Final episode: November 15, 1995
Adaptations: Bean (1997)
Theme song: Ecce homo qui est faba
Network: ITV
Mr. Bean is a British sitcom television programme series of fourteen 25-minute episodes written by and starring Rowan Atkinson as the title character. Different episodes were also written by Robin Driscoll, Richard Curtis and one by Ben Elton. Thirteen of the episodes were broadcast on ITV, from the pilot on 1 January 1990, until "Goodnight Mr. Bean" on 31 October 1995. A clip show, "The Best Bits of Mr. Bean", was broadcast on 15 December 1995, and one episode, "Hair by Mr. Bean of London" was not broadcast until 2006 on Nickelodeon
Based on a character originally developed by Atkinson while he was studying for his master's degree at Oxford University, the series follows the exploits of Mr. Bean, described by Atkinson as "a child in a grown man's body", in solving various problems presented by everyday tasks and often causing disruption in the process. Bean rarely speaks, and the largely physical humour of the series is derived from his interactions with other people and his unusual solutions to situations. The series was influenced by physical performers such as Jacques Tati and comic actors from silent films.
During its five-year run, the series gained large UK audience figures, including 18.74 million for the 1991 episode "The Trouble with Mr. Bean".The series has been the recipient of a number of international awards, including the Rose d'Or. The show has been sold in 245 territories worldwide, and has inspired an animated cartoon spin-off, two feature films, and an appearance at the London 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.
Awards
The first episode won the Golden Rose, as well as two other major prizes at the 1991 Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival in Montreux. 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 1991, and Atkinson was nominated three times for "Best Light Entertainment Performance" in 1991 and 1994.
The animated series
Main article: Mr. Bean (animated TV series)
Bean was revived in a 2002–2004 animated cartoon series, again featuring little dialogue, with most being either little soundbites or mumbling. The series, which consist of 26 episodes (with 2 segments each), expanded the number of additional characters, featuring Bean's unpleasant landlady, Mrs. Wicket, and her evil one-eyed cat, Scrapper. Atkinson reprises his role as 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.[29] A video game based on the Animated series was released on 14 December 2007 and was a third person platformer. The games were released on PAL only for PS2, Nintendo DS, and Wii (called Mr. Bean's Wacky World).
Film adaptations
Main articles: Bean (film) and Mr. Bean's Holiday
Two films featuring Bean have been released. The first, Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie was directed by Mel Smith and released in 1997, with Atkinson reprising his title role. This broke from the programme's tradition by using a subplot with more developed characters – instead of being the sole centre of attention, 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. The film grossed over US$250 million globally ($45 million in the USA) on a budget estimated at $22 million.
News broke out in March 2005 that a second Bean film, Mr. Bean's Holiday was in development, with Atkinson reprising his title role. The film had been through several changes of name during its development, including Bean 2 and French Bean. Filming began on 15 May 2006 and began post-production in October 2006. It was released in the UK on 30 March 2007. On 17 July 2007, the North American premiere was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, at the Just For Laughs festival; the launching pad for the Mr. Bean character 20 years earlier. The film was then released nationwide in North America on 24 August 2007. The film follows Bean on an eventful journey across France for a holiday in the French Riviera, which after a number of misfortunes culminates in an unscheduled screening of his video diary at the Cannes Film Festival. It was directed by Steve Bendelack and, according to Atkinson, is the last appearance of Bean.It grossed nearly US$230 million globally ($33 million in the USA).
The London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony
The character as represented by Atkinson plays a single note on a synthesiser in the performance of "Chariots of Fire" during the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. Instead of his usual dress, he wears white tie tuxedo suit like the other musicians around him. During his performance, he becomes bored with playing the same note repeatedly on the synthesiser and gets jealous of the more interesting part that another member of the orchestra playing with him has on the grand piano. Still remaining bored, he takes out his mobile and takes a picture of himself, looking chuffed. He then sneezes in a comical fashion and tries to retrieve his handkerchief from his bag behind him. He finds that he cannot reach and has to keep playing the note with his umbrella to retrieve it. When he finally blows his nose, he throws his handkerchief into the grand piano. He then falls asleep continuing to play the note.
In a dream sequence, it is the opening scene of the film Chariots of Fire where they are running across a beach, except Mr. Bean is running with them. He begins to fall behind, until he hails a car to overtake all the others. In front and running, a runner tries to overtake Bean but is tripped by him. He crosses the line with elation and then he wakes up. The rest of the orchestra had stopped playing while he continues his one recurring note. Realising this, and upon encouragement from conductor Simon Rattle, he plays an extended flourish and lastly touches a note that makes a flatulent sound then stops.
