Man vs Bee
Genre
Creator
WriterWilliam Davies
DirectorDavid Kerr
StarringRowan Atkinson
ComposerLorne Balfe
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Num series1
Num episodes9
Executive producer
  • Chris Clark
  • William Davies
CinematographyKarl Óskarsson
EditorMark Davies
Runtime10–19 minutes
CompanyHouseSitter Productions
NetworkNetflix
Released24 June 2022
RelatedMan vs Baby

Man vs Bee is a British comedy television miniseries created and written by Rowan Atkinson and William Davies. The show consists of nine episodes, each of them directed by David Kerr. Atkinson stars as a down-on-his-luck man who finds himself entrenched in a battle with a bee while house sitting a rich couple's modern mansion. Jing Lusi, Claudie Blakley, Tom Basden, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Greg McHugh, and India Fowler also feature.

Man vs Bee premiered on Netflix on 24 June 2022 and received generally positive reviews from critics. A follow-up miniseries, Man vs Baby, was released on 11 December 2025.

Premise

A house sitter named Trevor finds himself entrenched in an ongoing battle with a bumblebee while lodging in an elegant mansion, damaging expensive items in the house in his attempt to kill it, which fails.

Cast and characters

Additionally, Gediminas Adomaitis appears as Marek, Christian Alifoe as Karl, and Daniel Fearn as Lewis, the three burglars. Chizzy Akudolu appears as a judge, and Aysha Kala as a police detective.

Production

Development

Man vs Bee was created by Atkinson and William Davies.[1] The series was written by Davies, and directed by David Kerr.[1] Davies had "been unsuccessfully pitching bee battles to Atkinson for years".[2] Atkinson described the process as creating a story "roughly the length of a movie", then editing to 10 episodes.[3] The editing process included creating cliffhangers for the end of episodes that would not be needed for a movie.[3] Atkinson said the series was inspired by a segment of Mr. Bean from 1992.[4] Atkinson described his character as "different" to Mr. Bean, "much nicer and much sweeter and more normal person" with a "weak spot" of "obsessiveness", compared to Mr. Bean's "self-centred, narcissistic anarchist".[2] The first script meeting occurred just over three years before, and filmed a year before, release.[2] While promoting the series, Kerr left the possibility of a second season open.[5]

Filming

The series was filmed over 12 weeks, the interior scenes at Bovingdon Studios, Hertfordshire, and exterior scenes throughout Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.[6] They could not film in a real house due to COVID-19 concerns by homeowners.[7] Branded products were used to illustrate "the couple's luxury lifestyle", though were not paid for by brand owners.[7] The show borrowed "the oldest surviving Jaguar E-Type" from its owner, but created a replica for Atkinson's character to destroy.[7] The Bee was either a physical model, or computer-generated by Framestore, depending on whether the Bee was static.[8]

Music

The series was composed by Lorne Balfe, and the 20-track soundtrack was released alongside the series on 24 June 2022.[9]

Release

The series was announced 13 December 2020.[10] The cast and release date were announced on 14 April 2022.[1] The trailer for the series was released 26 May 2022.[11] Nine episodes were released on Netflix 24 June 2022.[12] Promotion for the series included a billboard in Manchester,[13] and a Beano comic strip by Nigel Parkinson.[14] Three sculptures of Atkinson were created and unveiled at St Paul's Cathedral to promote the series and raise awareness for the issues faced by "native species of British bees and pollinators".[15]

Reception

Audience viewership

The series was viewed for 18.2 million hours across its opening weekend, ranking tenth globally on Netflix for the week ending 26 June 2022.[16] By 3 July 2022, the series had been viewed for 25.4 million hours and risen to seventh on Netflix globally for the preceding week.[17]

Critical response

[18] [19]

Atkinson's performance has been praised by critics. Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian argued Atkinson was "intentionally funny in all nine episodes".[20] James Hibbs of Radio Times argued he "doesn't stray from his trademark, cringe-inducing slapstick hijinks" and he "does it better than anyone".[21] Anita Singh of The Telegraph said he has "lost none of his skill".[22] Joel Keller of Decider argued "this series shows off all the skills that have made his career so successful" and "the times when Atkinson gets very physical" is a highlight.[23] Ben Dowell of The Times described Atkinson's performance as "reassuringly familiar" and "commandingly skilful as you would expect", but less enjoyable to watch screw things up than Mr. Bean can be.[24] Steve Bennett of Chortle said "Atkinson remains a master of this genre".[25]

However, Imogen West-Knights of New Statesman argued Atkinson in Man vs Bee does not reach "the queasy delights of Bean".[26] Hibbs criticised the series for being too long and pacing lulling in the middle,[21] West-Knights similarly criticised the release format.[26] Vicky Jessop of Evening Standard argued the plot wears thin by the end of the first episode, and the others are too long.[27] Jeffries, and West-Knights, criticised the lack of characterisation for the Bee.[20][26] Jeffries, Sean O'Grady of The Independent, and Camilla Long of The Times, criticised the product placement.[20][28][29]

Sequel

Main article: Man vs Baby

The sequel series Man vs Baby was announced to be in production in December 2024.[30][31] It was released on 11 December 2025.[32]

