List of The Brittas Empire characters
However, despite his noble and well-meant intentions, Brittas' management only causes disaster and chaos, resulting in pathetically low attendance rates, catastrophic fires, floods, injuries and even deaths on several occasions.
In typical bureaucratic style, he is obsessed with paperwork and forces his staff and customers to fill in thousands of forms with the most banal details, such as lost property claims.
An example of Brittas' tactlessness is in the episode "Temple Of The Body", where he suspects someone is having sex in the centre, telling Carole that she has nothing to worry about because whatever is happening is only with "younger and more attractive women, such as Linda, Julie and Laura".
In the last series, Brittas rigs up a computer system to control every aspect of the centre, which overcomplicates even the simplest task of distributing floats by the swimming pools, and results in someone drowning.
For example, in "Laura's Leaving", Brittas tugs at a wire which drops a live electric heater into the main swimming pool,[2] electrocuting a group of Pentecostal Christians performing a baptism ceremony in the water.
Brittas can in many respects be considered a forerunner to David Brent of The Office; his lack of self-awareness and ability to alienate and offend his staff, despite his genuine good intentions, are examples of commonality between the characters.
However, he is brought back to life in bizarre circumstances and Chris Barrie returns to play Brittas for a further two series, as the BBC ultimately wanted it to continue.
Helen starts out as a depressed housewife, disillusioned and agitated by her oblivious husband and his grand schemes, but gradually she becomes more neurotic and dependent on prescribed anti-depressants.
One of them is named Jonathan, and he appears to be of secondary school age (11-16); it is indicated that his chemistry teacher may be the manufacturer or supplier of some of the numerous tablets that Helen uses for medication.
In season 2 episode "Back from the Dead" following the apparent death of Gordon, during a trip to Bulgaria, Helen is seen preparing to marry a man she met at his cremation.
It may also be argued that Helen had another husband; on a chance encounter in Series 6, Episode 4 ("A Walk On The Wild Side") she is reunited with Harry Johnson, a visiting spiritual guru whom she first met as a teenager or young adult.
During Series 3, a department store correctly accuses Helen of stealing a wedding dress, some shoes, a handbag, a pair of gloves, and a barbecue set; at this point, it is made clear that her criminal record includes nine previous charges of shoplifting.
On another occasion (series 5, episode 3) one of her children is given a D grade for some English homework; having been the one who had actually done the work, Helen responds by reversing her car into the classroom in attempt to kill the teacher in revenge.
Helen appears in all episodes, apart from one in Series 4 when she "accidentally" books the family holiday to Cornwall on the wrong week, thus leaving Gordon unable to attend; a mistake she had also made the previous year.
Laura understands that however much chaos her boss Gordon causes with his half-baked ideas, he means well, so she occasionally defends him from criticism from the staff, councillors and even his unhinged wife, Helen.
Because of this, she turns down the opportunity to take over from Gordon as Manager of the Leisure Centre, and moves to Chicago, United States, to start a new life with Farrell at the end of Series 5.
However, he is a skilled carpenter and engineer, and also has an impressive knowledge of biology, woodwork, construction, science, midwifery, plants, natural foods and healthy lifestyles.
Colin is accident-prone and frequently late or absent due to receiving medical attention for injuries he has sustained (and giving a disgusting explanation of this, despite Brittas telling him to be quiet).
Colin is immensely happy with his new position and goes on to create many dangerous, crackpot inventions in the basement, ranging from waste recycling devices to Suffolk Punch-powered baby cradles.
Brittas views Carole as hopeless and unattractive, on one occasion arranging the seating plan for an exclusive classical concert so that both she and Colin will be behind everyone else.
At the end of Series 5, Carole finally finds happiness with an Austrian man named Von Trapp, who is employed by the Social Services department to investigate the report that she is keeping her children in drawers and cupboards.
The relationship between Gavin and Tim provides a humorous subplot, because Brittas, who is unable to detect the subtle communication between the two, remains unaware they are a couple.
Linda has a brother who works in a tropical disease centre at Birmingham and is knowledgeable about poisonous plants and spiders, and they want to go to Oregon to start up a gun shop there.
She met her long-term partner Edward at school and brings him to a social event at the centre on one occasion; he is considerably older than Linda, leading her to admit that he was her headmaster.
At the time of Brittas' planned departure for Brussels, Linda had been offered a place at theological college and the Christmas 1994 special, "In the Beginning", implied that she did go on to become a senior member of the clergy.
Tim is bisexual and, unbeknownst to Gordon Brittas, in a relationship with fellow pool attendant Gavin Featherly, with whom he shares an apartment.
His unbalanced, emotional persona makes their relationship increasingly strained as the series progresses and causes a further rift between them when Gavin becomes a deputy manager.
Although Tim has few apparent aspirations within the leisure centre, he briefly gets excited at the prospect of becoming a deputy manager when Brittas leaves for a new job of European Sports Commissioner in Brussels.
However, Tim finally receives a large pay rise afterwards, when Brittas categorises him as an imported "EU acquisition" because of his German nationality.
It is implied that Julie occasionally accepts casual work outside the leisure centre; she meets Alexander "Alex" Cholmondeley-Hulme (a baronet, and owner of a brewery) at the Young Conservatives Ball, where the two have a brief relationship that results in pregnancy.
