The animated version of Rowan Atkinson’s silent slapstick sitcom Mr Bean is to return to television for a fourth series in 2025.
Mr Bean must be one of the most well known comedy characters on the planet. Relying entirely on Rowan Atkinson’s rubber face, slapstick and visual humour, Atkinson first wrote the show with Richard Curtis and Robin Driscoll almost 35 years ago.
Premiering in 1990, Mr Bean ran for just 15 episodes, with stories typically following a formula of the hapless title character trying to accomplish a seemingly simple task and escalating it to farcical levels. Memorable moments include a dangerous diving experience, putting his swimming trunks on without removing his trousers and, perhaps the most iconic sequence from the entire series – getting a turkey stuck on his head. In 1997, the character went to America in the feature film Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie, which was directed by the much missed comedian Mel Smith.
A follow up, Mr Bean’s Holiday, which paid homage to Atkinson’s comic hero Jacques Tati and his masterpiece Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, was released in 2007. A handful of Comic Relief sketches followed, but it seems that, in live action at least, Atkinson has retired the character.
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He continues to thrive in animation however, as ITV have confirmed a fourth series of Mr Bean: The Animated Series will premiere next year.
The new episodes will continue to follow the luckless loner with zero social skills and a unique approach to problem solving, as he attempts to live his life in London alongside his teddy bear.
Atkinson said of the new series: “I have always enjoyed this iteration of the Mr Bean character and the particular freedoms he has in animated form. We can take him into space or down a tin mine, without me personally having to suffer the consequences. The animation process creatively is always fascinating and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into the new series very much.”
New episodes of Mr Bean: The Animated Series will stream on ITVX in 2025.
