‘NOT A GOOD DAY…’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Welcome to Series 4 of ‘The Brittas Empire’! This is probably my favourite season out of ‘The Brittas Empire’. It has the funniest stories to be featured in each episode and there’s a nice semi-romantic subplot that’s going on between Mr. Brittas and Laura. We will explore that more in future episodes.
In the first episode of Series 4, veteran running star Sebastian Coe, MP, films a video at the front of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. I suppose by this point, ‘The Brittas Empire’ had become so popular on BBC TV in the 1990s that the production team were able to get a real-life celebrity in this.
And it’s amazing that a celebrity like Sebastian Coe can act in this episode. He did three episodes of a TV series called ‘Twenty Twelve’ after this according to IMDb. 😀 Anyway, Sebastian Coe attends a grand ceremony inside the leisure centre, only for it to be the opening of a toilet named after him. 😐
But Mr. Brittas’ attentions for Sebastian Coe get distracted when he chases an 8-year-old boy running around the leisure centre. And he didn’t pay a 20 pence ticket. 😀 Brittas has the boy under lock and key before Colin Spaull as the boy’s father comes in and demands for the release of his son.
It was amazing to see Colin Spaull in this ‘Brittas Empire’ episode as I know him well for being in the ‘Doctor Who’ stories ‘Revelation of the Daleks’ and ‘Rise of the Cybermen’/’The Age of Steel’. Colin Spaull is also dressed up as a Roman Centurion since he’s a member of the Ancient Warfare Society.
When Brittas refuses to hand back the father’s son to him, Colin Spaull literally lays a siege on the leisure centre. It was amusing to see Mr. Brittas and the leisure centre defending themselves against the army of Roman soldiers attacking the leisure centre. The police didn’t even come in to help here.
There’s another subplot where Carole’s toddler son Ben escapes by sawing his way out of the cupboard and going into the ventilation shaft. Helen lays a cage trap for Carole’s to enter into. Mr. Brittas also gets distracted from attending to an old lady whose husband died after riding a bicycle. 🙁
Just when Brittas’ plans to impress Sebastian Coe get ruined towards the end of the day, he receives a visit from a single mother and her daughter who come and say ‘thank you’ for a lovely day they’ve had at the leisure centre. I’m happy Mr. Brittas got some appreciation and a thank you in the series.
‘Not a Good Day…’ rating – 9/10
| Go back to | Go next to |
| Return to The Brittas Empire | |
| Return to Comedy |
Hi Tim,
There are two episodes in the first five series (I’m still yet to see series 6 and 7) of ‘The Brittas Empire that I don’t enjoy. This episode is unfortunately one of them. I won’t say what the other episode is, but I’ll comment on it once I’ve seen it again.
The stuff with the centurions attacking the centre was too over-the-top, even by the standards of ‘The Brittas Empire’, and I didn’t laugh once at those scenes. I suppose it didn’t help that I didn’t like the episode when I first saw it on Britbox, and I was anticipating it being painful to watch when revisiting it on DVD. In real-life, nobody in any good part of the word would be able to do what the centurions did and get away with it.
On the plus side, I enjoyed the other plots with Sebastian Coe, Helen and Carole looking for Ben, and the mother and daughter enjoying their time at the centre.
I also managed to find some more info on the guest cast. The daughter is uncredited, and Colin Spaull’s character is simply credited as Centurion. However, I found out that the Mother is Rosie Timpson as Wendy.
Xavier
Maybe the centurions were under the influence of the Malus. 😀
Xavier
Hi Xavier,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this ‘Brittas Empire’ episode. Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this one as I did. I think it’s a very good season opener for Series 4 and whilst the Roman centurions laying a siege against the leisure centre is over-the-top, I found it funny to watch. You could be right. Maybe the centurions were being influcenced by the Malus. Glad you enjoyed the other subplots involving Sebastian Cole, Helen and Carole and the mother and daughter enjoying their day at the leisure centre. Thanks for the extra details.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