{"id":626237,"date":"2025-12-11T12:20:49","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T12:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/626237\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T12:20:49","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T12:20:49","slug":"rowan-atkinson-says-i-apologise-as-he-shares-man-vs-baby-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/626237\/","title":{"rendered":"Rowan Atkinson says &#8216;I apologise&#8217; as he shares Man vs Baby criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>EXCLUSIVE: The Mr Bean and Blackadder legend was asked about his favourite scene to film for his new Netflix series<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_85fa2b\">Katherine Palmer<\/strong> Senior TV Reporter for Screen Time <\/p>\n<p>06:30, 11 Dec 2025<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/news\/tv\/man-vs-baby-netflix-release-32981950\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\">Man vs Baby has just landed on Netflix,<\/a> and the four-part series serves as a sequel to Man vs Bee, with<a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/news\/tv\/netflix-announces-rowan-atkinsons-man-32634390\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\"> Rowan Atkinson returning as Trevor Bingley.<\/a> Whilst his previous role saw him house-sitting, Trevor now finds himself responsible for something far more delicate in Man Vs Baby, after taking on work as a school caretaker.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/netflix\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\">Netflix<\/a> festive comedy chronicles Trevor&#8217;s unexpected childcare duties when he&#8217;s left in charge of a baby who had been cast as the infant Jesus in the school nativity play, accidentally abandoned by his mother. During a Q&amp;A session following an early preview of the series, the Mr Bean and Blackadder star was asked about his most enjoyable scene to shoot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">His response might surprise some viewers, as he admitted: &#8220;I have none, I can&#8217;t think of anything that I enjoyed filming. But that&#8217;s just me when I&#8217;m filming, so I apologise for that.&#8221; Even after a moment&#8217;s reflection, he remained unable to identify a standout moment from production.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/news\/tv\/ripple-cast-explained-netflix-drama-33032123\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"33032123\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ripple cast explained as Netflix drama climbs charts<\/a>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/news\/tv\/emily-paris-season-5-release-33031026\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"33031026\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Emily in Paris season 5 release date, new cast and trailer as new romance teased<\/a><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Rowan-Atkinson-in-Man-vs-Baby.jpg\" alt=\"Rowan Atkinson in Man vs Baby\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Rowan Atkinson in Man vs Baby(Image: NETFLIX)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">When pressed, &#8220;You are not able to relax, even now?&#8221; he responded: &#8220;I think the show is very good, but I can also see holes in it. I keep thinking, hmm.&#8221; The 70 year old performer, comedian and writer has consistently expressed reservations about his own projects, including his earlier Netflix offering, Man vs Bee.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Speaking on The One Show, he previously revealed: &#8220;I&#8217;m always glad when it&#8217;s over. I don&#8217;t really enjoy the shooting, I enjoy the scriptwriting, we spent two years trying to write the thing and compose the thing. I enjoyed the postproduction and the bit of shooting I got quite stressed about. I&#8217;m always convinced whatever I have done, I haven&#8217;t done as well as I could.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">When questioned by an audience member regarding the Man vs Baby franchise&#8217;s future, he responded: &#8220;Well there&#8217;s nothing in the cupboard at the moment, the cupboard is bare. Literally no plans.&#8221; Co-writer William Davies quickly intervened, suggesting there are &#8220;many other things&#8221; in development, though acknowledged: &#8220;Rowan rather would never do anything ever again, that is where we always begin&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The actor confessed that working with an actual infant during filming &#8220;wasn&#8217;t easy&#8221;, explaining: &#8220;You can only have a baby on set for 45 minutes [a total of two hours a day] and a shoot day is eight or 10 hours so there are so many hours that you can&#8217;t actually continue filming that scene. You have got to film a different scene, or a different shot, just looking the other way. The scheduling is tricky with babies.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"JWPlayer_poster-image___jQGK\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765455649_713_poster.jpg\" alt=\"videoHeadline\"\/>Some of Rowan Atkinson&#8217;s past roles<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;So we have identical twins, the hero babies, and then we had twin crawling babies because the hero babies couldn&#8217;t crawl. So that&#8217;s where the CGI comes in, when you implant the face of the hero baby into the crawling baby.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In a separate interview, Atkinson said he did not create Trevor Bingley with the desire to play a &#8220;nice&#8221; character. He shared: &#8220;No, I think my natural inclination would be to avoid that. I really enjoy playing people who are unpleasant, sarcastic, cynical, or self-centred. I just enjoy inhabiting characters, and the fact that this one is nicer than most doesn&#8217;t give me any enhanced satisfaction. It certainly wasn&#8217;t a deliberate or contrived thing; that\u2019s just the character that suited our story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve never contrived to produce or write family entertainment. Nearly everything I&#8217;ve done has only become family entertainment by happy accident. Johnny English and Mr Bean became popular with children, and Blackadder was popular with teenagers, but that wasn\u2019t what I set out to do with any of them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;To make a family show like this for Netflix has been lovely. I think parents and children could watch Man Versus Bee together very happily, but Man Versus Baby has even more cross-generational appeal, which, I hope, is appropriate for <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/christmas\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\">Christmas<\/a> programming.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Man Vs Baby is available to stream on Netflix.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: The Mr Bean and Blackadder legend was asked about his favourite scene to film for his new&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[77,451,382,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-626237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-netflix","10":"tag-tv","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115700911055650618","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}