Carole: You won't put it on my CV, will you, Mr. Brittas? You see, I thought you were a zombie, stealing the body of my child. To get perpetual youth!
— Carole Parkinson after trying to murder Mr. Brittas with an excavator.
- Date First Aired: 02/01/1992
We open on a quiet leisure centre, Brittas having headed off to a management conference in Bulgaria. It's not too long, however, before the centre receives a ton of bookings, all coming from people looking to take advantage of Brittas' absence. Assisting her with these bookings is Julie Porter, Brittas' (apparent) replacement secretary for Angie. However, tragedy strikes when Helen comes in and reveals that Brittas is dead. Apparently, Brittas was being taken on a tour of the car factory and ended up falling into a steel press, leaving everything but one hand flattened.
Laura is put in charge, with Colin as her deputy manager until they can get a proper replacement. She proves to be much better at the job, and the centre is soon bustling with activity. As this is going on, a car drives up onto the manager spot.
It's Gordon Brittas. And he's alive and well.
It's not long before he starts annoying everyone there. Even worse, he presence causes Carole to faint in shock. His attempts to ask for help are answered by Colin, who ends up believing that not only is he communicating with his spirit but that he is seeking Carole's body to inhabit. Colin also notes that Brittas may be seeking the vessel of a child in order to make his full return to the physical realm.
During this, the other staff find out that Brittas is alive. Brittas eventually reveals what happened to him. Apparently, he had spent the last eight days in a chicken coop, courtesy of a man stealing his belongings and throwing him into a chicken coop. Brittas also realises that Helen hasn't found out word of her death yet, so he attempts to go home to her. Unfortunately, a combination of his bags breaking, and some of the gifts being a plastic doll, and a red substance lead to Carole going mad, and she caves in his car with an excavator.
Thankfully, he survives and heads home, only to come to a Helen who is preparing to marry a man who she met at the cremation ceremony. Although Brittas is upset at this, he does appreciate this and decides to have a drink with the man. Helen isn't as pleased however and is upset that he made it out alive.
Tropes featured in this episode:
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Helen does not spend too long after Brittas' presumed death before she heads off to marry a man she met at his cremation, much to Brittas's horror.
- Acquired Error at the Printer: Brittas' ring, which reads "Climb ev’ry mountain, fork note ev’ry stream".
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Brittas is thought to have died when he drank too much Bulgarian brandy and ignored safety precautions as a result, leading to his death being Ground by Gears. Luckily, this turns out to not be the case.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: When Brittas was announced dead, 1200 people are stated to have come to his funeral, with the heavy implication that they came because of this trope. The staff of his centre are also not too bothered with the fact that Brittas is dead, with Tim and Gavin even smiling once they find out that he's dead.
- Back from the Dead: Brittas is believed to have come back from the dead as a zombie, but in truth, he never died to begin with.
- Batter Up!: Carole wields a baseball bat and was fully prepared to attack with it.
- Benevolent Boss: Laura takes up this role during her brief time as Acting Manager, allowing Carole to keep her baby with her in the staff meeting room and accepting the positive changes that the others wanted to make to their schedule. She's kind enough that she actually makes the centre popular... at least until Brittas shows up.
- Beware the Nice Ones: The normally meek Carole crushes Brittas inside his car with an excavator while maniacally laughing in revenge for Brittas allegedly stealing her son.
- Boob-Based Gag: Some Cringe Comedy is mined from Brittas being forced to try to fish out a note for a customer after it falls in between Carole's breasts. Carole wakes up before Brittas can do anything more than peer down there, but it certainly doesn't help her fears that Brittas is trying to take her body.
- Car Fu: Carole, believing that Brittas is about to take the body of her son for eternal youth, attacks his car (with him inside it) with an excavator.
- Characterisation Marches On: Colin appears as unbothered as everyone else at the fact that Brittas is dead, a bit of a far cry from his later portrayal as a hero-worshipper of Brittas who would be horrified at the thought of him gone.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Angie has disappeared for good and Julie takes over her role as Brittas' secretary.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Laura mentions how awful it is that Brittas is dead, Helen briefly assumes that she means that her coffee tasted bad.
- Construction Vehicle Rampage: When Carole thinks that Brittas has her baby, she uses an excavator in an attempt to crush Brittas whilst he's in his car.
- Cross-Cast Role: Ben was played by Phoebe Gilpin in this episode.
- Demonic Possession: Colin and Carole believe that Brittas is doing this to get back to the land of the living, first by using Carole's body, and then using Ben as a vessel.
- Dead Person Conversation: Colin thinks he's doing this with Brittas by communicating with his spirit through the intercom. He is unaware that he's alive and well.
- Detachable Doorknob: Whilst driving home, Brittas is attacked by Carole in an excavator, believing him to be trying her son Ben out for eternal youth. Colin tries to free him, but the car door handle breaks off, leaving Brittas at the mercy of a Construction Vehicle Rampage.
- Distressed Dude: It’s eventually revealed that Brittas did not actually die, but he did spend several days trapped in a chicken hutch and being forced to live like a chicken.
