The Trouble with Mr. Bean

"The Trouble with Mr. Bean"

"The Trouble with Mr. Bean" is the fifth episode of the television series Mr. Bean, and mainly features two sketches, including a scene in which Mr. Bean changes into his clothes while driving in his car. It is the first episode to feature Bean's cuddly toy, Teddy, featured guest appearances by Richard Wilson and Caroline Quentin, and was one of the highest rated episodes of the programme. It was originally aired on ITV on 1 January 1992.

Plot

Act 1: The Dentist Appointment

Mr. Bean has a dental appointment for the morning, but as his alarms go off at eight o'clock to ensure he wakes up and has time to prepare for it, he continues to sleep in his bed, ignoring the chimes of his grandfather clock, dunking a battery powered alarm clock into a glass of water, and stopping a hose spraying hot water from his coffeemaker by plugging it with the big toe on his right foot. Eventually, Bean gets up fifty minutes later, blissfully unaware of his appointment, as he conducts some light exercise, brings out his clothes, and then has difficulty shaving when his electric razor catches his nasal hairs. Upon noticing a sign he made to remind him of the appointment, he realises he is running late, and proceeds to grab his clothes, his shoes, and his toothbrush and toothpaste, and heads for his car, coming back suddenly to ensure his cuddly toy, Teddy, is tucked up in his bed. Rushing for the appointment, Bean proceeds to change into his clothing, using a brick on the accelerator for some of the journey alongside his feet for the steering, before eventually brushing his teeth, using the car's screenwash to rinse his mouth out before spitting it out, the contents landing on the backside of a local builder who assumes it is bird excrement.

Arriving at the dental surgery of Dr. A. M. Peggit in the nick of time, Bean parks out front, forcing the blue Reliant out of a reserved parking space. Just as he heads inside, a passing traffic warden makes him notice that a part of his pyjamas is sticking out of his trousers, forcing him to remove it and toss it in his Mini. Once inside, Bean finds himself sitting in the waiting room for the dentist, whereupon finding nothing good to read other than a comic book in the hands of a young boy, proceeds to trick the boy's mother into thinking he has wet himself to get the comic, only to find he has not time for it upon the dentist waiting to see him next. Inside with Dr. Peggit, Bean causes mayhem behind the dentist's back, knocking the dental chair out of position and being forced to correct it with its controls, and messing about with some of the equipment. Eventually, he accidentally numbs the dentist's leg by stabbing a needle containing a dose of local anaesthetic, causing him to fall over, pulling down an x-ray blocker by accident that knocks him out. Feeling inconvenienced by this, Bean decides to do what the dentist was planning to do - put a filling into his tooth. Although he manages to do this, he soon finds that the holder containing the dental map of his teeth can flip vertically and horizontally, leaving him to drill each tooth and put filling on all of them, effectively causing them to be stuck together. Fortunately, Bean gets a fright when Dr. Peggit recovers, and satisfied with his own work, he leaves the dentist to enjoy the rest of the day.

Act 2: The Picnic

Heading for the park for a picnic on his own, Bean heads inside for find a spot, and while passing by a boating lake, spots a young boy having difficulty with his remote control boat. Offering to help, he opens up the controller and tweaks with the circuitry inside, fixing the problem. Unbeknown to both Bean and the boy, the controller also takes control of an elderly man's electric wheelchair just behind them, which goes wherever the remote control boat goes. After hogging the controller for some time, Bean hands it back to the boy and leaves, just as the now empty wheelchairs comes in behind him, pushing the boy into the lake just as Bean finds a nice spot. He soon begins setting up his picnic with a large blanket, a pocket radio, a cake stand, a plate, a bottle of orange juice, a small chair, a book, and nice iced cupcake complete with cherry. Unbeknown to him, a car thief breaks into his Mini and hotwires it, only to find the steering wheel is missing; Bean had removed it and had it with him in the case containing his picnic stuff.

As Bean prepares to read his book and eat his cake, a wasp suddenly buzzes around his spot and refuses to leave him alone, irritating him. He soon attempts to deal with it as he goes after his cake, swatting at it, jousting with it, chasing it around, and even trying to drown it in his bottle of juice, Bean finally manages to kill it by tricking it into landing on the pages of his book and closing them shut on it. Satisfied, he soon resumes what he was doing, only to find an entire swarm of wasps coming for him, forcing him to run from his picnic site. Unable to lose them, Bean tosses his cake into a nearby car, unaware that the car thief is now in it, who soon finds himself being targeted by the wasps.

Cast

• Rowan Atkinson - Mr. Bean
• Richard Wilson - Dr. A. M. Peggit
• Caroline Quentin - Traffic Warden
• Sam Mead - Schoolboy
• Christine Ellerbeck - Schoolboy's mother
• Hugo Mendez - Boy in park
• Michael Godley - Man in wheelchair
• Nathan Lewis - Car thief
• Bridget Brammall - Dental nurse

Broadcast and reception

The Trouble with Mr Bean was the highest rated episode of the programme, with an audience of 18.74 million viewers watching the original transmission.

Legacy

A number of scenes inspired scenes and stories in Mr. Bean, The Animated Series:

• The scene at the dentist inspired the story for the episode called "Toothache"
• The scene between Mr. Bean and the wasp inspired a similar event for the episode "Artful Bean".
• The scene in which Mr. Bean got his shaver stuck on his nasal hair was reused for the episode "Wanted".
• The scene in which Mr. Bean stopped his coffeemaker waking him by plugging up the hose attached to it that sprayed hot water onto his feet was adapted as part of a scene in clock "Birthday Bear"

A diagram of the clock and hose invention in this episode, also featured in the book Mr Bean's Diary, released in 1993.

External links

• "The Trouble with Mr. Bean" at IMDb