Home Forums Ganymede & Titan Forum Chris Talking About Bringing Back Brittas

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  • #3451
    littlesmegger
    Participant

    Yes the interview was pre-Dwarf so none of that is as interesting as it would’ve been at that point. However, the end question about The Brittas Empire [and even more amusingly, how he answers] is worth a listen in my book.

    Surely Dave are thinking about this? Not only has he said he’s willing himself, but it was mentioned A LOT in the forum they made on their site about a week ago.

    #97861
    TheLeen
    Participant

    I’d watch it, but I’d prefer more Dwarf, obviously.

    Hm, actually, I’ve got all the DVDs, but I haven’t seen Brittas beyond series 3 yet…

    #97863
    Ben Paddon
    Participant

    I never really got into Brittas.

    #97864
    Wilbur
    Participant

    I borrowed two series of Brittas to show my wife, who’s Australian, what the show was after introducing her to Red Dwarf. Now, I remembered not ranking it highly at the time, but the episode I watched was appalling! I guess it was the 90s equivalent of My Family- gained a fanbase, lost its humour, but was easy and cheap to make, so loved by the BBC execs in charge.

    #97866
    Ian Symes
    Keymaster

    Hm, actually, I?ve got all the DVDs, but I haven?t seen Brittas beyond series 3 yet?

    Watch Series 4 & 5 (and the first Christmas special), then burn all subsequent discs.

    #97867
    SkyAndSun
    Participant

    I imagine Dave are considering this. But I’d rather they concentrate on Red Dwarf.

    #97868
    Wilbur
    Participant

    >Watch Series 4 & 5 (and the first Christmas special), then burn all subsequent discs.

    That’s worrying- series 4 and 5 were the two I borrowed.

    #97870
    TheLeen
    Participant

    I like episode 1×02 because Gordon Brittas is doing a salute. And then everything goes boom.

    #97871
    Wilbur
    Participant

    Just out of interest- would anyone here actually give Brittas a second thought if it wasn’t for Chris Barrie’s Red Dwarf connection?

    #97872
    TheLeen
    Participant

    I can answer this with an immediate and honest: not really, no.

    #97873
    Ian Symes
    Keymaster

    Yes, but then I was at just the right age when it was originally on.

    #97875
    Seb Patrick
    Keymaster

    Would you ask the same question about Maid Marian?

    #97876
    TheLeen
    Participant

    I would ask the same question about Captain Butler, but it seems noone wants to see that despite of Craig Charles.

    #97877
    John Hoare
    Participant

    Brittas is quite literally one of my favourite sitcoms ever.

    #97878
    Wilbur
    Participant

    I really want to track down Maid Marion actually- I’ve seen the full dvd set, but I can’t trace it in Oz. Mind you, I saw Maid Marion way before Red Dwarf, and only in the past few years twigged that Barrington = DJJ.

    But I was also the right age for Brittas, and even then it just felt like the lazy formulaic option.

    #97880
    littlesmegger
    Participant

    I love Brittas. It’s that farfetched it’s funny, especially when someone is dying around every corner and noone thinks anything of it, cause Gordon has his dream.

    I didn’t expect it to get the biggest reaction when being spoken about on a non-Brittas website, but I think it’s better then the reception it’s getting. It’s certainley not burning worthy!

    Not many other sitcoms get away with crushing their main character to death, only for him to walk in come the next season perfectly fine, just half titanium inside! :P

    #97881
    Turk Thrust
    Participant

    > Would you ask the same question about Maid Marian?

    The difference for me would be that Chris`s character is the best thing in Brittas whereas Danny`s character is the worst thing in Marian.

    #97882
    Ian Symes
    Keymaster

    It?s certainley not burning worthy!

    Just the last two series, I meant. I love the first five.

    #97883
    littlesmegger
    Participant

    Ah right, I ‘might’ let you off then :P

    I can see what’s meant for the last couple of series, but I still like the first episode of series 6 where they all react to him coming back.

    #97884
    Wilbur
    Participant

    >I didn?t expect it to get the biggest reaction when being spoken about on a non-Brittas website

    There are Brittas websites/ forums? I was kinda suprised there were DVDs in an Australian library!!

