‘AN INSPECTOR CALLS’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
In the third Series 2 ‘Brittas Empire’ episode, Brittas receives a visit from an inspector at his leisure centre. He and his team try to make things good for the inspector once he arrives. Problems ensue however when a pigeon refuses to come down in the gymnasium with so many attempts being tried.
This includes trying to dope the pigeon with some alcohol-filled corn as well as sending up a hawk to get it down. When the hawk doesn’t work, ending up eating the corn instead and getting killed, the hawk’s owner is very angry and aggressive. Brittas ends up in blood and Linda gets concussed in this.
It doesn’t make a good impression when John D. Collins as Mr. Kitson arrives. I was surprised to find that John D. Collins was in this, having seen him in ‘Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Them’, ‘You Rang M’Lord’ and ‘Allo ‘Allo’. I’ve also seen him in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV story ‘Arc of Infinity’ with Peter Davison.
It’s feared that Gordon may get the sack from his job as leisure centre manager at Whibury, due to the abysmal attendance figures made since he started. He willingly passes on the responsibility to Laura, who sympathises with his position and the possibility that he might lose his wife (more later).
It’s interesting how Laura sticks up for Brittas whilst everyone else is willing to see him off, as they sign forms for Mr. Kitson’s inspection. But it turns out that Brittas may not get the sack at all. For Mr. Kitson happens to be a ‘Brittas’ himself during a big meeting! He even goes to say “I have a dream…”
Incidentally, Colin has been trying to sort out the pigeon problem himself. The pigeon seems to have a habit of leaving its droppings in the gymnasium. When told to get the cat, the cat happens to be leave bigger droppings than the pigeon. When he gets the dog, the dog leaves massive droppings. 😀
Going back to Helen, Gordon gave her a birthday present which happened to be a moped instead of a car. Helen wanted a car for ten years and is disappointed when she doesn’t get it. This is partly the reason why Laura suspects Helen may be leaving her husband, as she goes away for the weekend.
But when Helen learns from Gordon that an inspector came to the leisure centre, she’s surprised that he never told her about it. Gordon didn’t want to worry Helen about it. Overjoyed, Helen lets off the moped business and forgives Gordon for a bit. A really touching, well-written episode here. 🙂
‘An Inspector Calls’ rating – 8/10
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Hi Tim,
I thought I’d share my thoughts on select ‘Brittas Empire’ episode pages on your blog, starting with this one. I’ll probably only do this once a week.
I’d say Gordon got off pretty light, and was lucky that Mr. Kitson was like-minded. John D. Collins’ performance was great. I believe he always had a moustache when playing Fairfax in ‘Allo ‘Allo’, but I recognised him instantly.
The other plot with the pigeon was hilarious as well. I did a Google search, and the pigeon owner is Patrick Monckton as Mr. Wilmot. I understood Mr. Wilmot getting upset at his hawk being killed by the corn, but using the hawk as a weapon was pretty scummy, especially knocking Linda unconscious. Poor Linda. 😔
On a side-note that’s related to Chris Barrie, did you know he was considered to play Randall in ‘Monsters Inc.’ before Steve Buscemi was cast?
Xavier
Hi Xavier,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this ‘Brittas Empire’ episode. I’m amazed I’ve seen John D. Collins in more things compared to him playing Talor in ‘Part One’ of ‘Arc of Infinity’. I enjoyed his performance in this ‘Brittas Empire’ episode as well as his performances in ‘Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Then’, ‘Allo, ‘Allo’ and ‘You Rang M’Lord’.
Thanks for checking about Patrick Monckton as Mr. Wilmot. Can I ask, where did you find the information about him? I’ve tried to look it up on Google but can’t find anything. Also, was he the owner of the hawk, not the pigeon?
I didn’t know Chris Barrie was considered to play Randall in ‘Monsters Inc’. Thanks for letting me know about that. I also discovered on the IMDb Trivia page for ‘The Brittas Empire’ that Peter Davison was considered to play the role of Gordon Brittas, which is an intriguing revelation.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
Hi Tim,
Oops, you’re right. Mr Wilmot is the hawk owner. That is what I originally meant to say. I got it mixed up. IMDB trivia is where I got the info from.
I’d forgotten Peter Davison was considered for the role of Brittas
Xavier
Hi Xavier,
That’s alright. I don’t know much about Patrick Monckton as an actor, but it’s a shame he passed away in December 2020, months after I shared this review on ‘An Inspector Calls’ on ‘Bradley’s Basement’ around March and April time in that year, I believe.
Tim 🙂