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Trope renamed, retooled to be about "no navel means atypical birth"
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* BellyButtonless: Gordon doesn't have a belly button after some plastic surgery following his return from the dead.
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* FromBadToWorse: Carole's situation in Series 1 and 2 - firstly, her husband runs off on her late into her first pregnancy and she's forced to go into work to pay the bills. Then, she finds out that he has left an unpaid mortgage and that her mother is more interested in giving her marriage counselling rather than pay it off. Then her husband expresses a desire to get back together with her, only to change his mind after Brittas gives him a bad impression of Carole. Then she loses her bed, her mother goes into hospital and becomes unable to look after the children, she falls pregnant again to an unknown father (this time with twins), and is finally kicked out of her apartment, forcing her to move into the leisure centre.
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* RidiculousRepossession: Several mentions are made in Series 1 and 2 of bailiffs taking Carole's bed after her husband runs off and leaves her with an unpaid mortgage on their house. Trouble is that as it is something that Carole needs to live comfortably, it's not something they should be able to take, although it does highlight how desperate Carole's situation is.
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* {{Autobiography}}: InUniverse, Brittas wrote an autobiography about his own life, ''I Believe'', during the period between series 4 and 5, with proceedings from the book going to charity. We don't get to hear too much about it, but he wrote a lot about his Deputy Manager Laura, which he has been implied to have started falling in love with in the episodes prior. His pool assistant Tim on the other hand gets one throwaway mention in the entire book.
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* {{Balloonacy}}: In “The Elephant's Child”, Helen attempts to stop a promotional balloon from floating away after Tim and Gavin let go of it. She ends up getting airborne. She gets down by crashing into Gordon, [[ItMakesSenseInContext and they fall into a pile of elephant shit]].
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* {{Balloonacy}}: In “The "The Elephant's Child”, Child", Helen attempts to stop a promotional balloon from floating away after Tim and Gavin let go of it. She ends up getting airborne. She gets down by crashing into Gordon, [[ItMakesSenseInContext and they fall into a pile of elephant shit]].
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Changed line(s) 198 (click to see context) from:
** Brittas' BrutalHonesty and hatred of lying is framed as a bad thing, causing more trouble and stressing people out. In contrast, whilst the elaborate schemes built upon lies conducted by the staff tend to be exposed, the core lie is retained and the person being lied to is stated to be much happier than if they had been told the truth. The lesson here is thus "sometimes, BrutalHonesty is not the way to go about things - sometimes, you have to tell a lie to spare someone's feelings", a lesson which even Brittas learns.
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** Brittas' BrutalHonesty and hatred of lying is framed as a bad thing, causing more trouble and stressing people out. In contrast, whilst the elaborate schemes built upon lies conducted by the staff tend to be exposed, the core lie is retained and the person being lied to is stated to be much happier than if they had been told the truth. The lesson here is thus "sometimes, that sometimes, BrutalHonesty is not the way to go about things - sometimes, you have to tell a lie to spare someone's feelings", feelings, a lesson which even Brittas learns.
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Changed line(s) 198,201 (click to see context) from:
** Brittas' BrutalHonesty and hatred of lying is framed as a bad thing, causing more trouble and stressing people out. In contrast, whilst the elaborate schemes built upon lies conducted by the staff tend to be exposed, the core lie is retained and the person being lied to is stated to be much happier than if they had been told the truth. The lesson here is thus "sometimes, BrutalHonesty is not the way to go about things - sometimes, you have to tell a lie to spare someone's feelings".
-->'''Brittas''': We've all learnt an important lesson today.
-->'''Laura''': Have we?
-->'''Brittas''': One worth remembering. When weighed in the balance, the happiness of others is even more important than the slavish adherence to the truth.
-->'''Brittas''': We've all learnt an important lesson today.
-->'''Laura''': Have we?
-->'''Brittas''': One worth remembering. When weighed in the balance, the happiness of others is even more important than the slavish adherence to the truth.
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** Brittas' BrutalHonesty and hatred of lying is framed as a bad thing, causing more trouble and stressing people out. In contrast, whilst the elaborate schemes built upon lies conducted by the staff tend to be exposed, the core lie is retained and the person being lied to is stated to be much happier than if they had been told the truth. The lesson here is thus "sometimes, BrutalHonesty is not the way to go about things - sometimes, you have to tell a lie to spare someone's feelings".feelings", a lesson which even Brittas learns.
