Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean" is the seventh episode of the British television series ''Mr. Bean'', produced by Tiger Television for Thames Television. It was first broadcast as a Christmas special on ITV on Tuesday 29 December 1992 as part of ITV's Christmas schedule and was watched by 18.48 million viewers during its original transmission.

This was the last episode to be co-written by Richard Curtis and the last to be broadcast by Thames Television on behalf of the ITV network. It also marks the last appearance of Mr. Bean's girlfriend, Irma Gobb (Matilda Ziegler) in the original live-action series until reappearing on '' Mr. Bean: The Animated Series'' ten years later.

Plot

Part One

On Christmas Eve, Mr. Bean visits Harrods to buy decorations. While the cashier sorts out his purchases, Bean uses a Nativity display to act out a scene with other toys, before his fun is brought to a halt by the store manager, who brings in a figure of a police officer, before handing Bean his purchases; Bean promptly leaves.

Bean heads to the town square and meets his girlfriend, Irma Gobb. Irma points to a ring that she wants in a jewellery shop window, but Bean instead buys a picture of a couple right next to it, thinking this is what she is pointing to.

Bean volunteers to assist the conductor of a Salvation Army brass band in collecting donations; in doing so, he catches a pickpocket and forces him to hand over all of his stolen items. Bean ends up conducting the band in a ridiculous way while the conductor tries on some jewellery pilfered by the pickpocket. Afterwards, he attempts to purchase a Christmas tree but, finding none available, decides to steal the square's tree instead.

Part Two

Back at his flat, Bean cuts off the top of the stolen tree and sets it up. After failing to pop a Christmas cracker, he stuffs multiple fuses into one "super cracker". Later, Bean hangs up three stockings: one for Teddy, one for himself, and one for a mouse living in a hole. A group of young carolers arrive his door and sing "Away in a Manger"; Bean watches them, but eventually grows tired and shuts the door on them, heading to bed.

The next morning, Bean wakes up and pulls out presents from the stockings. He then prepares to cook a turkey, but loses his watch while stuffing it. When Bean tries to find the watch with his head inside the turkey, he becomes stuck just as Irma arrives. After he fails to hide his predicament, Irma assists him by tying the turkey to a coal scuttle and tossing it out the window.

After Bean and Irma have dinner, Irma gifts Bean a model ship kit. In turn, Bean gives Irma her present, but she is disappointed to find that it is the picture from the window display. Bean then realises that he "forgot the main bit" and takes out a ring box, which delights Irma. When she opens the box, however, she discovers that it actually contains a hook for the picture. Irma storms out angrily, leaving Bean puzzled and hurt. Remembering his "super cracker," he decides to pull it himself, resulting in a loud explosion.

Cast

* Rowan Atkinson – Mr. Bean
* Matilda Ziegler – Irma Gobb
* C. J. Allen — Santa outside Harrods
* Owen Brenman – Harrods clerk
* John Warner — Band conductor
* Lee Barrett — Pickpocket
* Robin Driscoll — Turkey weight customer (deleted scene, uncredited)

Production

Most of the location scenes, set in a market, were shot on videotape in Kingston upon Thames. Studio sequences were recorded before a live audience at Thames Television's Teddington Studios. Following its broadcast on American cable television network HBO, this episode won the 1995 CableACE award for best comedy special.

A number of elements were used as inspiration for other programmes. The "lights on a major building being accidentally switched off" gag is used by comedian Peter Kay at the end of his ''Live at the Top of the Tower'' DVD, while the turkey scene inspired a scene in an episode of ''Friends'' titled "The One with All the Thanksgivings", and later led to an adaptation for the film ''Bean'', though it was cut out of the international release (outside North America) and reserved for a special feature section entitled "Bean Scenes Unseen". Another turkey gag was used in the '' Mr. Bean: The Animated Series'' episode "Dinner for Two".

During the nativity scene, Bean introduces a military marching band while humming "The British Grenadiers", the first two bars of which is sampled in the theme tune to ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', another sitcom Rowan Atkinson starred in and Richard Curtis co-wrote.

Extended scene

An extended scene, which is not seen in the original broadcast of the episode but was included in the American broadcasts on HBO and included in some home media versions, where Bean attempts to win the turkey he eventually ended up wearing on his head. The contest being to guess the turkey's weight, he sneaks a pair of scales to the counter; having already weighed himself, he subtracts his weight from the combined weight using a Casio calculator. The person in charge of the contest is shocked when Bean guesses the exact weight (to three decimal places) and wins it. He then roughly throws the turkey into his car boot and slams it shut.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Merry Christmas Mr. Bean
Mr. Bean episodes
1992 British television episodes
CableACE Award–winning episodes
British Christmas television episodes
Television shows written by Rowan Atkinson
Television shows written by Richard Curtis
Television shows written by Robin Driscoll