Netflix announces Rowan Atkinson comedy among seven new UK series

Series will see Atkinson play a character at war with a bee

Netflix has announced seven new scripted series as part of an effort to invest in UK-based productions.

Among those to have struck deals with Netflix are Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean), Sam Mendes (Skyfall) and Joe Cornish (Attack the Block).

Man vs Bee, created by Atkinson and Johnny English’s Will Davies, will star Atkinson as a man who feuds with a bee while housesitting in an opulent mansion. The series, a comedy, will be comprised of 10 episodes, each lasting just 10 minutes.

The Red Zone is a comedy about the world of professional football, written by sports journalists Barney Ronay and Jonathan Liew, and produced by Mendes.

Lockwood & Co is a sci-fi, written and directed by Cornish. Set in London, it focuses on a rag-tag crew of supernatural ghost-hunters, and is based on best-selling novels by Jonathan Stroud.

Other series include YA fantasy adaptation Half Bad, six-part horror Cuckoo Song, and Baby Reindeer, which is based on a stage play by comedian Richard Gadd.

“Setting up a team entirely based in the UK was always about being able to better connect to the fantastic program makers we have here — to provide a space for writers, producers, directors and actors that feels local, friendly and familiar but also provides talent the opportunity to make shows that will impact on a global scale,” said Anne Mensah, Netflix’s vice president of UK originals.

“UK-made stories really do speak to the world,” she added.