Books
Two books were released related to the original series: Mr. Bean's Diary in 1992 and Mr. Bean's Pocket Diary in 1994. The two books have identical content and differ only in the format in which they are printed. The content of both is a template diary with handwritten content scrawled in by Mr. Bean. They provide some additional information on the setting: for example, they establish that Mr. Bean lives in Highbury and rents his flat from a landlady named Mrs. Wicket. They confirm the name of Mr. Bean's girlfriend as "Irma Gobb", and also give the name of the other man she actually dances with in Mr. Bean Goes to Town (Giles Gummer). An additional book called Mr. Bean's Diary was released in 2002 to accompany the animated series; this book was also graded as a children's reader.
Popular culture
The sale of Mr Bean worldwide has enabled his character to secure a place in the popular culture of several countries. Notably, a number of public figures have been compared to the character, usually as an insult. Tony Blair, then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was identified by Homer Simpson as "Mr. Bean" when his cartoon form greeted the Simpsons to the United Kingdom in an episode of the eponymous programme, allegedly demonstrating the stereotypical view of the British by Americans.
Arthur Batchelor, one of the Royal Navy captives held by Iran during the 2007 Iranian seizure of Royal Navy personnel, has stated that some of his captors had mocked him calling him "Mr. Bean".
NRL Referee Sean Hampstead is regularly nicknamed "Mr. Bean" in nationally broadcast commentary by Australian television/radio personality Ray Warren as a result of his similar appearance.
In 2007, Vincent Cable, the acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, described the recent decline in Prime Minister Gordon Brown's fortunes as his "remarkable transformation in the last few weeks from Stalin to Mr. Bean".
The former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis RodrÃguez Zapatero is often mocked in his own country for his facial resemblance to Mr. Bean, and a computer hacker broke into Spain's official website for its presidency of the European Union, inserting the character on the front page of the website. Satirists have also compared Zapatero to Mr. Bean when discussing government policies that are deemed to have been unsuccessful.
Several of the visual jokes in the series have been used as experiments on the Discovery Channel's MythBusters series. In episode 52 – "Mind Control", the idea of painting a room with a stick of explosives (Firework, or other) placed in a paint can, as in the episode "Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean", was tested and deemed impossible, as adequate coverage was not achieved.
An image of Mr. Bean has also been used as an internet meme usually accompanied by the statement, "if you know what I mean.
Though Rowan Atkinson is not typecast to characters like Mr. Bean, he has played similar characters in other works, such as Enrico in the 2001 film Rat Race.
In Tetsuo Hara and Buronson's manga Souten no Ken, a parody of Mr. Bean can be found in a minor character appearing in chapter 45, contained in vol. 5. In it, a barman identical to Mr. Bean tends the main character Kenshiro Kasumi, for comic relief.
In the video game Resident Evil 2, during the opening sequence in the streets of Raccoon City, Mr. Bean's British Leyland Mini 1000 can be seen parked against a barricade.
Mr. Bean has also been influential on later series, such as The World of Lee Evans.
Private Eye magazine features a cartoon strip, The Adventures of Mr Milibean, in which British Labour party leader Ed Miliband is drawn as Bean.
Rowan Atkinson performed as this character at the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics during "Chariots of Fire" with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Characters and recurring props
Mr. Bean
The title character, played by Rowan Atkinson, is a childish buffoon who brings various unusual schemes and contrivances to everyday tasks. He lives alone at the address of Flat 2, 12 Arbour Road, Highbury, and is almost always seen in his trademark tweed jacket and a skinny red tie. He also usually wears a digital calculator watch. Mr. Bean rarely speaks, and when he does, it is generally only a few mumbled words which are in a comically low-pitched voice. His first name (he names himself "Bean" to others) and profession, if any, are never mentioned. In the first film adaptation, "Mr." appears on his passport in the "first name" field, and he is shown employed as a guard at London's National Gallery.[13] In Mr. Bean's Holiday, however, his name is listed on his passport as "Rowan", the actor's first name.
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, using a television set, redecorating or going to church. The humour largely comes from his original (and often absurd) solutions to problems and his total disregard for others when solving them, his pettiness, and occasional malevolence.
At the beginning of episode two onwards, Mr. Bean falls from the sky in a beam of light, accompanied by a choir singing Ecce homo qui est faba ("Behold the man who is a bean") - recorded by Southwark Cathedral Choir in 1990. These opening sequences were initially in black and white in episodes two and three, 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. At the end of episodes three and six he is also shown being sucked right back up into the sky in the respective background scenes (black scene in episode 3 and street scene in episode 6). Atkinson himself has acknowledged that Bean "has a slightly alien aspect to him".In the animated series (episode 38, "Double Trouble") he is taken inside a spacecraft with "aliens" who look exactly like him and even have their own plushy toys. In an obvious homage, the aliens send him back home in a beam of light similar to the opening of the original Mr. Bean series. Whether Bean himself is an extraterrestrial is not clear.
