Review of Brittas Empire, The (The Complete Series 6)

Introduction

Gordon Brittas returns from the dead having literally tried the patience of a saint for this sixth season of the comedy series.

Originally screened in 1996, Season Six consisted of seven episodes (not six as stated in the Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy). Most of the staff of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre were reunited after a fourteen month hiatus; with one exception - Julia St John as Brittas` highly capable second-in-command had moved on as had series creators Richard Fegen and Andrew Norriss.

Not that the pace and insanity of the series was any less. Writers Ian Davidson, Peter Vincent, Tony Millan and Mike Walling, Paul Smith and Terry Ryan piled on the misunderstandings, disasters and embarrassments. Helen Brittas (Pippa Haywood) got more and more hyper, Julie the cranky secretary (Judy Flynn) got pregnant, Colin (Mike Burns) lost his boil and Tim and Gavin (Russell Porter and Tim Marriott)`s relationship went from bad to worse. Carole the receptionist (Harriet Thorpe) lost her Mr Right to a nun and bionic surgery saved the life of Brittas himself.

Video

The series is presented in its original 4:3 aspect ratio. At nine years old, the material is sufficiently recent enough to look as good as current material. As with the other seasons of Brittas, this is not a BBC release, but a licenced release from Eureka Video. Eureka have done an excellent job of authoring the discs.

Audio

The sound is in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono.

Features

There is a small photo gallery, and an eight-minute reel of outtakes from series four.

Conclusion

I have a slight proprietorial interest in the Brittas series I may have mentioned before as I went to school with Julie, the cranky secretary. This series of Brittas, while the writing chores have been handed to other hands, continues the deliriously daft style established by series creators Richard Fegen and Andrew Norriss. Ecks-ellent.