- Date First Aired: 11/02/1993
In a surprise twist, Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre has seen another visitor, a 72 year old man named Derek Didcot. Didcot wants to know what the centre has to offer for people of his age and really likes to tell everyone that he's elderly. However, he ends up in a fight with Mr. Johnston, another senior, which ends with Johnston's glasses being destroyed. Laura takes Didcot up to Brittas' office, where it is revealed that Didcot was actually Brittas all along, having called off sick and then infiltrated the centre in the form of an old man. Brittas explains that he wanted to find out what it was like to be elderly, considering the fact that "Help the Elderly" week starts very soon. He also reveals that he has been getting these weird dreams for a week now about him being at a Number 65 bus stop in the clouds, and he's carrying this ball of light which no one wants, even though he can't rest unless he can pass it on. Laura interprets it as him being worried that no one will be there to take over the centre and his ideals when he hits retirement age, which inspires him to look for a successor in the centre.
Meanwhile, Helen, who's two weeks away from giving birth, tells Laura that she wants Laura to be the one to take her to the hospital, for fear of the fact that it will go horribly wrong if Brittas takes over. Meanwhile, Brittas tries and fails to find a successor. As he asks Linda about it, it is then that Helen's waters break. Unfortunately, in all of the chaos, Brittas ends up the driver. This naturally leads to things going wrong immediately - Johnston crashes into their car and Brittas is quite insistent on trading details. This leads to Brittas getting boxed in by Johnston and another person's car. However, Brittas get the idea from Johnston to get Helen out through the sunroof. Even better, a group of Crossdresser student nurses are raising money for charity and they have the resources needed for Helen to give birth in the high street. Watching the birth, Brittas get a great idea - he'll have his new twins take over the centre.
Tropes Featured In This Episode:
- Alliterative Name: Brittas' old man disguise is named Derek Didcot.
- Anxiety Dreams: The plot of the episode is kicked off by Brittas having one of these about carrying a ball of light, which represents him fearing his own mortality and the fear that no one will be there to take over the centre when he retires. This is resolved when Helen gives birth to the twins and Brittas realises that they can take over the centre.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: In a way, Helen did get what she wished for, giving birth in a hospital bed and tended to by doctors and nurses. Trouble is she also got what she feared - giving birth in the High Street with half of Whitbury watching.
- Black Like Me: Brittas, troubled by his mortality and wanting to push age awareness, goes into the centre disguised as an old man. Naturally, this leads to a fight with another pensioner in reception and the destruction of said pensioner's glasses.
- Bridal Carry: Brittas carries Helen in his arms when she goes into labour and he is taking her into the car.
- Clean, Pretty Childbirth: Helen has twins in the middle of the street, with nothing more than some sweat on her brow and embarrassment on her face.
- Continuity Nod:
- The time Carole's twins were delivered by a vet is mentioned by Helen, who does not want a repeat of the incident.
- Julie briefly mentions the fact that Brittas has already knocked up Carole, which had been previously revealed in "Temple of the Body".
- Crossdressing: The medical students raising money for Rag Week.
- Dangerous Key Fumble: Johnston manages to drop his car keys down the drain, a major issue as it means that Brittas is unable to move from his parking spot and get Helen to the hospital so that she can give birth.
- Dream Within a Dream: Brittas' Recurring Dreams are a major plot point throughout the episode, then the series finale, "Curse of the Tiger Women", reveals that the entirety of the series was All Just a Dream.
- Drives Like Crazy: Mr. Johnston decides to drive despite the fact that his glasses, which he needs to see properly, are cracked, which leads to him crashing his car into Brittas' own.
- Dropped Glasses: Johnston's glasses are dropped and stepped on during his fight with Didcot (really Brittas in disguise).
- Failed a Spot Check: Colin fails to realise that Didcot is in fact Brittas in an old man disguise, even when "Didcot" is speaking to Colin in Brittas' voice.
- Faint in Shock: Colin can't comprehend the fact that Brittas was Mr. Didcot the whole time and faints because of it.
- Follow in My Footsteps: As the end of the episode shows, Brittas fully expects his newborn twins to take over his ideals and the centre when he reaches retirement age.
- Foreshadowing: Helen asks Laura to take her to the hospital when she gives birth, fearing that if Brittas takes her, she'll be giving birth outside a Marks and Spencer with half of Whitbury watching. Whilst it's unclear whether she really did give birth outside of a Marks and Spencer, Helen does end up giving birth in the middle of the high street with everyone watching her.
- Glasses of Aging: Brittas' disguise as an elderly customer is emphasized by a pair of glasses that he wears.
- The Gunslinger: This aspect of Linda's character is shown when she expresses a desire to open up a gun shop in Oregon with her brother.
- Hypocrite: Brittas believes that elderly people are not treated well by society, especially when it comes to services provided by the leisure centure, but he is not above talking to the elderly Mr. Johnston in a condescending manner, even believing that people his age shouldn't be on the road.
- Internal Reveal: It’s revealed that Julie, Tim, and Gavin are now aware that the true father of Carole’s twins is Brittas when Julie casually brings it up within earshot of the other two.
- Latex Perfection: Brittas disguises himself as an old man this way. The result is remarkedly effective and it does dupe Colin (although Laura isn't convinced).
- Maternity Crisis: Helen tries to defy this, asking Laura to take her to the hospital instead of Brittas knowing full well what happens when he is behind the wheel. Of course, Brittas ends up driving, which leads to Helen having to deliver twins on the high street by cross-dressing student nurses.
- New Baby Episode: Helen gives birth to her twins, Matthew and Mark, right in the middle of the high street.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Brittas gets a currently in-labour Helen trapped in the car when driving her to the hospital.
- Noodle Incident: Johnston is a bit weary of reversing following an incident with a pram, although no further details are given.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Helen tries to tell Brittas that her waters have broken but Brittas, who's exploring the idea that Linda could be his next successor, tells her to wait as he's in the middle of a meeting. She then tries to get Laura to come but Brittas tells her that Laura's busy as well in the same meeting. It's not until Colin manages to break the news that he cops on.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: The episode ends with Brittas' twins, to whom he had just given a ball of light to, walking off and fading away into the distance of his dream.
- One-Shot Character: Mr. Johnston.
- One-Steve Limit: Brittas' old man disguise is named Derek, which was the same name that Carole's ex-husband from "Bye Bye Baby" had (albeit spelt "Derrick" instead).
- Playing Sick: Brittas pretends to have the day off sick so that he can come in as Mr. Derek Didcot.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Pippa Haywood's
pregnancy was written in throughout Series 3, resulting in the birth of Matthew and Mark in this episode. - Recycled Title: The name of the episode is almost the exact same as an episode of Chance in a Million (plus a "The") which was also created by Fegen and Norriss.
- Recurring Dreams: Brittas has been dreaming the same dream that he is carrying a ball of light in the clouds for the past 7 days, which turns out to be an anxiety dream about his own mortality and the fear that there won’t be anyone to take over the centre when he retires.
- Screaming Birth: Helen spends most of the climax yelling and crying out in pain as she gives birth in the high street.
- Skewed Priorities: Brittas prioritises putting up a Manager Reservation Sign on his parking spot and exchanging names and insurance company details with Mr. Johnston over getting an in-labour Helen to the hospital.
- Season Finale: Of Series 3.
- That Came Out Wrong: When Linda completes the questionnaires which Brittas had handed out in a search for his successor, he says that he has something very precious that he wants to give to her. Linda, naturally, thinks that Brittas wants to knock her up and locks herself in one of the cupboards.
