"Actor: Harriet Thorpe"

• The Brittas Empire (The Complete Brittas Empire - Series One to Seven) (DVD) | DVD | (14/04/2014) from £24.98   |  Saving you £25.01 (100.12%)   |  RRP £49.99

  In this classic TV sitcom Gordon Brittas (Chris Barrie) is the manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. He means well wants to do well and desperately wants to be a good manager. Unfortunately his best talent is to continually create recipes for total disaster. Deep down Brittas cares for his staff but all he ever seems to do is to make their lives more difficult. Trying to rise above this and to keep the Centre running smoothly is his assistant Laura (Julia St. John) and of course Colin complete with boil! Behind every good man so the saying goes is a good woman and behind every maniac is a good woman losing her sanity! Helen Brittas (Pippa Haywood) is no different as she struggles to cope with her husband's misplaced enthusiasm. Special Features: Brittas Fitness Quiz Royal Variety Performance 1996 Brittas Management Quiz Star Profile Good Morning Interview Christmas Special 1994 Christmas Special 24th December 1996 Brittas Empire Series 4 Out-takes Where's Ben Game Wogan Interview Stills Gallery

• The Brittas Empire - The Complete Series 6 | DVD | (21/02/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The complete sixth series of mirthful mismanagement mishaps from the hapless Gordon Brittas! After being crushed to death at the end of the last series Gordon Brittas spent a short time in Heaven which only served to annoy St Peter so much that he sent him back to earth to finish his mission. Gordon has spent the last six months being rebuilt in a Swiss clinic and returns to Whitbury Leisure Centre fighting fit after training runs in the Alps. Unfortunately in true Brittas fashio

• The Brittas Empire - The Complete Series 2 | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The ultimate depiction of workplace perdition has to be Whitbury Leisure Centre in The Brittas Empire, despite the later claim of The Office to the title. And while David Brent seems all too uncomfortably real, Chris Barrie's Gordon Brittas carried the gung-ho officiousness of mediocre middle-management to its surreal conclusion. The Brittas Empire could never quite make up its mind if it was a quasi-realistic sitcom or a fantasy comedy, and it's this uneasy mixture that invites you to question whether there's anything terribly funny about unplanned single parenthood, childcare problems, assault in the workplace and women who are addicted to prescription drugs (see also Waiting for God) because of their partners' behaviour. Then, just as you're pondering all this, Brittas comes out with another mouthful of managerial psychobabble that makes you realise that only this kind of tragi-comic exaggeration is robust enough to stand up to Barrie's monstrous creation. This second series treads a fine line between the merely bleak and the really rather nasty with exquisite precision. It opens with the news that Brittas has been killed abroad in an industrial accident, prompting his tranquillizer-addled wife to mourn him for less time than it takes her to remarry--except, of course, that Brittas is alive and well. Along the way, receptionist Carole attempts to murder Brittas with a JCB when she mistakenly thinks he's assaulted her baby, which she keeps in a cupboard under her desk. On the DVD: The Brittas Empire, Series 2 carries all seven episodes on two discs, together with several extras including a gallery, a profile and a Brittas Management Quiz (don't ask!). --Roger Thomas

• The Brittas Empire - The Complete Series 4 | DVD | (19/07/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A fourth series of leisure centre management mishaps with Gordon Brittas. Episodes comprise: 1. Not A Good Day... 2. The Christening 3. Biggles Tells A Lie 4. Mr Brittas Changes Trains 5. Playing With Fire 6. Shall We Dance? 7. The Chop 8. High Noon

• Absolutely Fabulous - The Last Shout | DVD | (27/11/2000) from £5.65   |  Saving you £10.34 (183.01%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Absolutely Fabulous was first broadcast in 1992 and became an instant hit. Originally a sketch on the French and Saunders Show, Jennifer Saunders saw its potential and created one of the most ground-breaking and debauched comedies on British TV. Centred around the hip London fashion scene the series follows Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley), two women who refuse to grow up and are constantly on a mission to lose weight, gorging themselves with cocaine and/or champagne, endlessly throwing parties (or throwing up at parties), and sporting outrageous outfits which were the height of fashion at the time--honestly sweetie! The superb comic performances offered star status to Julia Sawalha as Edina's straight-laced daughter and Jane Horrocks as the sublimely dippy Bubble, and re-invented the careers of Joanna Lumley and June Whitfield. Saunders meanwhile secured her status as one of the top female comedians Britain has ever produced. Although its consciously chic clothing looks a little dated now, its mad characterisations endure and the jokes remain as hilariously slick and apt as ever. Ab Fab remains a landmark in TV since it was the first time that female comedians and writers had had the freedom and exposure to satirise problems close to their own heart, from their own perspective. With Feminist writers claiming that the ideals of feminism were dead in the 1990s and that female concerns were moving in the wrong direction--towards the "Laddette Culture"--and reports claiming that careers were taking a central role, forcing motherhood onto the back-burner, the series sought to embody and satirise these new supposedly "female" characteristics. As the show continued to grow in popularity both in Britain and the States, plans were made to transfer the formula to America. However, as with many other great British series, the content was considered too risky for American audiences due to the amount of sex and drug references. Thus domestic audiences breathed a sigh of release that their beloved Ab Fab would forever stay British to the core. --Nikki Disney