Irma Gobb
Mr. Bean's girlfriend, Irma Gobb (played by Matilda Ziegler), appears in a number of episodes. In "The Curse of Mr. Bean" and "Mr. Bean Goes to Town", the character is simply credited as "the girlfriend." 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. The character does not appear in any subsequent episodes, however, she later appears in the animated series. The spin-off book Mr. Bean's Diary (1993) states that Mr. Bean met Irma Gobb at a local library. Ziegler has also played a waitress, a mother and a policewoman.
In the Comic Relief extra "Torvill and Bean", Bean is accompanied with a female companion portrayed by another actress, with similar overall appearance to Gobb.
Teddy
Mr. Bean and Teddy
Teddy is Mr. Bean's teddy bear and perhaps Mr. Bean's best friend. The little brown bear is a knitted oddity with button eyes and sausage-shaped limbs, invariably ending up broken in half or in various other states of destruction and disfiguration. Although Teddy is inanimate, Mr. Bean often pretends it is alive. For example, when Mr. Bean hypnotises Teddy, he snaps his fingers and the bear's head falls backwards as if it has fallen asleep instantly (Bean used his finger to prop Teddy's head up). Mr. Bean behaves as if the bear is real, buying it a Christmas present or trying not to wake it in the mornings. The bear is often privy to Mr. Bean's various schemes and doubles as a dish cloth or paint brush in an emergency; it has been decapitated ("Mr. Bean in Room 426"), used as his paint brush ("Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean") and shrunk in the wash ("Tee Off, Mr. Bean"). Teddy is also Mr. Bean's "pet" in "Hair by Mr. Bean of London" and is used to win a pet show. The Teddy that was used in filming sits in the windshield of the replica of Mr. Bean's mini that is on display at the National Motor Museum. Over the years, Teddy has undergone several changes. When it debuted on "The Trouble with Mr. Bean", it had a smaller head. Two episodes later, its head reached its current size, but its "eye" was not present until Bean placed gold thumb tacks on its face. The "eyes" have since been replaced with two small white buttons sewn over Teddy's face, giving it a distinct image.
Mr. Bean's car
Rowan Atkinson demonstrating a famous scene from the episode "Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean" on a Mini at Goodwood Circuit
Mr. Bean's car, a 1976 British Leyland Mini 1000, developed its own character of sorts over the series and was central to several antics, such as Mr. Bean getting dressed in it, driving while sitting in an armchair strapped to the roof, starting it with a number of locks and keys, or attempting to avoid a car park fee by driving out through the entrance.
At first, it was an orange 1969 BMC Mini MK II (registration RNT 996H), but this was destroyed in an off-screen crash at the end of the first episode. From then on, the car was a 1976 model (registration SLW 287R), Austin Citron Green in colour[18] with a matte black bonnet.
The Mini also had a number of innovative security measures. For example, Bean uses a bolt-latch and padlock, rather than the lock fitted to the car, and removes the steering wheel instead of the key. These formed a running joke in several episodes, at one point deterring a car thief. However, after changing parking spaces with an identical car in "Back to School Mr. Bean", his car is crushed by a tank. Fortunately for him, his padlock still remains, and he hurries off to "hijack" another car with the same colour scheme.
The Mini re-appeared as character in the animated Mr. Bean cartoons, and in the film Mr. Bean's Holiday, with the registration YGL 572T. Also seen is a left hand drive version of his Mini, owned by the character Sabine. For the 1997 feature film Bean a sequence involving the Mini driving through Harrod's Department Store was shot, but this was not included in the final cut.
After filming ended, one of the original Minis was sold to Kariker Kars to be hired for various events. It was then temporarily displayed as a major attraction at the Rover Group's museum. In 1997, it was purchased by the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum and was on display for a while, but is no longer there, having been sold; it went to America with another. There is one currently nearing the end of a nut and bolt restoration in the south of England. A replica has been built by BMW Germany and another replica is on display at National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. This is the car that was used to promote the animated series.
The Reliant
Starting with the first episode, Mr. Bean has a long-running feud with the unseen driver of a light blue Reliant Regal Supervan III (registration GRA 26K), which will usually get turned over, crashed out of its parking space and so forth by Mr. Bean in his Mini, who is usually oblivious of the results. These mishaps became a running joke throughout the series. In "Tee Off, Mr. Bean", Bean is hitch-hiking and the Reliant pulls over for him, but Bean, who recognised the car, pretends to not having seen it, until it leaves.
The Reliant reappears in the animated series.
Hubert & Rupert
Rupert & Hubert are friends of Mr. Bean who appeared only in "Do it Yourself Mr. Bean". They attended Mr. Bean's New Year's Eve party. They got bored, altered Mr. Bean's living room clock, and fled to a nearby party, with Hubert leaving his hat at Bean's. After the party Hubert was last seen going for his hat during which he got caught in the blast of white paint.
Other characters
Although Mr. Bean is the only significant character in the programme, others appear, usually as foils for his various antics. Other than his girlfriend there are more characters in each episode. 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, Paul Bown, Caroline Quentin, Danny La Rue, Roger Lloyd-Pack, David Schneider and Richard Wilson.
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