Rowan Atkinson has admitted he did not “enjoy” any part of filming for his Netflix No 1 Man vs Baby.
The comedy legend stars in the four-episode series, which follows an inept but well-meaning grandfather left in charge of a baby for a chaotic weekend set in a luxurious London penthouse. The show is a sequel to 2022’s Man vs Bee.
Atkinson, 70, also co-created and co-wrote the new series alongside screenwriter William Davies.
Since its release on Thursday (11 December), the series has soared to the top of the Netflix charts in the UK to become the streamer’s No 1 show, surpassing the documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning and part one of Stranger Things season five.
Like its predecessor, the series leans heavily on Atkinson’s penchant for visual gags, escalating mishaps and wordless panic as exemplified by his tenure as the beloved character Mr Bean, leading to some critics praising the series as “vintage Atkinson”.
For all its laughs, however, Atkinson said he couldn’t think of “anything that I enjoyed filming” for the series.
Speaking at a Q&A event for Man vs Baby, the actor was asked what his favourite scene to film had been, to which he bluntly responded: “I have none. I can’t think of anything that I enjoyed filming.”
He went on to explain: “But that’s just me when I’m filming, so I apologise for that.”
Asked whether he can relax now that the show is out, the Mr Bean star added: “I think the show is very good, but I can also see holes in it. I keep thinking, hmmm.”
The series has received mixed reviews from critics. In one positive write-up, The Telegraph called it “an unexpectedly heart-warming Christmas treat” that sees Atkinson in “nearly-Bean mode”.
Likewise, The Times praised the series as a “hoot” in a four-star review. “A lovely, innocent festive story expertly manoeuvred by Atkinson as the lovably but naively hapless Trevor Bingley,” it reads.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Metro said the show is Atkinson’s “best in years”.
Less enthusiastic was The Guardian’s critic who awarded the show two stars. “The action itself […] never escalates into the grand, high-wire, socially subversive physical comedy we expect from Atkinson,” they wrote. “Instead, we just get a nauseatingly schmaltzy and nonsensical dose of Christmas cheer helmed by a kind-hearted, capable man. Mr Bean would never.”
At the screening in London, Atkinson said he disliked his most famous creation, calling Mr Bean a “selfish, self-serving anarchic child”.
“I dislike Mr Bean as a person, I certainly would never like to have dinner with him,” he said.
“But at the same time, I like him as a character, because he is possibly a bit like I was at age 10 – that sort of childish sort of selfishness and working things out in a slightly eccentric way. But at the same time, I wouldn’t want him in my house.”
Mr Bean amassed worldwide popularity after launching in 1990. The sitcom, created by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, comprises just one season of 15 episodes that aired within a space of five years.
Man vs Baby is out now on Netflix.
