Have you wondered what it’d be like to watch a TV show starring Rowan Atkinson and a bee? No, me neither – but such a show does exist with Netflix’s upcoming comedy series, Man Vs Bee. Yes, you’ve read that correctly, and this is genuine. There’s even a trailer. Man Vs Bee pits Rowan Atkinson against his most formidable foe yet. That would be the bee.
The trailer opens with the Blackadder star in court facing multiple charges. These include dangerous driving, the destruction of priceless artwork, and arson. The trailer intercuts these scenes with Atkinson at the wheel of a speeding Aston Martin, going nuts with a flamethrower and destroying works of art. In his defence, Atkinson retorts that “there was this bee.” Hooked. Job done. Now I want to watch it.
Atkinson stars as Trevor Bingley, a House sitting associate from House Sitters Deluxe. After arriving at the state-of-the-art house, his winged nemesis pesters him onto the property. Trevor calls his daughter to tell her about his new job that will afford them a holiday. However, the bee won’t go away, and as he swats at the insect, he knocks off a wooden statue from a table.
This is only the beginning of a disaster waiting to happen. What inevitably ensues is a comedy of audacious errors, including accidents with crowbars, fingers being slammed under a piano lid, setting fires in the kitchen, being scared in the shower, and taking swings at the bee with a tennis racket.
Atkinson’s one-man duel against the pesky bee escalates as the trailer shows him weaving erratically through traffic in an Aston Martin and causing explosions in the garden.
Created, written, and starring Rowan Atkinson and Will Davis, Man Vs Bee debuts on Netflix on June 24, further starring Claudia Blakey, Jing Lusi, and Greg McHugh. The series has been written and created by Atkinson and Davis and will be directed by David Kerr.