-->'''Brittas''': --->'''Brittas''': We've all learnt an important lesson today.
-->'''Laura''': --->'''Laura''': Have we?
-->'''Brittas''': --->'''Brittas''': One worth remembering. When weighed in the balance, the happiness of others is even more important than the slavish adherence to the truth.
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* HardTruthAesop:
** Brittas, in his actions, is intending to follow his Dream, a Dream of world peace and harmony. However, these actions tend to lead to fighting and anger. It's spelt out for him in "That Creeping Feeling" when a psychologist meets him and suggests giving up on it to ensure a happier centre. The lesson here is that, sometimes, following your dreams will lead to nothing but disappointment, especially if you don't have the skills to do so.
** Brittas' BrutalHonesty and hatred of lying is framed as a bad thing, causing more trouble and stressing people out. In contrast, whilst the elaborate schemes built upon lies conducted by the staff tend to be exposed, the core lie is retained and the person being lied to is stated to be much happier than if they had been told the truth. The lesson here is thus "sometimes, BrutalHonesty is not the way to go about things - sometimes, you have to tell a lie to spare someone's feelings".
-->'''Brittas''': We've all learnt an important lesson today.
-->'''Laura''': Have we?
-->'''Brittas''': One worth remembering. When weighed in the balance, the happiness of others is even more important than the slavish adherence to the truth.
** Brittas, in his actions, is intending to follow his Dream, a Dream of world peace and harmony. However, these actions tend to lead to fighting and anger. It's spelt out for him in "That Creeping Feeling" when a psychologist meets him and suggests giving up on it to ensure a happier centre. The lesson here is that, sometimes, following your dreams will lead to nothing but disappointment, especially if you don't have the skills to do so.
** Brittas' BrutalHonesty and hatred of lying is framed as a bad thing, causing more trouble and stressing people out. In contrast, whilst the elaborate schemes built upon lies conducted by the staff tend to be exposed, the core lie is retained and the person being lied to is stated to be much happier than if they had been told the truth. The lesson here is thus "sometimes, BrutalHonesty is not the way to go about things - sometimes, you have to tell a lie to spare someone's feelings".
-->'''Brittas''': We've all learnt an important lesson today.
-->'''Laura''': Have we?
-->'''Brittas''': One worth remembering. When weighed in the balance, the happiness of others is even more important than the slavish adherence to the truth.
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* DevastatingRemark: Gordon Brittas has an unnatural talent for these, as his attempts to engage with people prove InnocentlyInsensitive enough to put them into tears. The most notable example however comes from "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS2E5MumsAndDads Mums and Dads]]", when Colin shows off a way to get the pianist they plan to get in to play on a piano left sideways - namely through the use of a hoist for disabled swimmers. Brittas isn't amused and tells Colin to essentially bugger off by locking himself up in the attic storeroom. Colin's response after he leaves shows that, as much of a loyal HeroWorshipper he is of Brittas, even he was hurt by this.
--->'''Tim''': Are you alright, Colin?
--->'''Colin''': I know he doesn't mean to Tim, but sometimes Mr. Brittas can be really hurtful.
--->'''Tim''': Are you alright, Colin?
--->'''Colin''': I know he doesn't mean to Tim, but sometimes Mr. Brittas can be really hurtful.
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* SatelliteFamilyMember:
** Emily and Jessica are Carole's two young twin daughters. They are born at the end of Series 2 both to stir up paternity drama for Carole, who doesn't know who their father is, and to stir up drama for Brittas, who unbeknownst to them, is the actual father of the twins. However, aside from the implication in Series 6 that they are becoming [[BrattyHalfPint somewhat bratty]], they get little characterization and barely appear on-screen. Their actual personality is so little that Jessica used to be a boy called Tom before being retconned in Series 5.
** Brittas has five children, three of which (Jonathan, Tom, and an unnamed third) are from his wife Helen's previous marriages and the other two (Matthew and Mark) being twins born at the end of Series 3. The twins are used to set up the plots of "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS4E2TheChristening The Christening]]" (which had Helen misplace them) and "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS6E5WeAllFallDown We All Fall Down]]" (where they fail to be picked for a nappy commercial, causing Helen to take drastic action). Meanwhile, Jonathan's relations with his teachers is used to set up Helen's subplots in "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS5E1TheOldOldStory The Old, Old Story]]" and "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS5E3BrusselsCalling Brussels Calling]]". However, none of the children get much characterization aside from their implication that Jonathan might be a DumbassTeenageSon and that Tom has a poor relationship with his stepfather - the stepchildren only have a brief appearance from afar in "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS1E1LayingTheFoundations Laying the Foundations]]", whilst the twins aren't seen on-screen after "The Christening". They are so unimportant otherwise that one of the stepchildren is not only never named, but is retconned out by the time of "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS4E6ShallWeDance Shall We Dance?]]".