    #97893
    Zombie Jim Undead
    Participant

    Really really tried to get into Brittas. But the comedy’s just too broad for my liking.

    (Chris is good in it, though)

    #97900
    si
    Participant

    I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – the end of Brittas was amongst the worst TV I’ve ever watched (I don’t watch My Family) – it was just awful.

    Brittas was silly and fun, which is all you can really ask of a sitcom.

    #97905
    Seb Patrick
    Keymaster

    I can see what?s meant for the last couple of series, but I still like the first episode of series 6 where they all react to him coming back.

    The main problem is that it wasn’t done by Fegen and Norris – they’d finished it, it was meant to end with him dying. It was then brought back for no good reason by completely different writers.

    #97906
    Seb Patrick
    Keymaster

    Oh, also :

    >Brittas… just felt like the lazy formulaic option.

    I’m not the biggest fan of the show, but I’d never call it lazy or formulaic.

    #97907
    littlesmegger
    Participant

    Well if the interview was anything to go by, it’s the latter team that decided to eventually bring it back on a cruise ship.

    And as for bringing it back for the last 2 series, yeah it wasn’t the same standard. But at least they left it open, never liked the death angle at the time. Seemed a bit too much of a full stop. I prefer the “never say never” mentality in television, so an out right NO by getting rid of a main character like Brittas.

    Although saying that, I’d prefer it to end then carry on without them. Which is why after season eight Scrubs is going to die a slow painful death I think, which is a shame.

    #97908
    Ian Symes
    Keymaster

    And as for bringing it back for the last 2 series, yeah it wasn?t the same standard. But at least they left it open, never liked the death angle at the time. Seemed a bit too much of a full stop. I prefer the ?never say never? mentality in television, so an out right NO by getting rid of a main character like Brittas.

    This is all arse-about-tit. Series Five ends with Brittas knocking on the lid of his coffin, having being resurrected because St Peter was fed up of him. Whereas Series Seven ended with the revelation that the whole thing was a dream, and none of the characters actually worked at the leisure centre. So Series Five was open-ended, and Series Seven most definitely wasn’t. Besides which, the first Christmas Special had the team reuniting twenty years down the line, which hinted at unlimited adventures that took place in the meantime.

    #97909
    littlesmegger
    Participant

    Fair point… although we are discussing this on a forum dedicated to a programme with more continuity errors then an episode of columbo. So they’re both well suited really when you think about it.

    Perhaps the whole dream was brought on by dispair ink or something…

    #97913
    hummingbird
    Participant

    I only ever saw Brittas when it was first broadcast. I saw one or two early eps, but I never really rated it.

    I’d be prepared to give it a chance again, purely because some people on this site have recommended later series. Anyone know where I could stream?

    #97914
    Ian Symes
    Keymaster
    #97915
    hummingbird
    Participant

    Yeah, I know, but I’m tight.

    OK, so hypothetically … if I were to buy just one series, which would people recommend?

    #97916
    Ian Symes
    Keymaster

    *waits for John to arrive with definitive answer*

    #97917
    littlesmegger
    Participant

    Is it not best to start from the beginning if you’re not really ontop of it all? I personally liked 4 and 5, but I would still reccommend starting from the start.

    Might not be definitive, but it’s an answer nonetheless!

    #97918
    Seb Patrick
    Keymaster

    Is it that plot-driven? Admittedly I only have hazy memories of watching it when I was a kid, but it was pretty dip-in-and-out-of. People forget this about sitcoms – by their very nature, they should generally be accessible for the new viewer. Obviously there are exceptions (Arrested Development just isn’t funny if you watch a random episode from the middle of it), but still, I think it’s largely a pretty general rule.

    #97920
    Danny Stephenson
    Keymaster

    Arrested Development just isn?t funny if you watch a random episode from the middle of it

    I don’t know, mate. I remember being at your flat watching a fair few episodes and absolutely pissing myself with laughter…

    #97921
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi Seb

    I’d recommend you DL a few eps from something like youtube to see how you get on with it. Not one to advocate piracy, but despite opinions here and it’s popularity in general, I’m really not too keen on it.

