- Date First Aired: 27/01/1997
Brittas has come back from a course in Miami with renewed vigour, In the subsequent staff meeting, he refers to having "found his lion" at the conference and to tell his staff members to roar like a lion if they want to unlock their inner potential. He tries to get Carole to do so but Carole can only do a small roar. Some convincing from Brittas enables her however to roar like a proper lion.
Meanwhile, the centre has been nominated for the European Award for Excellence, which is the most prestigious reward that a leisure centre can earn and Brittas wants the centre Europeanized. He thereby gives Tim and Linda the task of translating all of the leisure centre signs into over 25 different languages. This includes little-known or spoken Gaelic, Walloon and Swiss dialects. Meanwhile, Helen is looking for something so that she can counsel them but most of the staff already has therapists and Colin is hoping to set up a Children's Corner, an animal sanctuary for unwanted farm animals and is setting up an enclosure.
As Brittas is getting Carole to add in Euros to everything, Carole discovers that she now has an alter-ego, who is much more confident than her. The alter-ego immediately encourages her to be braver and to seek the job of Deputy Manager. Although Carole is about to chicken out, the alter-ego is able to get her to take up the role. It's all good, but the alter-ego tells her to now seek the job of Manager by switching the labels on two of the regulation manuals that Brittas has (specifically the 1995 and 1996 ones), calling Councillor Drugget, and deliberately falling from a ladder and spraining her ankle. Afterwards, Brittas resigns and Carole is made manager.
Cut to a month later and the staff aren't faring much later under Carole's control. Brittas comes in to talk to Carole and finds Gavin as the receptionist, Julie as the Deputy Manager, and Tim as the secretary, Colin as the swimming pool attendant and Linda as the Manager in Charge of Building Fabric. Brittas wants a job at his leisure centre again but Carole tells him no. However, Carole is regretting all the changes that she's making. Helen decides to counsel Brittas.
The staff are annoyed at the changes made and they begin to strike so that they can bring back Brittas. Helen resigns as staff counsellor; she's made a breakthrough regarding Brittas and they're heading to Kathmandu so that Brittas can become a Buddhist. Horrified by her actions, Carole is able to stand up for herself, eradicate the alter-ego and retrieve Helen and Brittas from the airport.
Finally, the time has come for the European Inspector to come. However, it turns out to be Lottie Laudrup, a different person to who they're expecting. They head to Colin's animal sanctuary but Colin's "Tasmanian Chipmunk" seems to have gone missing. Nevertheless, she gives them the award. Brittas leads the inspector out... only for Colin to tell Brittas that the Tasmanian Chipmunk was actually a lion. Cue Laudrup finding the Lion in the backseat of her car...
Tropes featured in this episode:
- 10-Minute Retirement: Brittas retires from his role as Manager thanks to Carole, although within a week, he's already trying to get a job at his former centre and he gets his former job in the end after Carole reveals the truth.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: "Bring Back Brittas", the motto used when the staff strike for Brittas’ return.
- Alliterative Name:
- Colin's addition to the centre is called Children's Corner.
- One-Shot Character Lottie Laudrup.
- Ambition Is Evil: The desire and ambitions of Carole's alter-ego to get Carole into a better role as Manager of the Leisure Centre leads to the latter making controversial changes which alienate everyone. The alter ego even tells Carole that power is much better than having friends.
- Animal Metaphor: Carole becomes more assertive after waking up her inner lion.
- Appeal to Flattery: The alter-ego encourages Carole to fight for her rights and seek the role of Deputy Manager by using flattery on Brittas.
- Bad Boss: Carole manages to be worse than Brittas by relocating the staff and not listening to their complaints.
- Batman Gambit: The plan of Carole's alter-ego to usurp Brittas from his role is based upon him caring enough about the rules that he would blame himself if he didn't have complete and up-to-date knowledge of them.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Councillor Drugget and Carole's alter-ego co-operate together to ensure that Brittas loses his job and Carole becomes his replacement.
- Continuity Nod:
- When getting Carole to roar, Brittas asks her to remember her self-assertion courses.
- Helen complains about only having had one client since she started her counselling three weeks ago, referencing her sessions with Colin regarding his risk of being fired in "http://etc".
- Linda mentions most of the staff being in therapy thanks to Brittas. Tim at the least currently having a psychiatrist had been previously mentioned back in "The Last Day".
- Danger Takes a Backseat: Lottie Laudrup finds out that she has a lion in the backseat of her car at the end of the episode when she looks through her front car mirror.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Carole, focusing on her having to deal with an alter-ego and dealing with her standing up for herself.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: Carole deliberately injures herself by falling off a ladder in a bid to get the job as leisure centre manager.
- End-of-Episode Silliness: The episode ends with Lottie Laudrup driving home, only to see in her rearview mirror that she's got a lion in her car.
- Foreshadowing: Linda is asked to put barbed wire over Children's Corner when she is forced to take over Colin's role, with Colin telling Linda that it's there as a precaution. Almost as if there is something deadly there, like a lion, which he intends to show off at the centre...
- The Ghost:
- Clint Ponderosa, the extremely rich man who ran the course that Brittas went to.
