"She mustn't get angry or upset... where's Mr Brittas?"

[thisbluespirit]

Back to being really obscure again (sorry)...


Day Seventeen: Laura Lancing (Julia St John)

Laura [on Mr Brittas being hypnotised]: I don't suppose you're allowed to do anything to him while he's like this.
Hypnotist: Medical ethics...
Laura: It's just I've always had this fantasy about what it would be like if he was different.

Laura is awesome. She may be deputy manager of a leisure centre, but The Brittas Empire Whitbury Leisure Centre is not for the weak, and if Laura can work there and stay sane (which she can), she would be awesome anywhere. Daily, she copes with Mr Brittas (Chris Barrie's other character who causes people to commit suicide when he joins the Samaritans; the one that's not Rimmer) and all that that entails: counselling his wife, interpreting his management style, keeping the body-count from escalating, evacuating the building in case of disaster... She may be stuck in unflattering 90s leisure-wear, but Laura has unmistakable class. She also has this sort of ruthless streak, too...

Even though, this is the sort of thing she has to put up with:
Brittas: Look, there is no need for anyone to think, it's all perfectly simple, I'll go through it one more time. I am the Reverend Horatio Brittas. Laura is Mrs. Brittas, my wife. Colin is me except when he is standing over here with a candle when he is Colin. Tim is Uncle Herbert, Matthew's main Godparent, who'll be joining us from Godalming later. And he and Laura, who is Mark's main Godparent and who in these circumstances is Linda come back and collect the babies from me who is Colin and Mrs. Brittas who is Laura. What could be simpler?

I can't find much to add in the way of recs, for the internets has not fully acknowledged Laura's awesome as she is obscure and British and from a 1990s sitcom. Probably best to check out a Brittas Empire post I made a while back.

However, there was a website with screencaps, so I have managed a few quotes, and some icons:

[talking about Brittas' sponsored silence]
Laura: He's promised not to speak for eight hours...
Carole: Eight hours? How on earth will he do all his managing?
Laura: D'you know, it hasn't made as much difference as you'd have thought?

Laura: So you're not inviting me out for the pleasure of my company?
Brittas: No, no, certainly not... And you get the chance of an evening out which perhaps doesn't happen too often these days?
Laura: It's very hard for a girl to resist an invitation like that, Mr Brittas.

*

Laura Icons
(And, when I said Laura managed to stay sane, that's apart from this one thing... Yes, I'm afraid I made disturbing Laura/Brittas icons. Sorry. There was a screencap on the website.)









30 days of Awesome TV Female Characters:
Day One: Soolin (B7)
Day Two: Dayna Mellanby (B7)
Day Three: Michelle of the Resistance (Allo Allo)
Day Four: Beatrice Eliott (House of Eliott)
Day Five: Captain Kathryn Janeway (ST:V)
Day Six: Maddy Magellan (Jonathan Creek)
Day Seven: Lady Mary Crawley (Downton Abbey)
Day Eight: Ros Myers (Spooks)
Day Nine: Servalan (B7)
Day Ten: Anna Thornton-Wilson (Hotel Babylon)
Day Eleven: Winifred Burkle (Angel)
Day Twelve: Isobel Crawley (Downton Abbey)
Day Thirteen: Rani Chandra (SJA)
Day Fourteen: Donna Moss (WW)
Day Fifteen: Lynda Day (Press Gang)
Day Sixteen: Cally (B7)

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Anyone who can survive working alongside Brittas without murdering him definitely qualifies as awesome.

[thisbluespirit]

Yes, I think Laura ends up being about the only person in the world who doesn't want to kill him! oh, dear... :-)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Well you know what they say - there's no accounting for taste!

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Oh I remember that show...! I think :)

[thisbluespirit]

Heh. I hadn't seen it for years, but my sister recorded some eps off UK Gold the last time I went to see her, and it was much better than I remembered. :-)

It was the one with Chris Barrie and the leisure centre, where he kept being irritating, causing his staff to go crazy if they weren't already, and blowing things up. There was even a chainsaw massacre, I seem to recall.

And there was Gavin and Tim (who were a gay couple, but Mr Brittas never noticed), and Carole the receptionist who kept her children in the drawers under the desk...

Um. If you're thinking of something else, you're going to be backing away slowly now, aren't you? :lol:

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Yes, sounds like the one... I might see if it's available on rental or loan anywhere near :)

[pedanther]

It was the one with Chris Barrie and the leisure centre, where he kept being irritating, causing his staff to go crazy if they weren't already, and blowing things up.

Until I realised you were responding to sallmn's uncertainty whether she knew the show, I thought you were describing the episode you saw when you went to see your sister, and I was thinking "Ah yes, I've seen this episode..." ;)

[thisbluespirit]

LOL, yes. Which was sort of my point, too...

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

I think my favourite Laura moment is when she's offered a full manager's job at a leisure centre in another town. So Gordon and Helen visit her at home, and she's gardening, in this huge, beautiful garden. And when they bring up the job, she says she turned it down. And Gordon -- who can't understand why anyone would turn down a job as manager of a leisure centre for any reason -- is completely unable to make a connection between her decision and the garden.

It's just a small scene, but it showed she had a life beyond trying to counteract Brittas's disasters.

[thisbluespirit]

I have to own it's been ages since I've had the chance to see more than a few odd episodes my sister had recorded, but that was enough to remind me of Laura for this meme.

And, yes, that really nice - I'm glad you mentioned it. I really must rewatch it properly sometime, I think.

[kronette.livejournal.com]

Can I snag one of the Laura/Gordon icons? I've been searching for fic and found your site (and love your stories), and then found this post.

[thisbluespirit]

Thanks - and, of course, go right ahead!