This may seem like a pretty obvious statement. After all, Atkinson has filled his career with quirky, oddball characters, whether that\u2019s the iconic buffoon Mr Bean or bumbling Bond spoof Johnny English.<\/p>\n
Yet Atkinson has made pains recently to alert audiences that this character is different. Trevor is, according to Atkinson, \u201ca genuinely good-natured and sweet character\u201d<\/a>. That may be so, but as the series progresses we also discover that he is utterly, completely unhinged.<\/p>\n The series does exactly what it says on the tin. Atkinson\u2019s Trevor Bingley is a newly-employed house sitter, whose first job at a luxury, modern mansion filled with priceless artworks is derailed when he somehow ends up in a feud with a bee which just won\u2019t leave the house.<\/p>\n I say somehow because in all honestly it\u2019s not entirely clear how or why this happens. We get it, bees buzzing around your head are annoying, but the idea that Trevor would descend so far into madness in trying to rid the house of his rival, despite never even being stung, is really quite confusing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s one of the problems with the series as a whole. Where Bean was so outlandish that you couldn\u2019t judge him by everyday standards, Trevor is presented as a loving dad who\u2019s just a bit bumbling and clumsy and is trying to make enough money to take his daughter camping.<\/p>\n It therefore becomes far more jarring when he does start cutting holes in a classic jaguar or setting the whole house alight. If Bean did this we\u2019d simply go along with his inanity. If Johnny English did it, we\u2019d know it would be part of some ill-advised master-plan. When Trevor does it, it seems that he doesn\u2019t need jail time \u2013 as an early flash-forward shows us he\u2019s facing \u2013 he needs an intervention and some serious help.<\/p>\n Perhaps I\u2019m thinking all too deeply about this. After all, it\u2019s a series called Man Vs Bee, it\u2019s probably not trying to examine the inner psyche of its protagonist. Therefore, no matter how many gripes you want to make, it all really comes down to one simple question: is it funny?<\/p>\n Thankfully I can report that on the whole, yes. Atkinson doesn\u2019t stray from his trademark, cringe-inducing slapstick hijinks, but you surely wouldn\u2019t want him to. He does it better than anyone, and having spent some time away from his comic characters in recent years, it\u2019s a welcome return to a comedy styling very rarely seen these days.<\/p>\n On the whole, the series manages to avoid the pitfall of going: \u201cHow weird and confusing is modern technology?\u201d Instead, Trevor\u2019s failings are almost entirely his own fault, and the technological battles he does face are presented as a genuine<\/em> conundrum, concocted through the arrogance and opulence of the mega-wealthy.<\/p>\n The gags come thick and fast right from the opening minutes, and while these are naturally a mixed bag, almost all of them will have you wincing or shouting at the screen. One particular sequence involving a dog named Cupcake that Trevor is left looking after is both excruciating and laugh out loud funny.<\/p>\n The episodes mostly land at around the 10-minute mark, making the series eminently bingeable. It is slightly too long (it should probably have been six episodes rather than nine, and the pace lulls in the middle), and certain highly capable comedy actors are completely wasted (Fresh Meat\u2019s Greg McHugh is just sort of there).<\/p>\n But on the whole it\u2019s a diverting, lightweight series which caters to its audience and knows what it\u2019s there to do. It\u2019s also a prime example of the creative choices that the ever-evolving streaming market is allowing entertainers to make.<\/p>\n With the entire run-time clocking in at 90 minutes and a highly serialised plot, one can\u2019t help but wonder if this show started life as a feature film rather than a series. However, with such a slight plot and modest premise, you can\u2019t help but feel this production was always destined for this under-utilised bite-sized format.<\/p> In a world where Stranger Things is putting out an epic as an episode<\/a>, it would seem to all be up for grabs, which Atkinson and co have deftly understood and taken advantage of.<\/p>\n And why stop there? Appetite may be slim for another outing of Man Vs Bee (surely Trevor has to move on or go all in and essentially become the Joker?), but maybe Atkinson could bring Trevor back for a new series where he takes on a different enemy? Man Vs Badger anyone? Man Vs Barn Owl?<\/p>\n Or, even more experimental, Man Vs Bean! Now there\u2019s an idea worth the big-screen treatment\u2026<\/p>\n Man vs Bee will be available to stream on Netflix<\/a>\u00a0from Friday 24th June 2022.\u00a0Visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0to discover what else you can watch tonight, or find all the latest news on our\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0hub.<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By James Hibbs Published: Wednesday, 22 June 2022 at 12:00 am There came a point while watching Man vs Bee, Netflix\u2018s new series of \u2018bite-sized\u2019 episodes, that something dawned on me \u2013 Rowan Atkinson\u2019s new character, Trevor, is not normal. This may seem like a pretty obvious statement. After all, Atkinson has filled his career […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":17317,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/man-vs-bee-review-rowan-atkinsons-most-deranged-character-yet.jpg",1557,1038,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/man-vs-bee-review-rowan-atkinsons-most-deranged-character-yet-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/man-vs-bee-review-rowan-atkinsons-most-deranged-character-yet-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/man-vs-bee-review-rowan-atkinsons-most-deranged-character-yet-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/man-vs-bee-review-rowan-atkinsons-most-deranged-character-yet-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/man-vs-bee-review-rowan-atkinsons-most-deranged-character-yet-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/man-vs-bee-review-rowan-atkinsons-most-deranged-character-yet.jpg",1557,1038,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By James Hibbs Published: Wednesday, 22 June 2022 at 12:00 am There came a point while watching Man vs Bee, Netflix\u2018s new series of \u2018bite-sized\u2019 episodes, that something dawned on me \u2013 Rowan Atkinson\u2019s new character, Trevor, is not normal. This may seem like a pretty obvious statement. After all, Atkinson has filled his career…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/17316"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/ManVsBeeSeason1Episode400024905-1ab42cf.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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