By Anne Brodie
Rowan Atkinson stars as Trevor Bingley in the comedy series Man vs Baby a meek fellow separated from his beloved wife and daughter and living alone in an isolated farmhouse. Christmas nears and he expects be with them but they’re both going to Barbados with his wife’s new beau. He’s a caretaker and oddsbody at a local school setting up for the Christmas Pageant. He finds an infant in a basket on the front step, no note and everyone’s gone. He pits it in the manger. He can’t reach social services or police so takes the baby home and then to last minute, lucrative housesitting gig in London. He tucks the child in a coal shuttle and heads south. The massive condo is spectacular and stinks of wealth and he’s able to find a fine porcelain jar for baby storage as he tries to work things out. Meanwhile he drinks their champagne and the baby sucks on the cork. Naturally the stage is set for hair-raising misadventures that suggest all kinds of peril for the child. It’s mildly funny and whimsical, Trevor is inventive, but the underlying sensation is alarm and worry for the baby’s health. Too many opportunities for a bad outcome including a crawl to the balcony’s edge while Trevor is locked out of the condo. Atkinson’s face is a goldmine of expression and hilarity as ever, but my nerves were shattered! Now on Netflix.