The Brittas Empire poster

The Brittas Empire

★ 7.1 4K votes 1991–1997 7 seasons · 52 episodes Ended BBC One
WorkplaceThe job and its social ecosystem as the stage.This show: 9/10SitcomClassic comedy rhythm, multi-camera or single.This show: 9/10British TVThe British television sensibility: tone, restraint and format traditions.This show: 9/10Chaotic energyLoud, frenetic and gleefully anarchic.This show: 8/10AbsurdistSurreal, logic-bending comedy.This show: 8/10EpisodicSelf-contained episodes you can watch in almost any order.This show: 8/10SlapstickBroad, physical comedy.This show: 7/10SatiricalComedy sharpened into social and political critique.This show: 7/10
Rate this series
Starring
Chris BarrieHarriet ThorpeMichael BurnsTim MarriottRussell PorterPippa Haywood
Written by
Richard FegenAndrew Norriss
Starring
Chris BarrieHarriet ThorpeMichael BurnsTim MarriottRussell PorterPippa Haywood
Written by
Richard FegenAndrew Norriss
Ratings per Episode
246810
Votes per Episode
0306090120

The Brittas Empire Episode Ratings Heatmap

AvgE1E2E3E4E5E6E7E8E9
S17.67.17.57.87.57.78.0
S28.08.17.98.08.37.67.98.0
S38.08.47.68.18.07.98.0
S48.18.38.08.08.38.07.88.08.3
S58.17.78.28.18.27.48.38.28.28.2
S67.57.57.67.07.47.77.87.4
S77.57.47.47.87.17.37.57.67.0

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About

"Delusional optimism as an actual force of destruction"

The Brittas Empire follows Gordon Brittas, the relentlessly cheerful and utterly incompetent manager of a small-town leisure centre, whose sunny self-belief blinds him to the trail of disasters, injuries, and despair he leaves in his wake. It's a proudly dark British sitcom that escalates from workplace annoyance to near-apocalyptic chaos within a single episode, all played completely straight. The tone sits somewhere between farce and quiet horror, carried almost entirely by Chris Barrie's fearless performance as a man so oblivious he becomes strangely sinister. It's fast, absurd, and surprisingly bleak underneath the laughs.

Watch it for

a masterclass in oblivious delusion from Chris Barrie as the disastrous Gordon Brittas.

Maybe skip if

you dislike bleak, escalating farce or cringe comedy with little warmth or relief.

Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.

All Seasons

▶
Season 11991
7.660463h
▶
Season 21992
8.057273h 30m
▶
Season 31993
8.047063h
▶
Season 41994
8.160784h
▶
Season 51994
8.166694h 30m
▶
Season 61996
7.542673h 30m
▶
Season 71997
7.551194h 29m

Full Cast & Crew

Cast

Chris Barrie Gordon Brittas, Vlad
Harriet Thorpe Carole, Carole and her Alter-ego
Michael Burns Colin
Tim Marriott Gavin
Russell Porter Tim
Pippa Haywood Helen Brittas
Jill Greenacre Linda
Judy Flynn Julie
Julia St John Laura
Stephen Churchett Councillor Jack Drugget

Crew

Richard Fegen
Andrew Norriss

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