** Barney is the son of Laura and Michael T. Farrell III. He is the end result of Michael's SeriesGoal of impregnating Laura so that he can get inheritance and is also the reason why Laura is PutOnABus, as Michael's father wants the child to be raised in Chicago rather than the UK. However, he only has one appearance, in the FlashForward episode "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireCS1InTheBeginning In the Beginning...]]" and his only role in it is to provide someone who [[TheWatson can ask why Laura meets up with the staff at the end of each year]], with no personality traits other than the fact that he goes to Cambridge.
** Emily and Jessica are Carole's two young twin daughters. They are born at the end of Series 2 both to stir up paternity drama for Carole, who doesn't know who their father is, and to stir up drama for Brittas, who unbeknownst to them, is the actual father of the twins. However, aside from the implication in Series 6 that they are becoming [[BrattyHalfPint somewhat bratty]], they get little characterization and barely appear on-screen. Their actual personality is so little that Jessica used to be a boy called Tom before being retconned in Series 5.
** Brittas has five children, three of which (Jonathan, Tom, and an unnamed third) are from his wife Helen's previous marriages and the other two (Matthew and Mark) being twins born at the end of Series 3. The twins are used to set up the plots of "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS4E2TheChristening The Christening]]" (which had Helen misplace them) and "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS6E5WeAllFallDown We All Fall Down]]" (where they fail to be picked for a nappy commercial, causing Helen to take drastic action). Meanwhile, Jonathan's relations with his teachers is used to set up Helen's subplots in "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS5E1TheOldOldStory The Old, Old Story]]" and "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS5E3BrusselsCalling Brussels Calling]]". However, none of the children get much characterization aside from their implication that Jonathan might be a DumbassTeenageSon and that Tom has a poor relationship with his stepfather - the stepchildren only have a brief appearance from afar in "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS1E1LayingTheFoundations Laying the Foundations]]", whilst the twins aren't seen on-screen after "The Christening". They are so unimportant otherwise that one of the stepchildren is not only never named, but is retconned out by the time of "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS4E6ShallWeDance Shall We Dance?]]".
** Barney is the son of Laura and Michael T. Farrell III. He is the end result of Michael's SeriesGoal of impregnating Laura so that he can get inheritance and is also the reason why Laura is PutOnABus, as Michael's father wants the child to be raised in Chicago rather than the UK. However, he only has one appearance, in the FlashForward episode "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireCS1InTheBeginning In the Beginning...]]" and his only role in it is to provide someone who [[TheWatson can ask why Laura meets up with the staff at the end of each year]], with no personality traits other than the fact that he goes to Cambridge.
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* HoldingInLaughter: [[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS4E3BigglesTellsALie Biggles Tells a Lie]]", Colin tells Laura that he has an illegitimate daughter, and that he has been pretending to be a Manager [[WellDoneDadGuy so that she could be proud of him]]. When he admits that he didn't want to tell the rest of the staff as he feared that they might have laughed, Laura reassures him that they won't, although it doesn't stop her from struggling to keep a straight face and not laughing anyway.
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* SuckOutThePoison: Colin gets bitten by a deadly tropical spider in 'That Creeping Feeling' and , due to the antidote being a considerable distance away, the only way to keep him alive long enough is to do this. Unfortunately, Colin had the misfortune of being bit near the crotch area. Brittas volunteers to do so and win back the respect of the staff, who had been refusing to speak to him at the time (He had been creating fitness targets for them by spying on them and violating their privacy).
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* SuckOutThePoison: Colin gets bitten by a deadly tropical spider in 'That Creeping Feeling' and , due to the antidote being a considerable distance away, the only way to keep him alive long enough is to do this. Unfortunately, Colin had the misfortune of being bit near the crotch area. Brittas volunteers to do so and win back the respect of the staff, who had been refusing to speak to him at the time (He had been creating fitness targets for them by spying on them and violating their privacy).
