...
The other thing that strikes me is that - back when The Brittas Empire was shown and most TV series appeared on video because DVDs didn't exist - the makers of this box set have done a frankly amazing job of finding special features and extras. I think every single one of the seven discs ... Read review
Gordon Brittas (Chris Barrie) is the manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. Although ... more
he means well and wants to be a good manager he has a talent for bringing about total disaster. While Brittas is busy dreaming up new ways to make the lives of ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
In this television sitcom Gordon Brittas (Chris Barrie) is the manager of Whitbury New ... more
Town Leisure Centre. He means well wants to do well and wants to be a good manager. Unfortunately his best talent is to continually create recipes for total disaster. Deep down Brittas cares for his staff but all he ever seems to do is make their lives more difficult. Trying to rise above this and to keep the Leisure centre running smoothly is his assistant Laura (Julia St John). Behind every good man so the saying goes is a good woman and behind any maniac is a good woman losing her sanity! Helen Brittas (Philippa Haywood) is no different as she struggles to cope with the mania of her husband.
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Broadcast between 1991 and 1997,The Brittas Empireis a sitcom set in Whitbury New Town ... more
Leisure Centre. It stars Chris Barrie as Gordon Brittas, the prattish, blazered manager who remains loudly oblivious to the fact that his high-handed efforts at running the place result in utter calamity. As his gin-supping, nervous wreck of a wife observes, he thinks he's the oil that lubricates the machine but in reality he's "a bag of grit".This first series introduces Brittas, whose arrival at the new Centre prompts a rash of resignations as his petty and pedantic managerial methods constantly rebound on him. Mishaps in these episodes include a malfunctioning set of automatic doors, a disastrous wedding in the pool and a lost baby. Somehow, however, Brittas' strange sense of idealism keeps him bobbing up as all others sink into despair.The Brittas Empirecould either be seen as a satire on the new tier of superfluous middle-management types who flourished in Tory Britain, or a 90s update of the old stereotype of the bureaucratic buffoon. Compared to, say, Alan Partridge, Brittas seems a bit broad and one-dimensional, a sketch-show character stretched beyond its limits. The rest of the cast don't offer much in the way of resistance or support and Brittas very swiftly becomes very annoying. Despite all problems, however,The Brittas Empirewas an immense success, attracting over eight-million viewers at its peak.On the DVD:The Brittas Empireinclude some perfunctory, text-only items, including a Chris Barrie biography and a Brittas Fitness Quiz, as well as a sketch performed at the Royal Variety Performance of 1996, in which Brittas reveals himself as an enthusiast for conformity with EEC regulations. --David Stubbs
Postage & Packaging:£1.24 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Production Year: 1992 - Comedy - Director: Luis Mandoki - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Melanie Griffith, Don Johnson, John Goodman
Production Year: 1956 - Comedy - Director: Joshua Logan - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray, Betty Field, Hope Lange, Eileen Heckart, Arthur O'Connell, Casey Adams, Hans Conried, Robert Bray
Advantages: All the bonus bits you could imagine, excellent value and no obvious episode "cropping" Disadvantages: None really
...to being so used to the interactive features and extras that it almost always comes as a disappointment when I play a DVD without the bonus bits.
So I have been totally spoilt by this box set. I've mentioned my notorious sense of bargain-hunting and I'm also well-known for my reluctance to part with serious sums of money. With the cash I received for my twenty-first birthday, I went back to uni, hit the shops and tried to spend it. I ... ...the price I paid back then but - given the choice at the time of buying seven separate series on DVD for 19.99 each or this complete set for 69.99 at HMV, it didn't take me too long to make up my mind.
The other thing that strikes me is that - back when The Brittas Empire was shown and most TV series appeared on video because DVDs didn't exist - the makers of this box set have done a frankly amazing job of finding special features ... more
We are a bit spoilt these days with DVDs - when videos reigned, I suppose it never occured to us to expect "extras" - and I must confess to being so used to the interactive features and extras that it almost always comes as a disappointment when I play a DVD without the bonus bits.
So I have been totally spoilt by this box set. I've mentioned my notorious sense of bargain-hunting and I'm also well-known for my reluctance to part with serious sums of money. With the cash I received for my twenty-first birthday, I went back to uni, hit the shops and tried to spend it. I notice the listed price on here is much lower than the price I paid back then but - given the choice at the time of buying seven separate series on DVD for 19.99 each or this complete set for 69.99 at HMV, it didn't take me too long to make up my mind.
The other thing that strikes me is that - back when The Brittas Empire was shown and most TV series appeared on video because DVDs didn't exist - the makers of this box set have done a frankly amazing job of finding special features and extras. I think every single one of the seven discs has something else on it besides the episodes themselves. Two Christmas specials, TV interviews with the cast from things like Good Morning with Anne and Nick, about half an hours' worth of out-takes on one of the discs. In addition to the seven series (which must make up 3 and a half hours of Brittas per DVD if you only watch the set episodes), I consider the content to be an absolute bargain. Unlike other BBC DVDs (such as Bread - I didn't realise till I researched the series just how much was cut from those) I am pleased to say that nothing seems to have been cut "for contractual reasons" - whatever that means.
The menu screens for each DVD are all interesting - all featuring computer graphics versions of something or other to do with the centre - and they are just as easy to navigate on a computer as on a standard DVD player.
KateHurst 17.05.2009
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Review of The Brittas Empire - The Complete Brittas Empire - Series 1 To 7 (Box Set) (DVD)
Advantages: You can play watch it over and over again... Disadvantages: None
For those who remember The Brittas empire or who need a good laugh....The Brittas Empire is a classical sitcom comedy that never gets old or tired. Gordan Brittas (Chris Barrie) is the manager of the Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre, He means well and wants to do good and be the best manager going...but unfortunately his best talent is to create disaster at the Leisure Centre and with the staff.
He tries to make the Leisure centre tackle different ... ...to help him along the way to rise above what mr Brittas does is his assistant Laura (Julia St. John) and of course there is Colin as well who is a funny character, not your cleaniest sort of person you want helping you at the leisure centre... In the boxset there are these extras....
Brittas fitness quiz Royal Variety Performance 1996 Brittas management quiz Star profile Interviews Series 4 outtakes Stills gallery Christmas Special 1994 Christmas ...
melliebird 14.01.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of The Brittas Empire - The Complete Brittas Empire - Series 1 To 7 (Box Set) (DVD)
Brittas Fitness Quiz , Royal Variety Performance 1996 , Brittas Management Quiz , Star Profile , Good Morning Interview , Christmas Special 1994 and 1996 , Brittas Empire Series 4 Outtakes , Web Link , Stills Gallery
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12/11/2005
DVD Description
Manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre, Gordon Brittas, has a natural ability to create havoc wherever he goes. His long suffering wife, Helen, struggles to retain her sanity and his staff try to keep the leisure centre running smoothly despite Gordon's best efforts... Features the complete episodes from series one to seven.
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