- Mr. Coulucundis, the Greek person who intended to show up for the inspection.
- Gollum Made Me Do It: Carole accidentally spawns an alter-ego when she decides to "roar like a lion" to unlock her true potential. Said alter-ego then cajoles her into becoming the new manager of the centre and bullies the rest of the staff. It’s not until Carole stands up for herself that said alter-ego vanishes.
- Gratuitous French: Brittas announces the reveal of his centre's nomination for the European Award for Excellence:Mr. Brittas: Item numero deux. As most of you know, we have been nominated for the European Award for Excellence, the most prestigious award that a leisure centre can receive. Gavin, le details, s'il vous plait.Gavin: Oh, mais oui, Mr. Brittas.
- Hope Spot: After seeing that everyone is so displeased with her leadership that they're striking for Brittas' return, Carole is initially relieved to see Gavin still doing his duties at reception. This lasts until Gavin reveals that he only stayed behind because he didn't want to leave Carole's children on their own, upon which he proceeds to head out to join the strike.
- Impact Silhouette: Terry the Lion manages to make a lion-shaped hole in the door whilst it's escaping the centre.
- The Inspector Is Coming: One of the subplots involves an inspector coming over to see if the centre is worthy of the European Award for Excellence, so Brittas tries to Europeanise the centre, although this is hindered by Carole's bids to become Manager. Despite this, the inspector is impressed and gives them the award.
- It Has Been an Honor: Before he retires, Brittas mentions how it has been an honour working with his staff over the last few years.
- Last-Second Joke Problem: The episode ends with the major plot lines of the episode (namely Brittas trying to win the European Award for Excellence and Carole dealing with a bossy alter-ego which turns her into a Bad Boss) resolved. Just then, a lion, which Colin had been keeping a secret from Brittas, proceeds to escape and hitches a ride at the back of the award-giver's car. Roll credits.
- Lonely at the Top: Carole struggles with her time as Manager, finding herself losing friendships due to her unpopular decisions. Doesn't help that her alter-ego, the one who wanted her in a position of power in the first place, tells Carole that power is preferable to having friends.
- The Man in the Mirror Talks Back: After Carole is encouraged to roar like a lion, she can be seen looking at a mirror. Suddenly, her reflection roars back at her, spooking her. It's a hint at the alter-ego that is soon to be spawned.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Carole is horrified at her actions throughout the episode, which gives her the courage needed to stand up against her alter-ego.
- News Travels Fast: Drugget contacts Brittas regarding Carole's injury the moment Brittas has patched it up, prompting Brittas to remark that "news travels fast". Justified by the fact that Carole had called Drugget beforehand regarding her plans to usurp Brittas from power.
- Not Afraid of You Anymore: What causes the end of Carole's extremely bossy alter-ego? Carole standing up for herself and telling her to shove it.
- Offscreen Crash: Carole actually falling off the ladder occurs off-screen.
- One-Shot Character: Carole's double and Lottie Laudrup.
- Rank Up: Carole briefly takes Brittas' manager position after she tricks him into resigning.
- Replaced with Replica: Carole deliberately switches the labels on the regulation folders for 1995 and 1996 in a bid to get the role of Manager.
- Reveal Shot: Helen is getting desperate for a client. At one point, she can be seen talking to someone about their problems off-screen. Then Brittas comes in and notes that she’s talking to a sheep. Cue the camera angle changing to reveal this to be the case.
- Road Apples: Brittas picks up rabbit poop thinking that they're raisins that had been left lying on the ground.
- Role Swap Plot: With the exception of Helen, all of the staff are forcefully made to switch their jobs in the centre by Carole. Gavin is forced to take on Carole's old job as receptionist, complete with watching over her children, Julie goes from secretary to Gavin's previous job as Deputy Manager, Colin gets Linda's job of pool attendant, with Linda getting Colin's job, and Tim gets Julie's job of secretary.
- Status Quo Is God: Carole becomes a manager and relocates all the staff's duties, but Brittas returns and corrects everything by the end of the episode.
- Time Skip: After Carole becomes manager, the episode skips a week ahead to show how she's made life at the centre miserable.
- Title Drop: Brittas describes the course he took in Miami:Mr. Brittas: That's what the course was all about. Wake Up The Lion Within, a five-day conference for managers on how to seek their inner power.
- Turn to Religion: Brittas' intention after being usurped from his job, moving to Kathmandu to live on a Buddhist ashram. He doesn't make it out of the airport before Carole reveals the truth.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Carole usurps Brittas' position and begins relocating everyone in the centre until they're protesting for Brittas to return.
- Waving Signs Around: The staff wave signs around in protest at the poor leadership of Carole.
- We Want Our Jerk Back!: As Carole learns, if the staff are striking to get Brittas back, you might have screwed up.Colin: I wish Mr. Brittas were back.Julie: I thought I'd never see the day when I'd actually miss him.Linda: You should be pleased Julie — ow! You're Deputy Manager now.Julie: Oh, I hate it! It's too much responsibility. Besides, half the fun was making his life a misery.
- With a Foot on the Bus: Brittas was ready to leave Whitbury on a plane until Carole got him to return to the centre.
