Cast reunite for online convention

The cast of The Brittas Empire are to reunite to mark the sitcom’s 30th anniversary.

Chris Barrie, who played leisure centre manager Gordon Brittas in all seven series of the comedy, will lead the online event later this month.

He will appear alongside Harriet Thorpe, who played highly-strung receptionist Carole, Mike Burns, who was the dim-witted but kind Colin and Julia St. John, the efficient deputy manager Laura alongside Andrée Bernard (Angie), John Carrigan (Patrick),  Tim Marriott (Gavin), Russell Porter (Tim) and Jill Greenacre (Linda)

Organisers of Em-Con - the East Midlands Convention where they will be appearing – say more names are  to be announced.

In the free event the actors will read scenes from the show, discuss their memories and take questions.

The Brittas Empire launched on BBC One on January  3, 1991, and ran for 53 episodes over seven series up to 1997.

Some of the cast previously met up in 2017 to re-open the Rignwood leisure centre in Hampshire, which stood in for the fictional Whitbury-Newtown Leisure Centre

A TV revival had been mooted to mark the show’s 25th anniversary but nothing materialised, and Barrie subsequently  said: ‘Things have gone very quiet indeed – in fact totally silent’.

The reunion will be on Facebook Live at 8pm on Thursday January 28.

Published: 19 Jan 2021