once, Laura points out that he is very good at solving big problems, but is hopeless at solving all the others. Gordon has a twin brother, Horatio Brittas, a priest who shares his dream of bringing communities together. Gordon has five children with Helen, three he adopted from her earlier marriage and twin boys from theirs; twins being a trait which runs in his side of the family. Unknown to him until the very last episode of the series, Carole's twins are also his - the result of a boozy mix-up at Julie's New Year's Eve party, where Carol and Helen happened to dress in identical tiger costumes, leading to Gordon's mistake. Brittas can in many respects be considered a forerunner to David Brent of The Office; his lack of self-awareness and ability to alienate and offend his staff, despite his genuine good intentions, are examples of commonality between the characters. The series' writers, Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen, decided to make series five the final series, thus Brittas was 'killed' by a falling water tank. However, he is brought back to life in bizarre circumstances and Chris Barrie returned to play Brittas for a further two series, as the BBC wanted it to continue. New writers were brought on to replace the series' creators; the actual ending was in 1997, when Brittas, at the end of series seven, wakes up on a train heading for Whitbury. According to this ending, the entire series was a dream. Helen Brittas Helen Brittas (born 1956) is Gordon's unstable, unfaithful wife. Helen starts out as a depressed housewife, disillusioned and agitated by her oblivious husband and his grand schemes, but gradually she becomes more neurotic and dependent on prescribed anti-depressants. Dr. Gray, her concerned family doctor, is reluctant to prescribe any further medication until he can speak to Gordon; a brief appointment with both Helen and Gordon is sufficient to convince Dr. Gray to write out an extra-strength prescription 'for the really bad days'. Helen often requires support from Brittas's deputy Laura Lancing, and frequently pours her heart out to Laura, telling her the stress Gordon is causing her, and about her latest one-night-stands, flings or stupid mistakes. Helen relies on other people to lie for her, to cover up her addictive shoplifting and her frequent cheating on Gordon with other men. Helen was married at least once before her wedding to Gordon;