Mr. Bean
For the animated television series of same name, see Mr. Bean (animated series).Mr. Bean was a
British comedy television series of 14 half-hour episodes starring
Rowan Atkinson as the eponymous title character. It was written by
Rowan Atkinson,
Robin Driscoll,
Richard Curtis and
Ben Elton. The self-titled
first episode was broadcast on
1 January,
1990, with the final episode, "
Goodnight, Mr. Bean", on
31 October,
1995.
The series followed the exploits of Mr. Bean, described by Atkinson as "a child in a grown man's body"
["Atkinson has Bean there and he's done with that", interview by Lucy Cavendish in The Scotsman (Wed 30 Nov 2005), URL accessed August 3rd, 2006], in solving various problems presented by everyday tasks and often causing disruption in the process.
During its five-year run the series gained large UK audience figures, including 19 million for the 1992 Christmas episode, "Merry Christmas Mr. Bean",
[Trivia at IMDb, URL accessed August 4th, 2006] and was the recipient of a number of international awards, including the
Rose d'Or. The show has been sold in over 200 territories worldwide, as well as inspiring two feature films and an animated cartoon spin-off.
[Facts and Figures at mrbean.co.uk, URL accessed August 4th, 2006]Mr. Bean
The title character, played by Atkinson, is a selfish, childlike, sometimes ingenious, and generally likeable
buffoon who frequently gets into hilarious situations due to his various schemes and contrivances. He lives alone in his small flat in
Highbury, North
London, and is almost always seen in his trademark
tweed jacket and skinny red tie. Mr. Bean rarely speaks, and when he does it is generally only a few mumbled words. His first name (he names himself "Bean" to others) and profession, if any, are never mentioned. (In the film adaptation, on his passport "Mr." appears under the "first name" field and he is shown employed as a guard at London's
National Gallery.)
Mr. Bean often seems unaware of basic aspects of the way the world works, and the programme usually features his attempts at what would normally be considered simple tasks, such as going
swimming,
redecorating or taking an
exam. The humour largely comes from his original solutions to any problems and his total disregard for others when solving them. Indeed, some of Bean's actions occasionally have a particularly malevolent aspect to them.
 |
Mr. Bean in Back to School Mr. Bean. |
At the beginning of episode two onwards, Mr. Bean falls from the sky in a beam of light. These opening sequences were initially in black and white in episodes 2 and 3, and were intended by the producers to show his status as an "ordinary man cast into the spotlight". However, later episodes showed Mr. Bean dropping from the night sky in a deserted London street, against the backdrop of
St. Paul's Cathedral; later, in the
animated series, he was shown to be an
alien. Atkinson himself has acknowledged that Bean "has a slightly alien aspect to him".
["The Fine Art of Being Mr Bean", interview in The Buffalo News, URL accessed June 15th, 2006]Teddy
Teddy is Mr. Bean's
teddy bear, generally regarded as Mr. Bean's best friend. Although
inanimate, the bear is often party to Mr. Bean's various schemes and doubles as a good dish cloth or
paint brush in an emergency. The bear is a dark brown, knitted oddity with button eyes and sausage-shaped limbs and invariably ends up broken in half or in various other states of destruction. Occasionally, Teddy seems to be almost animate, for example when Mr. Bean hypnotizes Teddy, snaps his fingers and the bear's head falls backwards as if he's fallen asleep instantly. Certainly, Bean behaves as if the bear is real, for example buying it a Christmas present or trying not to wake it in the mornings.
Mr. Bean's Mini
Mr. Bean's car, a MkIII Austin
Mini, developed a character of sorts. At first, an orange 1969 Morris Mini was Mr. Bean's vehicle of choice, but this was crashed at the end of the first episode. From then on, the car was a 1977 model (registration SLW 287 R), illuminous yellow in colour with a black bonnet. It made its first appearance in "
The Curse of Mr. Bean".
The Mini was central to several antics, such as Mr. Bean getting dressed in it whilst driving or steering it whilst sitting in an armchair strapped to the roof. It also had a number of innovative security measures; Mr. Bean fitted the door with a bolt-latch and padlock, rather than use the lock fitted on the car, and he always removed the steering wheel instead of the key, which formed a running joke in several episodes, at one point deterring a car thief. The car was crushed by a tank in "
Back to School, Mr. Bean", but returned in later episodes.
The Mini is often seen in conflict with a light blue
Reliant Regal Supervan III, which will usually get tipped over, crashed into, bumped out of its parking space and so forth. This conflict originated in the first episode, when the three-wheeler held his Mini up on the way to a mathematics exam, and subsequently became a running joke throughout the series.
One of the original Mr. Bean Minis is on display at the
Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in
Keswick, northern
England. Both the Mini and the Reliant re-appeared as characters in the animated Mr. Bean cartoons.
Irma Gobb
Mr. Bean's "girlfriend" Irma Gobb, played by
Matilda Ziegler, appeared in a number of episodes. She is treated relatively inconsiderately by Bean, who appears to regard her more as a friend and companion than a love interest. However, he does become jealous when she dances with another man at a disco in "
Mr. Bean Goes to Town", and she certainly expects him to propose to her on Christmas Day in "
Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean", with his failure to do so resulting in her leaving him for good (she does not appear in any subsequent episodes).
