Man vs Baby (review)

Published by Mason Oldridge, 19 December 2025

Rowan Atkinson returns as the misfortunate housesitter in this festive follow-up to Man vs Bee.

Trevor is now working as a school caretaker, living remotely but looking forward to spending Christmas with his daughter Maddy. He takes a lucrative London penthouse job to pay for his daughter’s college fees, but when the Baby Jesus isn’t collected after the nativity, he must head to the capital with an unplanned guest in tow.

Viewers of Man vs Bee will recall that Trevor is similar to Atkinson’s previous bumbling buffoon character Mr Bean. Therefore, Man vs Baby suggests this is going to be a rehash of Mind the Baby, Mr Bean. However, what ensues is a delightful original story.

How can someone end up in such an unlikely situation? Trevor actually goes through the common sense routes of contacting the school, police and social services, but various mishaps see him hilariously still having the child. As with the previous series, the situation escalates with increasing chaos to ridiculous levels, but never at the expense of the comedy. The series is still slapstick, perhaps not as much as Man vs Bee, but this doesn’t hinder the comedic value either and allows us to suspend disbelief, particularly with the child neglect.

However, the title isn’t entirely accurate as, where the bee was very much an enemy of Trevor, the baby is not an opponent in any way.

Also, coming in at a runtime of just under two hours, both miniseries would work better as feature films.

There are a couple of notable unanswered questions such as where did the baby come from and what happened after the Schwarzenbochs arrived at the end, though this element of mystery might be a better option than answers would’ve provided.

As with its predecessor, there is an element of heart and emotion stemming from Trevor’s relationship with his daughter, and the ending in which Trevor’s connections all join him for Christmas delivers a sweet moment.

With comedy legend Rowan Atkinson at the helm, this second outing is an easy-watching, fun and feelgood comedy caper.

8/10