* SurpriseMultipleBirth: A plot point in Series 2 revolves around Carole being pregnant. "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS2E7NewGenerations New Generations]]" has her give birth and to everyone's surprise, it turns out to be twins. {{Justified}} in that Carole hadn't had any further check-ups with her doctor since the initial announcement, with the hope that the pregnancy would terminate naturally.
* SurpriseMultipleBirth: A plot point in Series 2 revolves around Carole being pregnant. "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS2E7NewGenerations New Generations]]" has her give birth and to everyone's surprise, it turns out to be twins. {{Justified}} in that Carole hadn't had any further check-ups with her doctor since the initial announcement, with the hope that the pregnancy would terminate naturally.
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* MayItNeverHappenAgain: In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS2E7NewGenerations New Generations]]", Carole gives birth, but thanks to Brittas, she ends up being tended to in a sauna by a vet. A series later, in "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS3E6TheStuffOfDreams The Stuff of Dreams]]", Helen, remembering this incident, asks Laura to take her to the hospital for when she gives birth, figuring that with Brittas out of the way, she would get a normal delivery. Of course, Brittas ends up driving her and she ends up giving birth in the middle of the high street anyway.
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* HilariousOuttakes: The Series 6 DVD includes some outtakes from Series 4 as extras, with outtakes for other series scattered throughout the various editions of ''Auntie's Bloomers''. The most notable part of them is a chance to see Chris Barrie's Creator/KennethWilliams impression.
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* ToyBasedCharacterization:
** In "The Trial", Brittas briefly plays with a gun which he seemingly believes to be a toy, only hiding it when Linda shows up. This indicates that he is a straight-faced man who prioritises work over slacking off, but does have a more innocent if hidden side. Consequently, when he is hypnotised in "Mr. Brittas Changes Trains" the indicator that it has worked is when he plays trains with Ben, showing that he has lightened up and is more willing to embrace that innocent side.
** There are some indicators that their time living in the leisure centre has made Ben (and to a lesser extent his twin young sisters Emily and Jessia) [[BrattyHalfPint Bratty Half-Pints]] who show TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour and who are interested in inflicting violence or owning weapons. This trait can be seen in the fact that one of the toys they are shown to own in "The Last Day" is a toy rabbit hooked up to a miniature electric chair.
** In "The Trial", Brittas briefly plays with a gun which he seemingly believes to be a toy, only hiding it when Linda shows up. This indicates that he is a straight-faced man who prioritises work over slacking off, but does have a more innocent if hidden side. Consequently, when he is hypnotised in "Mr. Brittas Changes Trains" the indicator that it has worked is when he plays trains with Ben, showing that he has lightened up and is more willing to embrace that innocent side.
** There are some indicators that their time living in the leisure centre has made Ben (and to a lesser extent his twin young sisters Emily and Jessia) [[BrattyHalfPint Bratty Half-Pints]] who show TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour and who are interested in inflicting violence or owning weapons. This trait can be seen in the fact that one of the toys they are shown to own in "The Last Day" is a toy rabbit hooked up to a miniature electric chair.
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Changed line(s) 138 (click to see context) from:
** Carole wasn't quite living in the centre just yet - that change wouldn't occur until Series 2's "Temple of the Body". Instead, she was on the verge of losing her flat, having to bring in Ben because there was no-one available to watch over him - as a consequence of this, she's portrayed as much more of a ShrinkingViolet vulnerable to InelegantBlubbering than in later series. For that matter, when she does fall pregnant at the end of Series 1, it's implied that it was her landlord who impregnated her, with it not being until Series 2 that it was established that it was Brittas' fault.
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** Carole wasn't quite living in the centre just yet - that change wouldn't occur until Series 2's "Temple of the Body". Instead, she was on the verge of losing her flat, having to bring in Ben because there was no-one no one available to watch over him - as a consequence of this, she's portrayed as much more of a ShrinkingViolet vulnerable to InelegantBlubbering than in later series. For that matter, when she does fall pregnant at the end of Series 1, it's implied that it was her landlord who impregnated her, with it not being until Series 2 that it was established that it was Brittas' fault.
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** In the first series Helen was portrayed as someone whose neuroses stem entirely from her relationship with Brittas and who otherwise might be relatively normal. Later on the show revealed that she was always something of a walking disaster even before she met Brittas and that she herself isn't so easy to live with.
