Review of Brittas Empire, The (The Complete Series 1)

Introduction

Nothing of recent comedy shows - in my opinion not even "The Office" - has come close to surpassing "The Brittas Empire" as the best comedy show of recent years. Chris Barrie`s Gordon Brittas is a comedy grotesque worthy of mention alongside Basil Fawlty, Capt. Mainwaring, the Steptoes, the Garnetts and even H-H-Hancock himself.

Brittas is a well-meaning sort of chap, he`s just obnoxiously officious, mind-blowingly tactless and teeth-grindingly aggravating. He has a dream, you see. Not in the big, Martin Luther King sense, but in offering leisure services to the people of Whitbury Newtown.

And therein lie his troubles.

This first season of "Brittas" (comprising six half-hour episodes) was created and written by Richard Fegen and Andrew Norriss, who had written the devastatingly funny "Chance In A Million" for Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn. For its time (1991) "Brittas" was ground-breaking humour with its lurches from sitcommery to surrealism. Dealing with the havoc that surrounds Gordon Brittas is a cast of the most wonderful characters - Colin the biologically hazardous handyman; Helen, Brittas` seriously crazed missus; Carole, the emotionally unstable receptionist; Tim and Gavin, the gay couple; Linda, the intense keep fit instructor and of course Brittas` long-suffering second in command Laura. In these first six episodes we see Brittas` arrival at the centre, his success in alienating everybody and the various attempts on his life. And that`s in every episode. Oh, I`m sure we could all strangle the vastly aggravating Gordon, but as Laura points out, there is no malice in the man. He means well.

The series gets into its stride within the first episode, which is no mean feat for a comedy half-hour. This first series is notable for the absence of Julie, Brittas` stroppy secretary played by Judy Flynn. She joined the show the following year and I only pass comment on this because I went to school with her. Shining light of the drama department, she was, and nothing like that Julie - except she could be a little strident and her name really is Julie...

Video

The episodes look as good as they did on their original transmission twelve years ago. Videotape being videotape, the images are a little on the flat side, but colours are stable and colourful without being strident. There is little video noise, so the transfers are excellent.

Eureka Video are better known for their releases of classic silent and early sound movies like "Metropolis" and "Battleship Potemkin". This seems to be their first foray into the mainstream and they`ve done a good job.

Audio

Standard Dolby 2.0 Stereo with no tricks.

Features

Unfortunately there are no HOH subtitles which would make the release even better. There is a short textual biography of Chris Barrie, a fitness quiz (best played after watching the episodes), and a noticeboard (trivia). There is a nice stills gallery, a trailer for Series Two and a weblink to Eureka Video for PC users. Best of all is the inclusion of the Brittas sketch from the 1996 Royal Variety Performance.

Conclusion

One of the new comedy classics. Consistently and cringingly funny. Let`s hope subsequent seasons are released and that Eureka Video does as good a job as they have with this season. One word review? Eeeeeexcellent!