Episode no. Episode 6 | Produced by Sue Vertue | |
Directed by Paul Weiland
John Birkin Written by Robin Driscoll
Richard Curtis
Rowan Atkinson Original air date 17 February 1992 (1992-February-17) Running time 24:30 (original transmission)
28:33 (inclusion of deleted scene) | ||
"Mr. Bean Rides Again" is the sixth episode of the television series Mr. Bean, and consists of two small stories, the first consisting of two sketches, the second consisting of three. It was the last episode to credit both John Birkin and Paul Weiland as directors, as the former was later credited for all videotape scenes and the latter credited for all film scenes, while it was also the last to feature the episode title in the opening credits, as later episodes would display the episode's title after this on the first scene. In addition, later episodes after this would only credit Robin Driscoll and Rowan Atkinson as co-writers of the programme. The episode was originally aired on ITV on 17 February 1992.
Contents
Act 1: First Aid and the Letter
Mr. Bean has a letter he wants to post, but upon unlocking his car through finding a number of keys hidden within it, he finds that the battery is dead, and so decides to take the bus. A few moments upon reaching the bus stop, a man waiting there suddenly has a heart attack, causing Bean to panic. Seeking to help revive him, he attempts to pump air into his chest with his foot, tries mouth-to-mouth resuscitation using the man's magazine as a funnel, and then pours several of the man's pills down his throat, but these methods don't work. He eventually uses electric shock treatment by borrowing some jump leads and connecting it to a nearby lamppost. Although this initially works, Bean forgets to remove the jump leads from his hands when the man offers a handshake, electrocuting him and causing him to pass out. Fleeing the scene, Bean watches as an ambulance arrives, and decides to use its battery to jumpstart the Mini. He soon leaves quickly once the paramedics have the man onboard, leaving them to find their ambulance is now disabled thanks to having a drained battery.
Now on the road, Bean pulls out a book of stamps and places the last one on his tongue, preparing to put it on the letter he wants to post, when he suddenly spots a postbox. Parking next to it, he prepares to stick the stamp on the envelope, only to realise he accidentally swallowed it. Seeing a lady preparing to post a letter, Bean offers to do it for her and pretends to post it. Once she is out of sight, he immediately uses steam from his car's radiator to remove the stamp on it, and uses a sweet stuck in his pocket to help him stick it on his letter. Giving his letter to the postman as he comes to empty the postbox, Bean spots the lady return after finding her letter on the ground, and quickly hides in the postbox as she complains to the postman about its missing stamp, effectively trapping himself within. After some time, another postman arrives and frees him, whereupon he loses his car keys down a drain and finds himself forced to wait for a bus. When one does come along, it has no more room for him, forcing him to wait for the next one.
Act 2: Packing, the Train, and Flying Out
At his flat, Mr. Bean is packing for a holiday, but finds he has a small case that does not have space for everything he wants to take – several tins of baked beans, several shirts, toiletries, and even Teddy. Realising he must make sacrifices, Bean decides to pack less into the case. After deciding to take a few tins, he proceeds to use "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" to chose one of the shirts he wants to take along, before changing the one he picks out for another. He then cuts off the legs of some trousers to make them into shorts, finding it unnecessary as he already had some, before choosing to take one sandal, switches a towel for a flannel, breaks his toothbrush, and pours most of his toothpaste down the sink. Left with Teddy, Bean finds he doesn't have the heart to cut him up, and manages to fit him into the tiny suitcase. Just then, he spots a book he forgot to pack in, and comes across a large briefcase under his bed for it, suddenly realising he could have used it to pack his belongings. Realising his mistake, Bean accepts what he does and stuffs the small suitcase into the larger one alongside his book.
Heading for the airport by train, Bean enters a compartment and sits across from another man who is reading. As he prepares to read his own book, the man begins to laugh loudly from what he is reading, causing Bean to struggle to enjoy his book, attempting to plug his ears to not be disturbed by the laughter. Eventually, he finds some bubblegum under his seat and uses it as earplugs, which manage to work. Just then, the train's guard arrives to check on the pair's tickets, causing Bean to be startled, accidentally throwing his book out of the open window of the compartment, along with his ticket, causing the man to laugh at his misfortune. Eventually, Bean makes it for his flight, and finds himself sat next to a young boy. As the flight is underway, he decides to enjoy the music with his headphones, until the plane's air stewardess asks him to look after the boy who has showing signs of airsickness. Hoping to cheer him up, he tries various methods, including sticking bits of magazine on his face, and playing with a self-inflating life jacket. The plane soon suffers from turbulence, to which Bean jokingly makes gestures of sickness, before opting to blow up a paper bag and pop it, finding the bag too small for this. Searching for another as the plane hits another pocket of turbulence, he fails to notices the boy vomit into a mid-flight sick bag, and upon seeing him hold it up, assumes he is offering him it to use. Bean blows it up and proceeds to pop it as the scene blacks out and ends.
Deleted scene
An additional scene was designed a month after the fourth episode - on Friday 15 November 1991 - to end the first story of the episode, following Mr. Bean's mishap with posting a letter. The scene focused on his efforts to remain at the front of the queue at a bus stop, first by distracting a woman with baby in a pram, and then distracting a blind man, only to find the bus' doors stopping at the back of the queue and finding himself unable to board it. The scene featured appearances by both Matilda Ziegler and Robin Driscoll, but was cut out from the original broadcast not only because of time constraints, but also for a section of the scene in which Bean tricks the blind man to walk out into the road and nearly be run over.
Cast
Broadcast
Mr. Bean Rides Again was watched by 17.11 million viewers for the original transmission.
Legacy
Two of the moments from the final scene were reused for the films featuring Mr. Bean. The segment involving him popping a vomit-filled bag was reused in the first film, in which Bean attempts to amuse a boy across from him in the first class section of the plane, by popping a bag he threw up in, over a passenger in front of him, with a later scene showing him hiding from their sight upon landing. An earlier segment, involving Bean using bits of magazine strips on his face, was reused in Mr. Bean's Holiday, in which he does so to cheer up the son of a Cannes Film Festival jury member.
In addition, the first story of the episode contained elements that inspired the story for an episode of Mr. Bean: The Animated Series, entitled "Car Trouble".
Censors
The scene involving the heart attack was edited out of the episode when it was broadcast on Nickelodeon UK.