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** In the first series Helen was portrayed as someone whose neuroses stem entirely from her relationship with Brittas and who otherwise might be relatively normal. Later on on, the show revealed that she was always something of a walking disaster even before she met Brittas and that she herself isn't so easy to live with.with. Additionally, she came around to the centre much less often in the first series than later on, being only there for a brief scene in "Opening Day" and not appearing at all there in "Bye Bye Baby" and "Laying the Foundations".
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* AirVentPassageway: The centre has a set of ventilation ducts installed in it which Ben sometimes escapes to, which even allows him to become a KidHero when the centre blows up and the system breaks apart right beside a trapped Brittas in "High Noon". Ronald, a potential love interest of Carole, once tried the same to get out of the First Aid Room in "Shall We Dance?", but ended up suffering a fate of UncertainDoom stuck in the vents.
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* VagueAge: With the exception of Brittas [[note]] First mentioned to be 33 in "Back from the Dead" and last mentioned to be about to turn 37 in "Curse of the Tiger Women" [[/note]], Helen [[note]] Stated to be 40 in "Snap Happy" [[/note]], and Gavin [[note]] Said to be 24 in "Playing with Fire" before being changed to 36 for "Gavin Featherly R.I.P." [[/note]], none of the ages of the characters is given. Laura at least is implied to be older than the non-management members of the staff, but younger than Brittas, possibly placing her in her late 20s to early 30s, whilst Colin is old enough to have a daughter who is at minimum in her late teens.
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Changed line(s) 76 (click to see context) from:
** Carole, who has a tendency to get into YankTheDogsChain situations and whose home situation is so bad that she literally has to raise her children in the leisure centre. Of course, it doesn't that in earlier series, Brittas had a tendency to call her unattractive.
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** Carole, who has a tendency to get into YankTheDogsChain situations and whose home situation is so bad that she literally has to raise her children in the leisure centre. Of course, it doesn't help that in earlier series, Brittas had a tendency to call her unattractive.
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* {{Bowdlerize}}: The UKTV airings of the show censors out some of the worst words used in the show, with the use of "bastard" in both "Bye Bye Baby" and "Underwater Wedding" being cut out.
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** Carole, who has a tendency to get into YankTheDogsChain situations and whose home situation is so bad that she literally has to raise her children in the leisure centre.
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** Carole, who has a tendency to get into YankTheDogsChain situations and whose home situation is so bad that she literally has to raise her children in the leisure centre. Of course, it doesn't that in earlier series, Brittas had a tendency to call her unattractive.
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Changed line(s) 6,7 (click to see context) from:
A large supporting cast consists of Gordon's deputy managers [[OnlySaneEmployee Laura Lancing]] (Creator/JuliaStJohn) and [[TheDitz Colin]] [[ThePigPen Weatherby]] (Creator/MikeBurns), secretary Angie (Andrée Bernard) - who was quickly replaced by [[SassySecretary Julie Porter]] (Creator/JudyFlynn), receptionist [[TheChewToy Carole Parkinson]] (Creator/HarrietThorpe) and pool attendants [[NiceGuy Gavin Featherly]] (Creator/TimMarriott), [[DeadpanSnarker Tim Whistler]] (Russell Porter) and [[ActionGirl Linda Perkin]] (Jill Greenacre). Other non-staff characters include Gordon's philandering, unstable, pill-popping wife [[BrokenBird Helen]], sauna/solarium manageress [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Penny Bidmead]] (Anouschka Menzies) [[note]] Only in Series 6 [[/note]] and [[DesignatedVillain Councillor Jack Drugget]] (Creator/StephenChurchett). Many of the characters are almost as dysfunctional as Brittas himself.
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A large supporting cast consists of Gordon's deputy managers [[OnlySaneEmployee Laura Lancing]] (Creator/JuliaStJohn) and [[TheDitz Colin]] [[ThePigPen Weatherby]] (Creator/MikeBurns), secretary Angie (Andrée Bernard) (Creator/AndreeBernard) - who was quickly replaced by [[SassySecretary Julie Porter]] (Creator/JudyFlynn), receptionist [[TheChewToy Carole Parkinson]] (Creator/HarrietThorpe) and pool attendants [[NiceGuy Gavin Featherly]] (Creator/TimMarriott), [[DeadpanSnarker Tim Whistler]] (Russell Porter) and [[ActionGirl Linda Perkin]] (Jill Greenacre). Other non-staff characters include Gordon's philandering, unstable, pill-popping wife [[BrokenBird Helen]], sauna/solarium manageress [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Penny Bidmead]] (Anouschka Menzies) [[note]] Only in Series 6 [[/note]] and [[DesignatedVillain Councillor Jack Drugget]] (Creator/StephenChurchett). Many of the characters are almost as dysfunctional as Brittas himself.