Other characters
Although Mr. Bean is the only significant human character in the programme, other characters appear, usually as foils for his various antics. Other than his girlfriend, Mr. Bean's only friends appear to be Hubert and Rupert, who appear as Bean's New Years party guests in the episode "
Do-it-Yourself, Mr. Bean". However, several notable British actors and comedians appear alongside Atkinson in sketches as various one-off supporting characters, including
Richard Briers,
Angus Deayton,
Nick Hancock,
David Schneider and
Richard Wilson.
The character of Mr. Bean was first developed when Rowan Atkinson was studying for his PhD at Oxford University, with a sketch featuring the character first being performed at the
Edinburgh Fringe in the early 1980s.
["Atkinson has Bean there and he's done with that", interview by Lucy Cavendish in The Scotsman (Wed 30 Nov 2005), URL accessed August 3rd, 2006] However, the name of the character was not decided after the first programme had been produced, with a number of other vegetable-influenced names, such as Mr. Cauliflower, being explored.
[Trivia at IMDb, URL accessed August 3rd, 2006]Rowan Atkinson has cited the earlier comedy character
Monsieur Hulot, created by
French comedian and director
Jacques Tati, as an influence on the character of Mr. Bean.
[BFI article on Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, URL accessed August 3rd, 2006] Stylistically,
Mr. Bean is also very similar to early
silent films, relying purely upon
physical comedy, with Mr. Bean speaking very little dialogue. This has allowed the series to be sold worldwide without any significant changes to dialogue.
Mr. Bean is unusual amongst comedy series in featuring a
choral theme tune, written by
Howard Goodall and performed by the Choir of
Southwark Cathedral (later
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford). The words sung during the title sequences are in
Latin:
Ecce homo qui est faba – "Behold the man who is a bean" (sung at beginning)
Finis partis primae – "End of part one" (sung before the commercial break)
Pars secunda – "Part two" (sung after the commercial break)
Vale homo qui est faba – "Farewell, man who is a bean" (sung at end)
Goodall also wrote an accompanying music track for many episodes.
The programme was produced by Tiger Television, later renamed
Tiger Aspect productions (a company in which Atkinson has a stake), for
Thames Television and originally shown on
ITV. In the
United States the show has been broadcast on non-commercial public television stations intermittently and is available on
DVD.
The show is now only shown in the UK on
Nickelodeon (at 12:00pm and 6:00pm) and
Paramount Comedy 2 (at 10:00pm).
The first episode won the prestigious
Golden Rose, as well as two other major prizes at the 1991 Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival in
Montreux.
[BBC Guide to Comedy, written by Mark Lewisohn, URL accessed August 3rd, 2006] In the UK, the episode "
The Curse of Mr. Bean" was nominated for a number of
BAFTA awards; "Best Light Entertainment Programme" in 1991, "Best Comedy" (Programme or Series) in 1992, and Rowan Atkinson was nominated three times for "Best Light Entertainment Performance" in 1991, 1992 and 1994.
[Awards at IMDb], URL accessed August 3rd, 2006] |
Mr. Bean in the animation along with his girlfriend, Irma Gobb, and landlady Mrs Wicket |
Mr. Bean was revived in a
2002 animated
cartoon series, again featuring little actual dialogue, with most being either little soundbites or mumbling. Some people have questioned the point of an animated Mr. Bean; although he is now capable of far stranger adventures (and facial expressions), they lack the interest generated when it was an actual person doing it. However, an animated character is much more endearing to younger children than an actor.
The series is notable for following up on the "alien" origin theory for the character, with its final episode revealing a race of identical Beans who come to retrieve their lost friend, only to have him opt to stay on Earth with his girlfriend.
Rowan Atkinson provides the voice for Bean, and all of the animated Bean actions are taken from Atkinson himself. Other characters' voices are provided by Jon Glover, Rupert Degas, Gary Martin and Lorelei King.
Bean
In 1997,
Bean, a film version directed by
Mel Smith, also known as
Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie, was produced. This broke from the programme's tradition by using a subplot with more developed characters â€" instead of being the sole centre of attention, Mr. Bean here interacted with a suburban Californian family he stayed with while overseeing the transfer of
Whistler's Mother to a Los Angeles art gallery. Many fans of the original series were quite disappointed with this Americanisation required to sell it overseas,
[Review at the All Movie Guide by Karl Williams, URL accessed July 29, 2006 ] yet the movie grossed over
USD$230 million globally on a budget estimated at $22 million.
[Box office figures at boxofficemojo.com, URL accessed July 29th, 2006 ]French Bean
News broke in
March 2005 that a new
Bean film,
French Bean was in development, with Atkinson to return in the title role.
[Bean 2 at IMDb, URL accessed August 4th, 2006] It is to be released in
2007 and will be directed by
Steve Bendelack. Filming began on May 15, 2006.
During a
2003 episode of
The Simpsons when they visit
London, they are greeted at the airport by British prime minister
Tony Blair, whom
Homer Simpson misidentifies as Mr. Bean.
*
List of British sitcoms turned into films*
Official Mr. Bean website*
Rowan Atkinson fansite*
Teddy fansite*