• Life Is Sweet | DVD | (11/02/2002) from £19.93   |  Saving you £-6.95 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Life is Sweet, Mike Leigh's 1990 snapshot of the suburban family condition at the tail end of the Thatcher era, is often depressing and occasionally harrowing. It is also ultimately joyous, not just for the sharpness of Leigh's satire--the script was improvised with and by the cast--but also for the real affection that binds the family together. Through a series of minor crises, channels of communication silted up by the daily grind and terminal self-absorption are gradually eased open and the film ends on a note of genuine hope. As parents Wendy and Andy, Alison Steadman and Jim Broadbent give virtuoso performances: two adults who use fantasy, mundane work and a stream of banal chatter to keep reality at bay before a freak kitchen accident forces them to stop and take stock. They have two daughters to perplex them: one a plumber (Claire Skinner) and the other an angry anorexic (Jane Horrocks, unsparing in a gut-wrenching bulimic scene). Timothy Spall is hilarious as family friend Aubrey, a would-be restaurateur whose efforts to establish a gourmet eatery in Enfield collapse in hopeless, drunken farce. This is not an overtly political film, but the sense of a stake being driven through the heart of the 1980s enterprise culture is unmistakeable. Inspiring. --Piers Ford

• Suzie Gold | DVD | (02/08/2004) from £2.53   |  Saving you £13.46 (532.02%)   |  RRP £15.99

  As Suzie Gold's sister prepares to get married it seems only natural that Suzie's thoughts should turn to the state of her own love life. While her doting but dysfunctional family desperately want her to be happy - preferably by finding a good Jewish boy to settle down with - Suzie meets Darren a boy from work and they start a heady romance. But the relationship sours when Suzie finds herself unable to bring him home worried that he won't match up to her family's exacting (double)

• The Brittas Empire - The Complete Series 1 | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £12.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (53.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Broadcast between 1991 and 1997, The Brittas Empire is a sitcom set in Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. It stars Chris Barrie as Gordon Brittas, the prattish, blazered manager who remains loudly oblivious to the fact that his high-handed efforts at running the place result in utter calamity. As his gin-supping, nervous wreck of a wife observes, he thinks he's the oil that lubricates the machine but in reality he's "a bag of grit". This first series introduces Brittas, whose arrival at the new Centre prompts a rash of resignations as his petty and pedantic managerial methods constantly rebound on him. Mishaps in these episodes include a malfunctioning set of automatic doors, a disastrous wedding in the pool and a lost baby. Somehow, however, Brittas' strange sense of idealism keeps him bobbing up as all others sink into despair. The Brittas Empire could either be seen as a satire on the new tier of superfluous middle-management types who flourished in Tory Britain, or a 90s update of the old stereotype of the bureaucratic buffoon. Compared to, say, Alan Partridge, Brittas seems a bit broad and one-dimensional, a sketch-show character stretched beyond its limits. The rest of the cast don't offer much in the way of resistance or support and Brittas very swiftly becomes very annoying. Despite all problems, however, The Brittas Empire was an immense success, attracting over eight-million viewers at its peak. On the DVD: The Brittas Empire include some perfunctory, text-only items, including a Chris Barrie biography and a Brittas Fitness Quiz, as well as a sketch performed at the Royal Variety Performance of 1996, in which Brittas reveals himself as an enthusiast for conformity with EEC regulations. --David Stubbs

• Alexei Sayle's Stuff | DVD | (05/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This DVD features the popular Liverpudlian comedian in his pomp; a winning combination of Pythonesque surrealism and 'alternative' comedy philosophy honed with a satirical edge.

• The Brittas Empire - The Complete Series 7 | DVD | (23/05/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Gordon Brittas goes from strength to strength. Despite his failed endeavour and despite the endeavours of both his staff and his wife to depose him Whitbury Leisure Centre continues to thrive. Brittas continues to dream up new schemes to promote and improve the centre including a bungee jump sequential staff reviews and computerisation - all with the usual Brittas diplomacy aplomb and mayhem. Julie heavily pregnant embraces the bungee jump whereas Tim tries everything he ca

• Absolutely Fabulous - Series 1 To 4 Box Set | DVD | (25/11/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £54.99

