The Brittas Empire (1991)

Chris Barrie plays Gordon Brittas, manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre, a man whose ambition and good intentions wreck everything they touch. A leisure center was a fresh workplace for a sitcom, and the writing pushes each episode toward escalating, sometimes absurd farce. It's broader than the decade's best, but Barrie's oblivious self-belief is a joy, and the put-upon staff, along with Pippa Haywood as his long-suffering wife Helen, give it real bite. Good family viewing that still has an edge.