her, and Jill Greenacre performance really helps.
For Brittas himself, it’s clear that he’s not really a horrible person from his good intentions. He’s more like a child that doesn’t understand his actions.
As far as I’m aware, the reason Andree Bernard didn’t return for series 2 was, she’d been cast in ‘Emmerale’ which caused scheduling conflicts. I wonder if the series would have been different is she had been the secretary, instead of Judy Flynn as Julie, although I like both of them. I’d like to think Andree Bernard enjoyed doing the series, especially since she attended both cast reunions.
P.s. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on ‘Monsters at Work’ soon.
Xavier
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Hi Xavier,
Thanks for sharing your latest thoughts on ‘The Brittas Empire’. Glad you enjoyed revisiting the series recently on DVD. Hope you enjoy Series 6 and 7 when you get to see it.
Yes, Jill Greenacre is excellent as Linda. It would be nice if she did a Big Finish audio of ‘Doctor Who’, perhaps with Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding someday. 😀
I think your summary of Brittas as a character is spot-on. I like how the series shows his good side as well as his bad side throughout its seven-year run.
I didn’t know that about Andrée Bernard leaving the series because she’s been cast in ‘Emmerdale’. Thanks for letting me know about that. She’s also been in ‘Doctor Who’, both the TV series (‘The Shakespeare Code’) and the Big Finish audios.
Looking forward to your thoughts on ‘Monsters at Work’. I haven’t seen that series on Disney+ in a while. Season 2 is on its way.
I’ve nearly finished my latest ‘Nyssa Challenge’ mini-review season for Easter 2024. Just one more review to edit and schedule and it’s all good.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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