We haven’t seen much of Rowan Atkinson since 2018, when his third Johnny English film failed to set the box office alight. Now, though, he is back, said Camilla Long in The Sunday Times, starring in a glossy new comedy for Netflix.
Atkinson plays Trevor, an accident-prone house-sitter tasked with the upkeep of a mansion “that, for maximum audience reach, could be anywhere from Surrey to Kazakhstan”. Just as he’s settling in to the job, a CGI bee turns up, unleashing chaos. Over the next hour and a half – spread over nine episodes – every “painting, book and piece of furniture” is trashed, which might be jolly to watch if the show were funny; alas, it isn’t.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It is perfectly enjoyable, said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. But it lacks “the genius of Mr. Bean”. The set pieces are almost too slick, and the series feels as though it has been “precision-tooled to deliver a satisfying customer experience.”
Well, I loved it, said Stuart Jeffries in The Guardian. Yes, the bee is “woefully undercharacterised” (why does it torment Trevor?); and various high-end brands get rather too much screentime. But Atkinson knows that the best comedy isn’t “tragedy plus time, but stuff plus idiot” – and here he is at his comic best.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocratFeature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlockFeature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipeThe Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
-
Susie Dent picks her favourite booksThe Week Recommends The lexicographer and etymologist shares works by Jane Goodall, Noel Streatfeild and Madeleine Pelling
-
6 incredible homes under $1 millionFeature Featuring a home in the National Historic Landmark District of Virginia and a renovated mid-century modern house in Washington
-
The Harder They Come: ‘triumphant’ adaptation of cinema classicThe Week Recommends ‘Uniformly excellent’ cast follow an aspiring musician facing the ‘corruption’ of Kingston, Jamaica
-
House of Guinness: ‘rip-roaring’ Dublin brewing dynasty period dramaThe Week Recommends The Irish series mixes the family tangles of ‘Downton’ and ‘Succession’ for a ‘dark’ and ‘quaffable’ watch
-
Dead of Winter: a ‘kick-ass’ hostage thrillerThe Week Recommends Emma Thompson plays against type in suspenseful Minnesota-set hair-raiser ‘ringing with gunshots’
-
A Booker shortlist for grown-ups?Talking Point Dominated by middle-aged authors, this year’s list is a return to ‘good old-fashioned literary fiction’
-
Fractured France: an ‘informative and funny’ enquiryThe Week Recommends Andrew Hussey's work is a blend of ‘memoir, travelogue and personal confession’