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Changed line(s) 331 (click to see context) from:
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Although the men are more susceptible to the slapstick, this doesn't mean that the women are immune. Helen, in particular, has given birth to twins in the middle of the street, headbutted a woman in the face for being called a bad mother, had all her muscles seize up, been puked on, gotten an embarrassing tattoo, sent to an insane asylum, electrocuted, chased by a shark, fell out of a plane, fell into a pile of elephant shit and tried to murder a reporter with an axe. Not to mention all her mental breakdowns and drug abuse which were all PlayedForLaughs.
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* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: {{Slapstick}}: Although the men are more susceptible to the slapstick, this doesn't mean that the women are immune. Helen, in particular, has given birth to twins in the middle of the street, headbutted a woman in the face for being called a bad mother, had all her muscles seize up, been puked on, gotten an embarrassing tattoo, sent to an insane asylum, electrocuted, chased by a shark, fell out of a plane, fell into a pile of elephant shit and tried to murder a reporter with an axe. Not to mention all her mental breakdowns and drug abuse which were all PlayedForLaughs.
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Changed line(s) 247 (click to see context) from:
* MySecretPregnancy: Carole keeps her pregnancy secret from Brittas during Series 2 as she fears that she would lose her job (and [[NonResidentialResidence her home]]). Brittas winds up not finding out until she is actively giving birth. Luckily for Carole, although Brittas considers doing it, he doesn't in the end.
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* MySecretPregnancy: Carole keeps her pregnancy secret from Brittas during Series 2 as she fears that she would lose her job (and [[NonResidentialResidence her home]]). Brittas winds up not finding out until she is actively giving birth. Luckily for Carole, although Brittas considers doing it, firing her, he doesn't in the end.
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* NoFullNameGiven: Angie (Brittas' secretary in the first series) is only referred to by her first name during her time on the show
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* NoFullNameGiven: Angie (Brittas' secretary in the first series) is only referred to by her first name during her time on the showshow.
Changed line(s) 317 (click to see context) from:
** In the later series, Gordon abbreviating stuff using FunWithAcronyms.
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** In the later series, Gordon abbreviating stuff Brittas using management tools that involve FunWithAcronyms.
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* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Where exactly is Whitbury? From what can be gathered, it's somewhere in Southern England and references to Ringwood (the filming location in real life) pop up from time to time, but there isn't anything definite.
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Changed line(s) 125 (click to see context) from:
* DistantFinale: The first Christmas special was intended to be a {{Downplayed}} example. It does shows what the cast is doing 25 years from the premiere year of the episode (1994) but the majority of the episode is a WholeEpisodeFlashback to 1990. Of course, the BBC renewed it for two more seasons after that.
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* DistantFinale: The first Christmas special was intended to be a {{Downplayed}} example. It does shows what the cast is doing 25 years from the premiere year of the episode (1994) but the majority of the episode is a WholeEpisodeFlashback to 1990.1989. Of course, the BBC renewed it for two more seasons after that.
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* {{Doorstopper}}: According to ''Sharing the Dream'', The instructions to the "Gordon Brittas Game of Life" board game is 900 pages long, complete with illustrations.
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* {{Doorstopper}}: According to ''Sharing the Dream'', The the instructions to the "Gordon Brittas Game of Life" board game is 900 pages long, complete with illustrations.
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** In the first series Helen was portrayed as someone whose neuroses stem entirely from her relationship with Brittas and who otherwise might be relatively normal. Later on the show revealed that she was always something of a walking disaster even before she met Brittas and that she herself isn't so easy to live with.
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Came forty-seventh in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''.
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Came forty-seventh in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''.''Britain’s Best Sitcom''.
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Changed line(s) 6,7 (click to see context) from:
A large supporting cast consists of Gordon's deputy managers [[OnlySaneEmployee Laura Lancing]] (Creator/JuliaStJohn) and [[TheDitz Colin]] [[ThePigPen Weatherby]] (Creator/MikeBurns), secretary Angie (Andrée Bernard) - who was quickly replaced by [[SassySecretary Julie Porter]] (Creator/JudyFlynn), receptionist [[TheChewToy Carole Parkinson]] (Creator/HarrietThorpe) and pool attendants [[NiceGuy Gavin Featherly]] (Creator/TimMarriott), [[DeadpanSnarker Tim Whistler]] (Russell Porter) and [[ActionGirl Linda Perkin]] (Jill Greenacre). Other non-staff characters include Gordon's philandering, unstable, pill-popping wife [[BrokenBird Helen]], sauna/solarium manageress [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Penny Bidmead]] (Anouschka Menzies) [[note]] Only in Series 6 [[/note]] and [[DesignatedVillain Councillor Jack Drugget]] (Stephen Churchett). Many of the characters are almost as dysfunctional as Brittas himself.
