Mr Stink (film)

Mr Stink is a 60-minute BBC television film adaptation of the novel of the same name by David Walliams. It was first broadcast on 23 December 2012.

Plot

A 12-year-old girl named Chloe Crumb (Nell Tiger Free) is on the bus on the way to school. Her nemesis Pippa (Jemma Donovan) throws a banana skin on a tramp called Mr. Stink (Hugh Bonneville) sitting on a bench with his dog the Duchess (Pudsey). She goes to see Mr. Stink, who asks for some sausages for the Duchess. The following morning, she takes some sausages to give them to Mr. Stink. Chloe's mother Caroline Crumb (Sheridan Smith) is a candidate to be the local MP. She rips up the story that Chloe wrote. Chloe and Mr. Stink enter Starbucks, where everyone runs away due to Mr. Stink's odour.

Pippa and her gang enter Starbucks, where Mr. Stink burps on them. Chloe asks Mr. Stink if he would like to stay in her garden shed. Mr. Stink initially refuses, but accepts to stay for the night, and then he decides to move in permanently. Chloe discovers her father was in the Serpents of Doom, and finds a burned guitar. Chloe finds her father hiding in the closet while getting her coat, who tells her he lost his job and that Chloe's mother burned his guitar. Chloe promises not to tell her mother about losing his job. Chloe washes Mr. Stink's coat. Chloe's sister Annabelle (Isabella Blake-Thomas) catches Chloe doing it and reports it to their mother, though Chloe's father says no one is there, deciding he won't tell since Chloe didn't tell.

During her mother's interview, Mr. Stink bursts into anger, becoming an Internet sensation, and leaves. Chloe's mother is invited on Politics Tonight, though Mr Stink must appear too, forcing them to search for Mr. Stink. Chloe finds Mr. Stink in Starbucks, and reconciles with him. On Politics Tonight, Chloe's mother lies, saying that she invited Mr Stink, but Mr Stink tells the truth. When a candidate from a rival party says he would invite Mr Stink into his garden shed, Chloe's mother bursts out, and is subsequently disgraced and forced by the Prime Minister (David Walliams) to withdraw her campaign.

While Chloe's father admits losing his job to Chloe's mother. Mr Stink and Chloe meet the Prime Minister, who is mean to Mr Stink. Chloe tells him "to stick his job offer up his fat bum". Mr Stink then tells Chloe his story, telling her that he was once a rich man named Lord Darlington. He had a wife called Agatha. She became pregnant, but when she was eight months pregnant, Mr Stink went to a party, leaving his wife at home, and when he got back, the house was ablaze. Agatha died and Mr. Stink, who couldn't bear living in the house any more, walked, walked, and never came back.

Mr Stink tells Chloe she can't come with him, though Chloe insists, and Mr Stink decides to talk with her mother. As Chloe packs her bags, her mother arrives crying, pleading with Chloe not to leave. Chloe eventually reconciles with her mother. Her mother gives back the ripped up story to Chloe, and gives Chloe's father a new guitar. While Chloe's father plays the guitar, Mr Stink leaves. Chloe runs after him, where he tells her he has decided to wander on. He gives Chloe a present, and says goodbye to Chloe. Chloe starts writing her journey with Mr Stink, which starts by "Mr. Stink stank. He also stunk. He was the stinkiest stinker who ever lived".

Cast

• Mr Stink - Hugh Bonneville
• Chloe Crumb - Nell Tiger Free
• Mr. Crumb - Johnny Vegas
• Mrs. Crumb - Sheridan Smith
• Annabelle Crumb - Isabella Blake-Thomas
• Raj - Harish Patel
• Prime minister - David Walliams
• Pippa (Rosamund) - Jemma Donovan

Broadcast

It aired from 6:30pm to 7:30pm on 23 December 2012 on BBC One; it was scheduled for Boxing Day but was later changed.^[1] The film was the most watched in its slot, watched by 6.34 million viewers. It was also broadcast in 3D and was the BBC's first ever narrative programme to be filmed in 3D.^[2]

Differences from the novel

Character differences

• In the novel, the girl whose target is always Chloe is named Rosamund. She is named Pippa in the film.
• Mr Stink's wife is named Violet in the novel; in the film, she is named Agatha.
• Elizabeth the cat does not appear in the film.
• Chloe is described as podgy in the novel; in the film, she isn't.
• In the novel, Chloe always gulps when she tells a lie; she doesn't in the film.
• The Duchess's odour isn't mentioned in the film. In the novel, she is said to stink, but not as bad as Mr. Stink.
• Chloe's mother's name is Janet in the novel. In the film, she is named Caroline.

