List of The Brittas Empire Characters - Tim Whistler

Tim Whistler (played by Russell Porter) (born 1971, age: 19-26) is a pool attendant. Tim is also a chef. Tim is homosexual, and unknown to Gordon Brittas, is in a secret relationship with fellow pool attendant Gavin Featherly, with whom he shares an apartment. Like most of his colleagues, Tim despises his manager Brittas and is often found complaining or scheming to disrupt the centre to get at Brittas, through activities such as planning strikes and protests.

Although a lively, confident worker, Tim is slightly mentally troubled and has regular appointments with psychiatrists. He has mood swings and gets jealous over Gavin easily, and he finds it unbearable to see Gavin giving attention to anyone but himself. His unbalanced, emotional persona makes his relationship with Gavin increasingly more strained as the series progresses, and causes a further rift between them when Gavin becomes a deputy manager. Tim and Gavin remain an item despite this tension, but Tim occasionally snipes at Gavin, and is disappointed in him for sucking up to Brittas.

Although Tim doesn't appear to have many aspirations within the leisure centre, he is briefly excited at the prospect of becoming a deputy manager when Brittas leaves for a new job of European Sports Commissioner in Brussels. However, this fails to eventuate after Brittas is "killed" at the end of series 5. He carries on as a pool attendant, oblivious to the fact that he is earning the lowest wages of anyone in the centre. He eventually discovers this, which causes him to revolt and hold Gavin, Linda, Julie, Laura and Colin hostage in the staff room.

It later emerges that Tim's real name is Tim Göbbels, that he was born in East Germany and that he illegally changed his name to "Whistler" out of shame. Gordon refuses to recognize Tim as a legal entity after this revelation and opens up a vacancy for Tim's position, allowing Tim to re-apply to the centre only by using his real name. However, Tim finally receives a large pay-rise afterwards, when Brittas categorizes him as an imported "EU Acquisition" because of his German nationality.