    HTH

    #97922
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    >”I don?t know, mate. I remember being at your flat watching a fair few episodes and absolutely pissing myself with laughter?”

    This. I got into Arrested Development after watching just a couple of random episodes during a flight. Genius.

    #97923
    John Hoare
    Participant

    *waits for John to arrive with definitive answer*

    I’d say you couldn’t go too far wrong with any series from 1-5, although 1 is certainly the weakest of the first five series. (Still bloody great, though – but Julie is a most welcome addition to the series for 2.)

    I’d say either Series 2 or 3. 3 starts with one of my favourite ever episodes, The Trial – but that’s a format-breaker that’s maybe better appreciated once you’ve seen some other eps. So I’d plump for 2.

    4 and 5 probably *are* the strongest, but whilst they’re as far from being inaccessible as you can get, they do build on character work from earlier series, so I’d not barge straight in with them.

    #97924
    John Hoare
    Participant

    Oh, and as for the last two series of Brittas… they’re a case study in how something can ostensiably look the same… and yet do a few vital things wrong, and it all starts falling apart.

    It’d take a whole essay to explore, mind you. But I do find enough to enjoy in them to watch once – but not that much to keep returning, like the first five series. There’s some good stuff there, though – We All Fall Down ends with a spectacularly tasteless electrocution of a bunch of schoolkids amidst the roasting of birds of peace by a ceremonial flame – and The Disappearing Act has Colin doing his magician act, which is extremely amusing. (And also contains one of my favourite Brittas jokes ever, although it loses it completely written down…)

    #97925
    Pete Part Three
    Participant

    Start with “Not a Good Day” from Series 4. It’s as farcial (and as good) as the show ever got, and is good indicator on whether you’d like the rest of 1-5.

    #97930
    pfm
    Participant

    Surely it’s worth watching even if it’s just to have wank fantasies about Linda in her shorts. And who the hell could forget that scene where she’s just got a towel around her?

    #97936
    Nick R
    Participant

    I have fond memories of The Brittas Empire. When I was about 10, I did an impression of him as my entry in my primary school’s talent contest (somehow I came third!). However, it must have been at least 10 years since I last saw an episode, so I have no idea what I’d make of it now, and whether it’d live up to my memories of it…

    But having just checked Wikipedia, most of the epsiodes I remember (the leisure centre being computerised, the lion within, the magician one John mentioned) were in the last series. And I enjoyed those a lot. So maybe I hadn’t seen many of the early, good episodes at all…

    #97970
    si
    Participant

    A fiver a series, you say, Ian? That sounds like a deal worth following up…

    #97973
    littlesmegger
    Participant

    Although if you’re considering them all, the boxset is sliiiiiightly cheaper:
    http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/689015/The-Brittas-Empire-The-Complete-Series-1-7-Boxset/Product.html

    #97997
    hummingbird
    Participant

    even cheaper on Amazon
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brittas-Empire-Complete-BBC-1-7/dp/B000A3OOQ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1240596950&sr=8-1

    I watched s2/ep2 of Brittas on youtube last night. I found it entertaining, but laugh-out-loud funny? No.
    Whereas I followed up by watching s4/ep1 of Blackadder, which *was* laugh-out-loud funny.
    I guess that’s the issue I have with Brittas.

    #97999
    littlesmegger
    Participant

    Well to be fair they’re two entirely different products in my opinion… Blackadder is generally quite a sophisticated sitcom using words for comedy, Brittas is more of a physical sitcom, using slapstick antics to make the audience laugh.

    If anything, and even this isn’t spot on, the closest comparison in styles would be Fawlty Towers. Lots of staff running around, customers being treat horribly, and the odd slapstick moment you just have to laugh at.

    #98007
    hummingbird
    Participant

    I can see what you’re saying, and I sort of agree, that wasn’t really a fair comparison.

    Lots of staff running around, customers being treat horribly, and the odd slapstick moment you just have to laugh at.
    But Fawlty Towers has it’s share of verbal gags too, and I think it’s a combination of all those things that makes it such a winner.
    Whereas I’ve alsways seen Brittas as an attempt to remake FT, but lacking the same level of ‘wit’ (for want of a better word).

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