- Faint in Shock: Carole passes out when she realizes that Brittas has apparently come back from the dead.
- Feet-First Introduction: Our first indication that Brittas is indeed still alive is when we see his feet coming out of his car.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Helen apparently met her would-be fiancé at Brittas' cremation, which occurred several days before the wedding.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: If you look carefully during the scene where Brittas finds out from his staff that he was believed dead, right up to the point where he takes down his memorial plaque, the plaque establishes that Brittas was believed to have lived from 1958-1991, making him about 33 at the time of the episode's airing.
- From the Mouths of Babes: Upon learning that Brittas is dead, Tom, Helen's youngest child, asks if they have a coffin big and wide enough to accommodate his body. It's notable enough for Helen to comment on how kids like him say the strangest things.
- Funny Background Event: As Brittas is manning the reception, Gavin can be seen walking in, noticing that Brittas is still alive and getting Linda in whilst observing him with shocked expressions.
- The Ghost:
- Helen's children are mentioned to be staying with a woman named Mrs Bastible, with another woman named Nora taking them to the church, but neither women are seen in the flesh.
- Helen is mentioned to be marrying a man named Michael, but he never appears on-screen.
- Ground by Gears: Brittas is thought to have died this way when he apparently falls into the steel press of a Bulgarian car factory. He‘s eventually revealed to have been alive all along, although it was still the fate of someone who took his belongings.
- Heroic BSoD: Poor Carole is so shocked from seeing Brittas alive and well that she can only walk around in a daze and mumble "How can I help you...with a smile." This gives Colin further evidence that she's been processed by Brittas' spirit.
- Hollywood Board Games: Colin and Gavin play checkers at the very beginning of the episode. Colin manages to get into a position that allows Gavin to quickly take his pieces, which is an indicator of his status as The Ditz.
- Instant Convertible: Carole causes enough damage to Brittas' car that its roof and windows have to be removed, but it doesn't stop Brittas from driving home with it, complete with the use of hand signals.
- Laughing Mad: Carole after destroying Brittas' car.
- Mama Bear: Carole tries to smash Brittas with an excavator when she believes he's stolen her son.
- Mistaken Death Confirmation: Invoked. Brittas is presumed to have been killed from falling into a steel press in Bulgaria. When this is revealed to the majority of the staff, Tim and Gavin question if they were absolutely sure that Brittas is dead, mentioning methods such as checking for breathing and if important organs have been donated. Julie replies that due to the method of death, he's definitely dead as said organs were crushed beyond use. It is later revealed that Brittas never died at all, a different man having stolen his belongings and being the one who fell into the steel press instead.
- Mistaken for Undead: After Brittas is presumed to have been killed in Bulgaria, he later turns up alive and well but a series of misunderstandings lead Carole and Colin to believe that he is a spirit and that he is trying to get back to the land of the living by taking Carole's body. Later, Carole believes that he is trying to steal her son Ben's body for eternal youth and tries to crush Brittas' car with him inside it.
- Non-Indicative Title: Brittas does not actually die and come Back from the Dead in this episode, he is only thought of to have died.
- One-Shot Character: John.
- One-Steve Limit: Helen's would-be fiancé is the second Michael in the series, after Laura's black friend from "Opening Day".
- Rank Up: Laura briefly becomes Acting Manager when Brittas is presumed to have died.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Andrée Bernard wanted to return as Angie, but couldn't due to prior commitments and so Angie was removed while Julie took her place.
- Remember the New Guy?: Julie first appears in this episode with no mention of where she came from, and Angie (the previous secretary) is never mentioned again.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Brittas is presumed to be dead. In reality, he had spent about a week in a chicken coop in Bulgaria, with the mix-up being because someone had stolen his possessions and were wearing them when they were flattened.
- Shout-Out:
- The engraving on Brittas' ring is an excerpt from the famous song "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from The Sound of Music.
- "Sunblitz" by Mike Shepstone plays over the footage of the busy leisure centre.
- Colin mentions Dennis Wheatley as an example of an author whose work depicts spirits inhabiting children's bodies.
- The hymns played at the funeral include "If I Had A Hammer", "God Moves In Mysterious Ways", and "Now Thank We All Our God",
- Soul Jar: Carole believes Ben is being used as one for Brittas.
- Status Quo Is God:
- Laura becomes Acting Manager in the wake of Brittas' death, although she ends up losing the position once Brittas is found to be alive after all.
- Similarly, Helen almost remarries, but is forced to cancel the wedding when Brittas turns out to have not died.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Julie is this to the recently departed Angie, as both were Brittas' attractive blonde and quite sarcastic secretaries.
- Vampires Hate Garlic: Colin hands Carole a piece of garlic before she tries to attack Brittas, just in case that Brittas' form of undeath may be a vampire. He's later seen with a row of them across his chest as he tries to warn Brittas about Carole.
- Visible Boom Mic: A boom mic is briefly visible above Carole when she ducks down.
- You Look Like You've Seen a Ghost: Tim says to Colin “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost” when Colin reacts in fright upon the former’s appearance. In Colin’s defense, he thought that he really had encountered a ghost in the form of Brittas.
