Hair by Mr. Bean of London

"Hair by Mr. Bean of London" is the fourteenth episode of the television series Mr. Bean, and was produced by Tiger Aspect Productions in 1995.

Plot

Act 1

Bean goes to Derrick's barber shop for a haircut. When the barber has made two attempts to make the first snip, which Bean dodges by tilting his head forward, the barber has to take a phone call. While he waits, three other customers come in, and assume Mr. Bean is the new hairdresser. He ends up giving them a series of terrible, unusual haircuts, including a bowl haircut for a boy, with a bald stripe down the middle (which he actually likes, but his mother doesn't). Derrick returns from his phone but the telephone rings again, so he excuses Bean and has to pick it up. Bean resumes as the substitute hairdresser. While Bean is cutting one man's hair, he gets distracted by the magazine the man is reading and accidentally severs his ponytail and then uses a picture of a ponytailed man behind the mirror to trick him.

He also accidentally shaves off another man's toupée, and remedies it by applying shaving cream to the man's bald spot and adding hair from the floor. Derrick finally returns from his phone call just as the mother of the boy and the other two customers return and blame him for their awful haircuts. While the customers are arguing with the barber, Bean sneaks off, hiding his face behind a portrait of Prince Charles to avoid being recognised. The last customer comes in and he mistakenly greets him as Prince Charles himself. Bean finally sneaks off and leaves.

Act 2

Bean goes to a fête. Firstly, he is unable to find somewhere to park, so he instead parks in one of the sheep pens (after sounding the horn to get the sheep out of the way). He then goes inside and cheats at the indoor games. First, he jogs a young boy who is playing a wire loop game, causing him to lose the game. He then plays the game himself, but after failing on the first attempt he unplugs it and wins; the owner realises it has been unplugged only after giving Bean his prize. Then he plays "Hit the Headmaster" (in which the late George Webb is the "headmaster") and gets a bit carried away. He starts throwing objects, like canned peas and cereal boxes, at the "headmaster". He almost throws a chair, but a nearby teacher stops him.

Act 3

Later, Bean attends a dog show, entering his Teddy into the competition. Bean cheats his way through everything even though he wins easily because the other kids' dogs were not trained well, much to the annoyance of the contest organizers. After the show, the organizer awards two kids a ribbon while Bean receives a huge bone, but doesn't want it, so he takes a jar of honey instead much to his satisfaction. He throws the bone back into the tent, creating a mayhem between children and dogs (off-screen). While in mayhem, Bean exits the tent.

Act 4

Bean gets off at St Pancras railway station. Unfortunately, he has lost his ticket, so decides to sneak past the guards. After numerous failed attempts, he hides inside a mailbag and crawls towards the gate. While the guards are gone, Bean climbs onto the gate, but two station workers turn the gate around. Bean crawls off the gate and celebrates, thinking that he has made it through, but ends up falling onto the train tracks. Two station workers appear and put the mailbag (with Bean still inside) onto a train, destined for Moscow. Clips of the sea and then of Moscow are then shown playing over the end credits.

Production

The original theme song, by the Choir of Southwark Cathedral, was used in the opening titles. However, the end credits incorrectly credited it to the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.

On the door of the railway coach next to the English inscription of Moscow (MOSCOW), we see some pseudo-Cyrillic baloney (НПУЛЦА) instead of Москва (МОСКВА). Co-writer Robin Driscoll made a cameo appearance as the railway guard, his first since "Mr. Bean Goes to Town". At the railway station, on the wall in the background is a billboard for The Beatles' single "Baby It's You", and another for The Best Punk Album in the World...Ever!.

Broadcast

"Hair by Mr. Bean of London" was first released on VHS in 1995, as a video exclusive, and until 2006, it was the only episode never to air on any United Kingdom television station. This episode was broadcast overseas, and was even shown on the Irish television channel RTÉ One in 2005, as well as on the ABC in Australia and on TV3 in New Zealand. It was also screened on Indonesian television on 29 June 2005.

The episode was first screened on United Kingdom television on 25 August 2006, when it was shown on satellite, pay TV and cable channels Nickelodeon UK and Comedy Central Extra, but for some time remained the only full-length Mr Bean episode not to air on United Kingdom terrestrial television. It has since been broadcast on ITV.

Legacy

Act 1 inspired a short on Mr. Bean, The Animated Series called "Haircut". The train scene inspired the train scene from 'Mr. Bean's Holiday'.

External links

• "Hair by Mr. Bean of London" at the Internet Movie Database