Mr.

Bean is a British sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, produced by Tiger Aspect and
starring Atkinson as the title character. The sitcom consists of 15 episodes that were co-written by
Atkinson alongside Curtis and Robin Driscoll; for the pilot, it was co-written by Ben Elton. The series was
originally broadcast on ITV, beginning with the pilot on 1 January 1990[1] and ending with "The Best Bits
of Mr. Bean" on 15 December 1995.

Based on a character originally developed by Atkinson while he was studying for his master's degree at
the University of Oxford, the series centres on Mr. Bean, described by Atkinson as "a child in a grown
man's body", as he solves various problems presented by everyday tasks and often causes disruption in
the process.[2] The series has been influenced by physical comedy actors such as Jacques Tati and those
from early silent films.[2]

During its original five-year run, Mr. Bean met with widespread acclaim and attracted large television
audiences. The series was viewed by 18.74 million viewers for the episode "The Trouble with Mr.
Bean"[3] and has received a number of international awards, including the Rose d'Or. The series has
since been sold in 245 territories worldwide. It has inspired an animated spin-off and two theatrical
feature-length films along with Atkinson reprising his role as Mr. Bean for a performance at the London
2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, television commercials and several sketches for Comic Relief.
The programme carries strong appeal in hundreds of territories worldwide because, in addition to the
acclaim from its original run, it uses very little intelligible dialogue, making it accessible to people who
know little or no English.

Contents

1 Origin

2 Characters and recurring props

2.1 Mr. Bean

2.2 Irma Gobb

2.3 Teddy

2.4 The Mini

2.5 The Reliant

2.6 Other characters

3 Episodes

4 Broadcast

5 Music

6 Awards

7 In other media

7.1 Mr. Bean: The Animated Series

7.2 Feature films

7.3 London 2012 Olympic Summer Games opening ceremony

7.4 Books

7.5 Other appearances

8 Home media

8.1 VHS

8.2 DVD

8.3 DVD re-release

9 In popular culture

10 See also

11 Notes

12 References

13 External links

Origin

The character of Mr. Bean was developed while Rowan Atkinson was studying for his master's degree in
electrical engineering at The Queen's College, Oxford. A sketch featuring Bean was shown at the
Edinburgh Fringe in the early 1980s.[2] A similar character called Robert Box, also played by Atkinson,
appeared in the one-off 1979 ITV sitcom Canned Laughter which also featured routines used in the
motion picture in 1997.[4]

One of Bean's earliest appearances occurred at the "Just for Laughs" comedy festival in Montreal,
Quebec, Canada, in 1987. When programme coordinators were scheduling him into the festival
programme, Atkinson insisted that he perform on the French-speaking bill rather than the English-
speaking programme. Having no French dialogue in his act at all, programme coordinators could not
understand why Atkinson wanted to perform on the French bill instead. As it turned out, Atkinson's act
at the festival was a test platform for his character and he wanted to see how his character's physical
comedy would fare on an international stage with a non-English speaking audience.[5]

The character's name was not decided until after the first episode had been produced; a number of
other vegetable-influenced names such as "Mr. Cauliflower" were explored.[6] Atkinson cited the earlier
comedy character Monsieur Hulot, created by French comedian and director Jacques Tati, as an
influence on the character.[7] Atkinson also cited the influence of Peter Sellers, who had previously
played similar "fumbling fool" characters, notably Hrundi Bakshi in The Party (1968) and Inspector
Clouseau in The Pink Panther films.[8] Stylistically, Mr. Bean is also similar to early silent films, relying
purely upon physical comedy with Mr. Bean speaking very little dialogue (although like other live-action
sitcoms during this period, it featured a laugh track). This has allowed the series to be sold worldwide
without any significant changes to dialogue.[5][9] In November 2012, Atkinson told The Daily Telegraph
of his intentions to retire the character, stating that "someone in their fifties being childlike becomes a
little sad."[10][11] In 2016, however, Atkinson changed his mind by saying that he would never retire
playing Mr. Bean.[12]

Characters and recurring props

Mr. Bean

Main article: Mr. Bean (character)

Rowan Atkinson portraying Mr Bean in August 1997.

The title character and main protagonist, 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]
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 activities, such as going swimming,
using a television set, interior decorating 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, and his
pettiness and occasional malevolence.

In the title sequence of episode two, 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") which was sung by the
Southwark Cathedral choir in 1990. The opening sequence was initially in black and white in episodes
two and three, which was 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 (The black scene in episode
3 and street scene in episode 6). Regarding the opening credits, Atkinson has acknowledged that Bean
"has a slightly alien aspect to him".[14] In the Mr. Bean: The Animated Series episode "Double Trouble",
the alien aspect of him was used in a storyline in which he is taken inside a spacecraft with aliens who
look exactly like him and even have their own plushy toys. In an obvious homage towards the end, the
aliens send him back home in a beam of light and music similar to the opening of the original Mr Bean
series. Whether Bean is an extraterrestrial is not made clear.

Irma Gobb

Mr. Bean's long-suffering girlfriend, Irma Gobb (played by Matilda Ziegler), appears in three 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 rather than as 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"; his failure to do so results in her leaving him for good.
Despite this, she later reappears in Mr. Bean: The Animated Series. It is revealed in the book Mr. Bean's
Diary that Bean met Irma Gobb at a local library.[15] Ziegler has also played a waitress, a mother and a
policewoman.[16]

In the Comic Relief sketch "Torvill & Bean", Bean is accompanied by a female companion portrayed by
Sophie Thompson whose overall appearance resembles Gobb's.