References

  1. ^ Goldbart, Max (14 April 2022). "'Crazy Rich Asians' Star Jing Lusi Boards Netflix's 'Man Vs Bee' As Rowan Atkinson Comedy Reveals Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Archived 10 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  2. ^ Billen, Andrew (10 June 2022). "Rowan Atkinson: 'Perfectionism is a kind of disease'". The Times. Archived 26 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  3. ^ Pearce, Tilly (24 June 2022). "Rowan Atkinson admits secrets behind his lasting comedy legacy". Digital Spy. Archived 27 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  4. ^ Hibbs, James (23 June 2022). "Rowan Atkinson calls Man Vs Bee an "extrapolation" of old Mr Bean sketch". Radio Times. Archived 26 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  5. ^ Yossman, K. J. (24 June 2022). "'Man vs Bee' Director David Kerr Details Working With Rowan Atkinson, CGI Bee: 'It's Moby Dick in Miniature'". Variety. Archived 25 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  6. ^ Hibbs, James (24 June 2022). "Man vs Bee location guide: Where is the luxury home in Netflix's comedy series?". Radio Times. Archived 25 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  7. ^ Singh, Anita (25 June 2022). "Netflix turns Rowan Atkinson's Man vs Bee into shop window for luxe products". The Telegraph. Archived 27 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  8. ^ Wilson, Victoria (18-24 June 2022). "UN-bee-LIEVABLE!". TVTimes. London: Future plc. pp. 20–21. ISSN 0962-1660
  9. ^ "Soundtrack Album for Netflix's 'Man vs. Bee' to Be Released". Film Music Reporter. Archived 23 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  10. ^ Haring, Bruce (13 December 2020). "Netflix To Add Seven New Original Scripted Series In The UK". Deadline Hollywood. Archived 10 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  11. ^ Kirby, Meaghan (26 May 2022). "Rowan Atkinson Is at War with a Bee in MAN VS BEE Trailer". Nerdist. Archived 9 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Shows A-Z – Man Vs Bee on netflix". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  13. ^ Nichols, Conor (23 June 2022). "Netflix promotes its Rowan Atkinson 'Man vs Bee' series with 3D OOH Manchester push – Marketing Beat". Marketing Beat. Archived 28 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  14. ^ PRWeek UK staff (17 June 2022). "Rowan Atkinson in Beano, Ian Wright in retail, Wimbledon in NY – Campaigns round-up". PRWeek. Archived 17 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  15. ^ Campbell, Tina (23 June 2022). "Rowan Atkinson poses with flower sculpture of himself to help endangered bees". Evening Standard. Archived 26 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  16. ^ Hailu, Selome (28 June 2022). "Netflix Top 10: 'Umbrella Academy' Season 3 Usurps 'Stranger Things 4' With 125 Million Hours Watched". Variety. Archived 28 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  17. ^ Hailu, Selome (5 July 2022). "Netflix Top 10: 'Stranger Things 4' Becomes Second Title Ever to Cross 1 Billion Hours Viewed". Variety. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Man vs. Bee" (tv). man_vs_bee. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Man Vs Bee" (tv). man-vs-bee. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  20. ^ Stuart, Jeffries (24 June 2022). "Man vs Bee review – Rowan Atkinson channels Bean and Baldrick in his new slapstick sitcom". The Guardian. Archived 24 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  21. ^ Hibbs, James (22 June 2022). "Man vs Bee review: Rowan Atkinson's most deranged character yet". Radio Times. Archived 23 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  22. ^ Singh, Anita (20 June 2022). "Man vs Bee, review: Rowan Atkinson's bumbling comic creation seems awfully familiar". The Telegraph. Archived 21 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  23. ^ Keller, Joel (24 June 2022). "'Man Vs. Bee' Netflix Review: Stream It Or Skip It?". Decider. Archived 25 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  24. ^ Dowell, Ben (20 June 2022). "Man vs Bee review — Rowan Atkinson's new show is a (mostly intentionally) painful watch". The Times. Archived 25 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  25. ^ Bennett, Steve (24 June 2022). "Man Vs Bee". Chortle. Archived 27 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  26. ^ West-Knights, Imogen (22 June 2022). "Rowan Atkinson's Man vs Bee: the most perplexing minutes I have ever spent watching TV". New Statesman. Archived 24 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  27. ^ Jessop, Vicky (22 June 2022). "Man Vs Bee review: An argument for cancelling your Netflix subscription". Evening Standard. Archived 22 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  28. ^ O'Grady, Sean (24 June 2022). "Rowan Atkinson's Man vs Bee is a better Bean – review". The Independent. Archived 25 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  29. ^ Long, Camilla (26 June 2022). "Rowan Atkinson's Man vs Bee: the least Netflix show ever". The Times. Archived 26 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  30. ^ Goldbart, Max (16 December 2024). "Rowan Atkinson Returning To Netflix For 'Man Vs Baby'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  31. ^ "Rowan Atkinson returns to Netflix for Man vs Baby". Radio Times. 16 December 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  32. ^ "Holiday Movies and Shows on Netflix". Netflix Tudum. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 11 December 2025.