Other differences

• In the novel, it never snows. In the film, it snows when Mr. Stink leaves to wander on.
• In the novel, Chloe's parents get into a heated argument about Mr. Stink.
• In the novel, Chloe's mother apologises to Mr. Stink for saying he stank on live television, while she doesn't in the film. When she apologises to Mr. Stink in the novel, she says her name is Janet. She is named Caroline in the film.
• In the film, the Prime Minister has only one aide, while he has multiple in the novel. Also, his nastiness to Mr. Stink is approved of by his aides in the novel. In the film, his aide bursts out laughing when he is told to "stick his job idea in his fat bum" by Mr. Stink.
• In the novel, Chloe tells the Prime Minister "to stick it up his fat bum". She tells Mr. Stink to say it in the film.
• In the film, Pippa throws a banana skin at Mr. Stink from the bus window. Rosamund doesn't do so in the novel, and Chloe goes to school in her parents' car, not on the bus.
• In the novel, the Prime Minister orders his aides for a wet wipe before being told "to stick it up his bum". He orders so in the film after Mr. Stink says it to him and after firing his aide.
• In the film, Mr Stink plays the piano while the Prime Minister is talking; he doesn't do so in the novel.
• In the film, Mr Stink is rather unfriendly to Chloe when they first meet.
• In the novel, Annabelle eats her mother's After Eight chocolates, while she doesn't in the film.
• In the novel, Chloe pulls Annabelle's hair to silence her, while she puts her hand in front of Annabelle's mouth in the film. Annabelle bites her hand.
• In the novel, Chloe eventually reveals her father's secret of being unemployed, while he admits this in the film.
• In the film, Chloe washes Mr. Stink's coat, while she doesn't do so in the novel.
• Pippa enters Starbucks with her gang while Chloe and Mr. Stink are there in the film, while Chloe and Mr. Stink encounter Rosamund with shopping in the novel.
  • Furthermore, in the novel, after Mr. Stink burps in Rosamund's face, she is not seen again, though mentioned by Chloe. In the film, the limousine driving Chloe and Mr. Stink to 10 Downing Street goes into a street where Pippa are her gang are, and Chloe and Mr. Stink shout "losers" to them.
• In the novel, Mr. Stink says that "gentlemen should walk on the side near the road and ladies should walk on the side near the houses on pavements" while he doesn't in the film.
• In the novel, Chloe's father talks about the Serpents of Doom's success, their album selling just 12 copies and their single peaking at number 98, while he doesn't in the film.
• In the film, Raj accidentally mentions Mr. Stink when Chloe and her mother are about to leave, while he doesn't in the novel
• In the novel, Mr. Stink has his "bath" before Politics Tonight; in the film, he has his "bath" before he meets the Prime Minister
  • Furthermore, Mr. Stink has his "bath" with the Duchess in the novel; in the film, he doesn't.
  • Furthermore, in the novel, when Chloe disccovers Mr. Stink in the pond, she is with her father; in the film, she is with her mother
• In the novel, Chloe's mother's name is revealed when she apologises to Mr. Stink. In the film, it is revealed during the leaflet distribution.
• In the novel, Mr. Stink says that Mrs. Crumb loves her daughter, only she isn't able to show it, but doesn't give an explanation. In the film, he says the reason why Mrs. Crumb can't show her daughter her love for her is that she is too distracted by the possibility of power.
• In the novel, Mr. Stink says he doesn't like to be called a tramp. He doesn't say so in the film.
• Mr Stink appears on Question Time in the novel while in the film he appears on Politics Tonight.

References

External links

• Mr Stink at the Internet Movie Database
• Mr Stink at BBC Programmes