Review of Brittas Empire, The (The Complete Series 7)

Introduction

Despite the popularity of ex-Red Dwarf star Chris Barrie, The Brittas Empire was surprisingly one of the stalwarts of BBC comedy in 1990s, running for a total of 52 episodes over six years. A further testament to its popularity is this DVD set itself, and the fact that the previous six series are all available as well.

For those new to the show, Gordon Brittas (Barrie) is the ever-irritating manager of Whitbury Town Leisure Centre, forever hoping to improve the centre`s profile with one hair-brained scheme after another. Among others, along for the ride are Colin, the never-bathing janitor, Carole the homeless receptionist, and the medically over-prescribed Mrs Brittas.

Video

Video for this set is provided in 4:3 non-anamorphic PAL, and is just as good as one would expect from a current BBC digital broadcast.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 & is solid if unspectacular.

Features

The only extra of any note is the Christmas special from this series. That is unless you wish to include the picture gallery.

Conclusion

A stalwart it may have been, but on this evidence, it is clear that The Brittas Empire`s time had come to an end. Whilst plotlines had always been a little wacky - such as the death & reincarnation of Brittas! - this time there are few genuine laughs, and most of those came from one of Brittas` catchphrases ("Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!") or from the bizarre antics of Colin.

Fans of the show will appreciate Series 7`s continued suitable-for-children theme, and will enjoy the aforementioned antics of Brittas and Colin. But those watching for the first time will wonder how this ever lasted as long as it did.