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A large supporting cast consists of Gordon's deputy managers [[OnlySaneEmployee Laura Lancing]] (Creator/JuliaStJohn) and [[TheDitz Colin]] [[ThePigPen Weatherby]] (Creator/MikeBurns), secretary Angie (Andrée Bernard) - who was quickly replaced by [[SassySecretary Julie Porter]] (Creator/JudyFlynn), receptionist [[TheChewToy Carole Parkinson]] (Creator/HarrietThorpe) and pool attendants [[NiceGuy Gavin Featherly]] (Creator/TimMarriott), [[DeadpanSnarker Tim Whistler]] (Russell Porter) and [[ActionGirl Linda Perkin]] (Jill Greenacre). Other non-staff characters include Gordon's philandering, unstable, pill-popping wife [[BrokenBird Helen]], sauna/solarium manageress [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Penny Bidmead]] (Anouschka Menzies) [[note]] Only in Series 6 [[/note]] and [[DesignatedVillain Councillor Jack Drugget]] (Stephen Churchett).(Creator/StephenChurchett). Many of the characters are almost as dysfunctional as Brittas himself.
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* BeastInTheBuilding:
** In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS5E1TheOldOldStory The Old, Old Story]]", something is attacking the customers and users of the Leisure Centre building, so the staff fear that a serial killer is on the loose. It turns out to be an emu, who was turned loose in the building by the army when Brittas refused to allow them in for the reopening of the centre.
** In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS6E3AtTheDouble At the Double]]", a bear that belongs to the Ruthenian circus runs loose in the centre, so Brittas tells everyone to hide in the pool. Unfortunately, Helen thinks that the bear is Brittas wearing a costume for KinkyRolePlaying, and ends up on top of the bear as it bicycles down the side of the pool.
** In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS6E6MrBrittasFallsInLove Mr. Brittas Falls in Love]]", Brittas is inspired by some time spent with dolphins on a European fact-finding trip to host a "Dolphin Day", complete with a dolphin in the swimming pool. Unfortunately, a combination of Julie's poor secretary skills and Tim's desire to use only the finest ingredients for his cooking leads to a shark being put there instead. Whilst Linda tries to remove it alongside her animal rights group, chaos ensues when the shark is feared to have gobbled up a girl there on work experience.
** In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS7E4WakeUpTheLionWithin Wake Up the Lion Within]]", Colin purchases a lion with the intention of presenting it as part of his newly opened Children's Corner, all under the cover that it's a "Tasmanian Chipmunk". By the end of the episode, it ends up escaping, wandering through the centre, and hitching a ride in the car of the woman who has just given the centre a European award for Excellence.
** In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS5E1TheOldOldStory The Old, Old Story]]", something is attacking the customers and users of the Leisure Centre building, so the staff fear that a serial killer is on the loose. It turns out to be an emu, who was turned loose in the building by the army when Brittas refused to allow them in for the reopening of the centre.
** In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS6E3AtTheDouble At the Double]]", a bear that belongs to the Ruthenian circus runs loose in the centre, so Brittas tells everyone to hide in the pool. Unfortunately, Helen thinks that the bear is Brittas wearing a costume for KinkyRolePlaying, and ends up on top of the bear as it bicycles down the side of the pool.
** In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS6E6MrBrittasFallsInLove Mr. Brittas Falls in Love]]", Brittas is inspired by some time spent with dolphins on a European fact-finding trip to host a "Dolphin Day", complete with a dolphin in the swimming pool. Unfortunately, a combination of Julie's poor secretary skills and Tim's desire to use only the finest ingredients for his cooking leads to a shark being put there instead. Whilst Linda tries to remove it alongside her animal rights group, chaos ensues when the shark is feared to have gobbled up a girl there on work experience.
