DVD
The Brittas Empire
The Complete Series Six

Starring: Chris Barrie and Pippa Haywood
Eureka Video
RRP: £19.99
EKA50018
Certificate: PG
Available 21 February 2005


Back from the dead and rebuilt by a Swiss clinic, Gordon Brittas returns to Whitbury Leisure Centre to find a new adversary in residence: Penny Bidmead, who has taken over the Sauna and Solarium complex with a view to privatisation. Meanwhile, Helen Brittas has spent the intervening six months in a psychiatric institution following the shock of discovering that Gordon is in fact alive after she has already spent his insurance money...

Following the very enjoyable third, fourth and fifth series, Series Six sadly returns to the dismal quality of the first one.

It might have been better to leave Brittas (Chris Barrie) for dead at the end of the previous run, since the show had left several of the characters with a distinct sense of closure. Instead Gordon, who returned from the dead once before, has been reconstructed following his accident with a collapsing emergency water tank. This unlikely circumstance might have been worthwhile if someone had thought to cast Brian Blessed in a guest-starring role to utter his famous Flash Gordon line, "Gordon's alive!", but evidently no one did think of that!

Even more unlikely is the reintroduction of receptionist Carole (Harriet Thorpe). At the end of the fifth series, she was all set to finally have some happiness in her life by becoming the nanny to one Herr Von Trappe. However, her hopes of wedded bliss are dashed when the Austrian marries a nun instead.

The much-missed Julia St. John is replaced by the bland new character of Penny Bidmead (Anouschka Menzies). Don't lay too much blame at the door of the new actress - the writers just don't give her any opportunities to be funny. Meanwhile, the gay staff members Gavin (Tim Marriott) and Tim (Russell Porter) become ever more childish. Fortunately, two other characters are always worth watching: Mike Burns as the disgusting Colin and Pippa Haywood (better known nowadays as the loathsome Joanna in Green Wing) as Helen.

I suspect a major cause of this series' lapse in quality is the departure of its writers/creators Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen, who are replaced here by a rotating team of scribes.

However, things do pick up considerably in the final three episodes, We All Fall Down, Mr Brittas Falls in Love and Snap Happy. These all feature the classic Brittas formula of cartoon-style accidents waiting to happen. We All Fall Down, written by Ian Davidson, has the electrocution of a circle of innocent bystanders. Penned by Terry Kyan, Mr Brittas Falls in Love involves a mix-up between a dolphin and a shark, which ends up scaring the living daylights out of a party of families and traumatising a lisping teenager. Snap Happy, scripted by Paul Smith, ends the series with a bang, with the catastrophic combination of explosive demolition and an English Heritage inspector of a nervous disposition.

This seven-episode series is accompanied by only two special features: a stills gallery and out-takes from Series Four. Why weren't these out-takes included on the Series Four DVD, for heaven's sake?

For die-hard Brittas fans only.

Richard McGinlay

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£14.99 (Amazon.co.uk)
   
£16.99 (MVC.co.uk)
   
£13.99 (Powerplaydirect.com)

All prices correct at time of going to press.