Rowan Atkinson returns to small-screen chaos, trading a merciless insect for an even less predictable adversary: a baby. His new Netflix mini-series, “Man vs Baby,” finds the comic actor navigating pint-sized peril with his trademark precision.
In this latest venture, Trevor Bingley, the hapless housesitter Atkinson first brought to life in “Man vs Bee,” has attempted to trade high-octane disaster for something calmer: a school caretaker’s post. But peace proves fleeting. A lucrative house-sitting job in a luxury London penthouse presents itself, and Trevor cannot resist. And then, as if the universe enjoys testing his competence, a baby is left behind after a school nativity play. Trevor must now juggle luxury apartments, demanding oligarchs, and a tiny, unpredictable occupant. The stage is set for a Christmas full of mayhem, ingenuity, and, maybe even a touch of tenderness.
The show’s conception, Atkinson explains, began very differently. “When we first came up with it, the baby was actually a smaller part of it. The working title was ‘Man Versus Christmas’, not ‘Man Versus Baby’,” he says. The first episode revolves around a primary school’s decision to use a real infant in the nativity play. “We liked the idea of this baby appearing from nowhere, and nobody seems to know who it belongs to… Trevor ends up stuck with the baby.”
Trevor’s predicament is complicated by practical and emotional stakes. He needs money to send his daughter to college in France, yet he cannot simply leave the baby unattended. “It’s a push-you-pull-you dynamic of his job at the penthouse against the need to care for the baby, which is the essential tension of the narrative,” Atkinson explains. The resulting humour is inventive and often absurd – Hermes scarves doubling as nappies, Fortnum & Mason hampers serving as cribs – but never cruel. Trevor is fundamentally competent, a loving father, and that warmth shapes the show’s tone.
Unsurprisingly, the baby quickly emerges as a scene-stealer. “They are great looking, aren’t they? I say ‘they’ because when you’re trying to use babies in film, you go for twins, and our twins were great,” Atkinson says. There was also another familiar scene-stealer from “Man vs Bee”: the dog. “We like dogs as animals, and we like to have them in shows,” he adds.
Filming with infants and animals is a challenge. “One baby might suddenly get grumpy, and you’d have to swap him for their twin brother. They’re only allowed on set for forty-five minutes at a time,” he explains. Yet despite these constraints, or perhaps because of them, the babies become unmissable. “They’re completely unpredictable, but also completely engaging, because you know they’re giving an inherent truth that you’re not getting from an adult performer.”
“Man vs Baby” also differs structurally from “Man vs Bee.” The previous series featured ten brisk ten-minute episodes; this one offers four half-hour instalments. Besides this format change, Atkinson also notes a tonal shift. “I think it’s a more accessible show. My character is definitely softer and nicer. In ‘Man vs Bee,’ he’s quite psychopathic because the irritation of the bee drives him into that state. Whereas in ‘Man vs Baby’, we see a much nicer side to him.”
Trevor Bingley, Atkinson explains, is one of the nicest characters he has ever played. Unlike Blackadder, who is relentlessly cynical, or Mr Bean, who is self-centred and childish, Trevor is “relentlessly well-meaning.” He represents, perhaps, the softer side of Atkinson himself, though the actor is quick to clarify that creating a likeable character was never the point. “My natural inclination would be to avoid that. I really enjoy playing people who are unpleasant, sarcastic, cynical, or self-centred. The fact that this one is nicer doesn’t give me enhanced satisfaction – it’s just the character that suited our story.”
For Atkinson, the appeal of “Man vs Baby” lies as much in its humor as its humanity. Christmas provides a backdrop for eccentric comedy and emotional resonance. Trevor finds himself alone over the holidays, abandoned by his daughter, who has booked a last-minute trip to Barbados. Wrapped presents sit under a tiny tree decorated with candy wrappers, a scene simultaneously funny and poignant. Yet through encounters with a cast of lonely or struggling supporting characters – a young couple squatting in the penthouse basement, for instance – Trevor ultimately discovers a makeshift community. “I think a lot of us have waifs and strays at Christmas – people who haven’t got anywhere else to go, or friends who are having a bad time, but they manage to find a community of some kind to have a meal with. That’s definitely a nice feeling about our story. We have a kind of redemption at the end. It turns out Trevor’s not alone after all.”
The series is also a study in absurd ingenuity. Trevor’s solutions to domestic dilemmas are eccentric and inventive – a champagne cork substituting for a pacifier, twenty-four bottles of £200 vintage champagne bought at a moment’s notice, a Christmas tree too large to fit through the door. There are clear echoes of Mr Bean’s physical humour, but in “Man vs Baby,” the comedy grows out of Trevor’s attempts to navigate real-life responsibilities, giving the chaos structure and emotional weight.
Making the series was an all-encompassing effort. Atkinson was not only performing but deeply involved in writing, post-production, and editing. “I put in the hours. I don’t just turn up to act the role,” he says. “If people enjoy what I’ve put a lot of effort into producing, I’m happy. That’s the litmus test for me.”
As for the festive season, Atkinson intends to step away and recover perspective on his year-long project. “I would like to get some distance because currently I’m a bit too close to it and can only watch it as a bit of a perfectionist. But when it’s all edited and graded, I hope I can watch it like anybody else and just enjoy it.”
For viewers, however, there is a treat in store: a four-part series that blends chaos and tenderness, absurdity and heart, all under the watchful eye of one of Britain’s most enduring comic talents.
“Man vs Baby” arrives on Netflix on 11 December.
