News round-up: WBD & ITVX bring back ‘Bean’; ITV returns ‘Stand Up Sketch Show’; UKTV extends ‘Special Ops’ series

Mr Bean (Source: Banijay)

WBD & ITVX bring back Bean

Warner Bros. Discovery and ITVX have ordered a fourth season of Mr Bean: The Animated Series from Banijay-owned Tiger Aspect Kids & Family.

The deal, struck via Banijay Rights, will see a 52 x 11-minute series being produced for Cartoonito and HBO Max across EMEA, on Warner Bros. Discovery’s kids channels and streaming services across South East Asia and South Asia, and on ITVX Kids in the UK and Eire from 2025.

It will be executive produced and voiced by Rowan Atkinson, bringing the total number of episodes across all series to 182 x 11-minutes.

2025 marks the 35th anniversary of the first live-action episode. The animation follows the antics of Mr Bean and his Teddy, as they embark on a series of adventures, making plenty of mischief along the way.

The original live-action show was co-created by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, with the animation debuting in 2002.

ITV returns Stand Up Sketch Show

ITV is bringing Spirit Studios’ comedy series The Stand Up Sketch Show back for a sixth season.

The 8 x 30-minute series, which will air later this year on ITV2 and ITVX, features comedians performing their stand-up comedy routines, brought to life in sketch form.

Each sketch begins with a comedian telling their story on stage in front of a live audience, before shifting into outrageous reconstructions of their material.

UKTV extends Special Ops series

UKTV has commissioned Zinc Media Group’s Red Sauce to make a further 14 hours of its factual series Special Ops: Crime Squad UK.

The 14 x 60-minute series follows the investigative work of a variety of specialist units within UK police forces created to crack the toughest of cases.

The show reveals the experiences of the police officers involved, through exclusive interviews, archive, CCTV and body cam footage.

Special Ops: Crime Squad UK was commissioned for UKTV by Kirsty Hanson. It is Executive Produced by Tom Edwards for Red Sauce at Zinc Media and series produced by Nick Kenton for Red Sauce.