  Absolutely Fabulous was first broadcast in 1992 and became an instant hit. Originally a sketch on the French and Saunders Show, Jennifer Saunders saw its potential and created one of the most ground-breaking and debauched comedies on British TV. Centred around the hip London fashion scene the series follows Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley), two women who refuse to grow up and are constantly on a mission to lose weight, gorging themselves with cocaine and/or champagne, endlessly throwing parties (or throwing up at parties), and sporting outrageous outfits, which were the height of fashion at the time--honestly sweetie! The superb comic performances reinvented the careers of Joanna Lumley and June Whitfield. Saunders meanwhile secured her status as one of Britain's top female comedians. Although its consciously chic clothing looks a little dated now, its mad characterisations endure and the jokes remain as hilariously slick and apt as ever. On the DVD: Absolutely Fabulous DVD box set comes beautifully packaged in mock velvet, with each series individually packaged inside. The original sketch from the French and Saunders Show and the pilot episode, "Mirrorball", offers all you need to understand the show's origins The commentary with Jennifer Saunders and John Ploughman on Series 4 is refreshing, owning up to the mistakes they made and the jokes that didn't work. The outtakes are funnier than the usual Hollywood blips. The 4:3 transfer is standard for a television comedy. --Nikki Disney

• Alexei Sayle's Stuff - Series 3 | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This DVD features the complete third series of the popular Liverpudlian comedian in his pomp; a winning combination of Pythonesque surrealism and 'alternative' comedy philosophy honed with a satirical edge.

• The Brittas Empire - Series 1 | DVD | (07/01/2008) from £6.95   |  Saving you £1.04 (14.96%)   |  RRP £7.99

  In this television sitcom Gordon Brittas (Chris Barrie) is the manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. He means well wants to do well and wants to be a good manager. Unfortunately his best talent is to continually create recipes for total disaster. Deep down Brittas cares for his staff but all he ever seems to do is make their lives more difficult. Trying to rise above this and to keep the Leisure centre running smoothly is his assistant Laura (Julia St John). Behind every good man so the saying goes is a good woman and behind any maniac is a good woman losing her sanity! Helen Brittas (Philippa Haywood) is no different as she struggles to cope with the mania of her husband.

• Secrets And Lies / Life Is Sweet | DVD | (03/05/2004) from £29.95   |  Saving you £-11.96 (-66.50%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Secrets And Lies Nominated for 5 Oscars and winner of 3 BAFTA Awards Secrets and Lies is a hilarious bittersweet comedy and moving slice of real life. Life Is Sweet A remarkable story of an unremarkable family and their interactions and conflictions in every day life.

• SNUB | DVD | (24/05/2010) from £9.96   |  Saving you £6.02 (86.37%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A junior minister in the British Government discovers a terrorist plot to detonate a nuclear device in London. Putting self-preservation first he flees with a young American political advisor to a re-commissioned Secret Nuclear Underground Bunker - S.N.U.B. They find themselves entombed in the bunker together with a disparate group of individuals caught in the wrong place at the wrong time along with Army and RAF personnel. The terrorist bomb is found but attempts by bomb disposal experts fail to prevent it exploding destroying central London and contaminating the surrounding countryside. As a result of the blast a group of dangerous convicts break out from a local high security prison but are contaminated with radiation and start to mutate. The mutants infiltrate the bunker and one by one the occupants endure a horrible grisly death. Eventually one of the survivors escapes from the bunker to make contact with the outside world and a rescue helicopter is organised. But inside the S.N.U.B. the mutants are closing in. Not everyone will make it...

• The Brittas Empire | DVD | (26/01/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  The complete sixth series of mirthful mismanagement mishaps from the hapless Gordon Brittas! After being crushed to death at the end of the last series Gordon Brittas spent a short time in Heaven which only served to annoy St Peter so much that he sent him back to earth to finish his mission. Gordon has spent the last six months being rebuilt in a Swiss clinic and returns to Whitbury Leisure Centre fighting fit after training runs in the Alps. Unfortunately in true Brittas fashion he returns a day early - missing the elaborate red carpet welcome the staff have prepared for him. Helen Brittas has spent the intervening time in a psychiatric institution after the shock of a) discovering that Gordon was in fact alive and b) having already spent the ''88 000 insurance money. There is a new adversary for Brittas in the shape of Penny Bidmead who has taken over the running of the Sauna Solarium complex with a view to Privatisation. Carole is back behind the reception desk together with her children after her brief glimpse of security as Nanny with the Austrian Herr Von Trapp. Unfortunately the possibility of her hearing wedding bells was dashed when he ditched her and married one of the nuns. Colin found that his boil mysteriously disappeared after Brittas died but In a fond act of remembrance he kept it preserved in a jar at home. Colin also has on his conscience the bomb he inadvertently placed in Mr. Brittas' croquet set when he was due to move to Brussels. Whatever did happen to that bomb? Episodes comprise: 1. Back With A Bang 2. Body Language 3. At The Double 4. A Walk On The Wild Side 5. We All Fall Down 6. Mr. Brittas Falls In Love 7. Snap Happy