** In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS7E4WakeUpTheLionWithin Wake Up the Lion Within]]", Colin purchases a lion with the intention of presenting it as part of his newly opened Children's Corner, all under the cover that it's a "Tasmanian Chipmunk". By the end of the episode, it ends up escaping, wandering through the centre, and hitching a ride in the car of the woman who has just given the centre a European award for Excellence.
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* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: The final two series, produced after the original writers left, introduced some changes to the series:
** Laura was written out and replaced by a solarium/spa manager called Penny, who filled her niche of being the OnlySaneEmployee if much more outspoken about it. She wasn't very popular with fans however, and was both written out and not replaced for the final series.
** The plots become DenserAndWackier, with more fantastical elements such as PlantAliens and doppelgangers being much more common, and there is a move away from Brittas being the instigator of episodic conflict in favour of the whole cast.
** Whilst up to Series 7, Councillor Drugget only tended to pop up OnceASeason, he becomes a recurring character and antagonist in the final series, presumably to try to fill the OnlySaneMan niche that Penny left behind.
** Helen becomes the centre's psychiatrist and officially part of the staff in Series 7, giving her a new reason to come to the centre after Laura and Penny had been written out.
** Even before the original writers left, Series 5, their final series, was much more continuity-driven than the previous 4 series, with an ongoing StoryArc about Brittas taking up a job in Brussels driving many of the plots of the episodes.
** Laura was written out and replaced by a solarium/spa manager called Penny, who filled her niche of being the OnlySaneEmployee if much more outspoken about it. She wasn't very popular with fans however, and was both written out and not replaced for the final series.
** The plots become DenserAndWackier, with more fantastical elements such as PlantAliens and doppelgangers being much more common, and there is a move away from Brittas being the instigator of episodic conflict in favour of the whole cast.
** Whilst up to Series 7, Councillor Drugget only tended to pop up OnceASeason, he becomes a recurring character and antagonist in the final series, presumably to try to fill the OnlySaneMan niche that Penny left behind.
** Helen becomes the centre's psychiatrist and officially part of the staff in Series 7, giving her a new reason to come to the centre after Laura and Penny had been written out.
** Even before the original writers left, Series 5, their final series, was much more continuity-driven than the previous 4 series, with an ongoing StoryArc about Brittas taking up a job in Brussels driving many of the plots of the episodes.
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Changed line(s) 6,7 (click to see context) from:
A large supporting cast consists of Gordon's deputy managers [[OnlySaneEmployee Laura Lancing]] (Creator/JuliaStJohn) and [[TheDitz Colin]] [[ThePigPen Weatherby]] (Creator/MikeBurns), secretary Angie (Andrée Bernard) - who was quickly replaced by [[SassySecretary Julie Porter]] (Creator/JudyFlynn), receptionist [[TheChewToy Carole Parkinson]] (Creator/HarrietThorpe) and pool attendants [[NiceGuy Gavin Featherly]] (Tim Marriott), [[DeadpanSnarker Tim Whistler]] (Russell Porter) and [[ActionGirl Linda Perkin]] (Jill Greenacre). Other non-staff characters include Gordon's philandering, unstable, pill-popping wife [[BrokenBird Helen]], sauna/solarium manageress [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Penny Bidmead]] (Anouschka Menzies) [[note]] Only in Series 6 [[/note]] and [[DesignatedVillain Councillor Jack Drugget]] (Stephen Churchett). Many of the characters are almost as dysfunctional as Brittas himself.
to:
A large supporting cast consists of Gordon's deputy managers [[OnlySaneEmployee Laura Lancing]] (Creator/JuliaStJohn) and [[TheDitz Colin]] [[ThePigPen Weatherby]] (Creator/MikeBurns), secretary Angie (Andrée Bernard) - who was quickly replaced by [[SassySecretary Julie Porter]] (Creator/JudyFlynn), receptionist [[TheChewToy Carole Parkinson]] (Creator/HarrietThorpe) and pool attendants [[NiceGuy Gavin Featherly]] (Tim Marriott), (Creator/TimMarriott), [[DeadpanSnarker Tim Whistler]] (Russell Porter) and [[ActionGirl Linda Perkin]] (Jill Greenacre). Other non-staff characters include Gordon's philandering, unstable, pill-popping wife [[BrokenBird Helen]], sauna/solarium manageress [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Penny Bidmead]] (Anouschka Menzies) [[note]] Only in Series 6 [[/note]] and [[DesignatedVillain Councillor Jack Drugget]] (Stephen Churchett). Many of the characters are almost as dysfunctional as Brittas himself.
