Mr Stink (film)

Mr. Stink is a 60-minute BBC television film adaptation of the novel of the same name by David Walliams that 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), who is sitting on a bench with his dog, 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 (Sheridan Smith), is a candidate to be the local MP. She rips up the story that Chloe wrote, believing that homeless people should be run out of town. Chloe and Mr. Stink enter Starbucks, where everyone runs away due to Mr. Stink's odor. 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 decides to move in permanently. Chloe discovers her father (Johnny Vegas) 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 Caroline burned his guitar. Chloe promises not to tell her mother about losing his job on the condition he doesn't tell Caroline that someone is living in the shed. While Chloe washes Mr. Stink's coat, her sister, Annabelle (Isabella Blake-Thomas), catches Chloe doing it and reports it to their mother, who sends Chloe's father to check out the shed; he says no one is there, deciding he won't tell since Chloe didn't tell. During Caroline's interview, Mr. Stink bursts into anger over the washed coat, becoming an Internet sensation and leaves. Caroline 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, Caroline lies, saying that she invited Mr. Stink, but Mr. Stink tells the truth, that it was Chloe who invited him into their home. When a candidate from a rival party says he would invite Mr. Stink into his garden shed, Caroline bursts out and is subsequently disgraced and forced by the Prime Minister (book author David Walliams) to withdraw her campaign. While Chloe's father admits losing his job to Caroline. 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 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 Caroline, who later gives Chloe back the ripped up story 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
• Caroline Crumb - Sheridan Smith
• Annabelle Crumb - Isabella Blake-Thomas
• Raj - Harish Patel
• Prime Minister - David Walliams
• Pippa - Jemma Donovan

Broadcast

It aired on 23 December 2012 on BBC One after it was originally scheduled for Boxing Day.^[1] The film was the most watched in its 6:30-7:30pm timeslot with 6.34 million viewers tuning in. It was also broadcast and was the BBC's first ever narrative program 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. In the film, she is named Pippa.
• In the novel, Mr. Stink's wife is named Violet. In the film, she is named Agatha.
• Elizabeth the cat does not appear in the film.
• In the novel, Chloe is described as podgy. In the film, she isn't.
• In the novel, Chloe always gulps when she tells a lie; she doesn't in the film.
• In the novel, Duchess' odor is said to stink, but not as bad as Mr. Stink. In the film, it is never mentioned.
• In the novel, Chloe's mother's name is Janet. She is named Caroline in the film.
• 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 film, Caroline gets into a heated argument with a candidate from a rival party.
• In the novel, Chloe's mother apologizes to Mr. Stink for saying he stank on live television, while she doesn't in the film. When she apologizes to Mr. Stink in the novel, she says her name is Janet. She is named Caroline in the film.
• In the novel, the Prime Minister has multiple aides, who approve of his nastiness to Mr. Stink, to which Chloe tells the Prime Minister "to stick it up his fat bum." In the film, the Prime Minister has only one aide, who bursts out laughing when he is told to "stick his job idea in his fat bum" by Mr. Stink.
• In the novel, Rosamund doesn't throw a banana skin at Mr. Stink. In the film, Pippa does from the bus window; also, 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, which Annabelle bites.
• 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 while 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 and when Chloe discovers 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 apologizes 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. In the film, he doesn't say he doesn't, which results in a double-negative.
• In the novel, Mr. Stink appears on Question Time. In the film, he appears on Politics Tonight.

References

External links

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